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My bank bill payer does not work with Safari

Bank (Truist) says to check that I'm not doing any restrictive stuff:

Block third party cookies

Cookie tracking

Cross-site tracking

This is something I have seen plenty of times before. So if I want to use bill pay, I just make sure that those settings are not in conflict with what the bank wants. Safari, after my OS/Safari update today, does not have a setting for cross site tracking (I assume that as long as I am not blocking third-party cookies, cross site tracking is not a problem and I am not blocking third-party cookies). My third-party cookies setting is unchecked. I am accepting cookies. So as far as I can tell, I am in compliance with the banks requirements.


I assume this is a problem with Safari because yesterday I had no problem using bill pay. This isn't the first or even the second time I've had to make an adjustment in Safari after updating in order to use my bank's bill pay. So I don't think I've missed anything there?

iMac 27″, macOS 15.0

Posted on Sep 21, 2024 6:50 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 23, 2024 10:36 AM

Tired_Rabbit wrote:

Is this problem unique to me

It may be unique to your bank. It's extremely difficult to give absolutely precise answers to questions like this in the forums. Maybe you have some browser extensions that are incompatible. Maybe you have some incompatible ad blocking. Maybe you have malware that is incompatible. Maybe you have anti-malware that is incompatible. It's a long list.


You specifically asked about cross-site tracking, so answers are going to focus on that. But it could be all kinds of different things.

Is this an unintended bug resulting from the update to the new OS/Safari

Obviously it is a change resulting from the new version of the OS/Safari. It might no be a bug and it might not be unintended.

If it is a bug then why hasn't Apple reported it as such?

Apple doesn't report bugs. End users report bugs to Apple. If they are very serious with a clear, easy solution, and Apple wants to fix it, then you can expect a fix in 2-3 months.

I guess it's a minor thing since absolutely any other browser out there has no problem handling bill pay.

Each bank is going to have its own implementation of these services. It's the same old story. If your bank is a small local bank with a few thousand users, then it's the bank's problem to fix. If the bank is Citibank, then it's Apple's problem to fix.

It's just weird that Apple would want to encourage users to leave Safari and do their banking with some other browser. Ignoring bugs by giving them the silent treatment is something we've all learned to accept as SOP by every tech company out there.

You also have to consider Apple's own banking needs. As long as the best, most profitable customers can still do their banking using Safari, then there's no problem from Apple's perspective.

But this one's a little weird if indeed it is a bug.

If this is really something more than cross-site tracking, you can dig into it a little more. You can turn on Developer options in Safari and inspect the web site. You don't really have to know a lot about HTML. All you have to do is show the console and then reload the page. You will probably get a few dozen bright red error messages. They will probably tell you exactly what Safari is complaining about. It might not be a tracking issue.


It is very unusual for a bank to be doing cross-site tracking. That's a real Red Flag. Chances are, they are playing fast and loose in other areas as well. The most likely explanation is that the site is poorly constructed. That's not uncommon. Web developers test in Firefox, Chrome, and whatever Windows is using. They rare give much thought to Apple platforms. And if the site is poorly constructed with lots of browser-specific hacks, such sites are exceptionally likely to break when browsers are updated with more stringent privacy protections.

23 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 23, 2024 10:36 AM in response to Tired_Rabbit

Tired_Rabbit wrote:

Is this problem unique to me

It may be unique to your bank. It's extremely difficult to give absolutely precise answers to questions like this in the forums. Maybe you have some browser extensions that are incompatible. Maybe you have some incompatible ad blocking. Maybe you have malware that is incompatible. Maybe you have anti-malware that is incompatible. It's a long list.


You specifically asked about cross-site tracking, so answers are going to focus on that. But it could be all kinds of different things.

Is this an unintended bug resulting from the update to the new OS/Safari

Obviously it is a change resulting from the new version of the OS/Safari. It might no be a bug and it might not be unintended.

If it is a bug then why hasn't Apple reported it as such?

Apple doesn't report bugs. End users report bugs to Apple. If they are very serious with a clear, easy solution, and Apple wants to fix it, then you can expect a fix in 2-3 months.

I guess it's a minor thing since absolutely any other browser out there has no problem handling bill pay.

Each bank is going to have its own implementation of these services. It's the same old story. If your bank is a small local bank with a few thousand users, then it's the bank's problem to fix. If the bank is Citibank, then it's Apple's problem to fix.

It's just weird that Apple would want to encourage users to leave Safari and do their banking with some other browser. Ignoring bugs by giving them the silent treatment is something we've all learned to accept as SOP by every tech company out there.

You also have to consider Apple's own banking needs. As long as the best, most profitable customers can still do their banking using Safari, then there's no problem from Apple's perspective.

But this one's a little weird if indeed it is a bug.

If this is really something more than cross-site tracking, you can dig into it a little more. You can turn on Developer options in Safari and inspect the web site. You don't really have to know a lot about HTML. All you have to do is show the console and then reload the page. You will probably get a few dozen bright red error messages. They will probably tell you exactly what Safari is complaining about. It might not be a tracking issue.


It is very unusual for a bank to be doing cross-site tracking. That's a real Red Flag. Chances are, they are playing fast and loose in other areas as well. The most likely explanation is that the site is poorly constructed. That's not uncommon. Web developers test in Firefox, Chrome, and whatever Windows is using. They rare give much thought to Apple platforms. And if the site is poorly constructed with lots of browser-specific hacks, such sites are exceptionally likely to break when browsers are updated with more stringent privacy protections.

Sep 22, 2024 6:22 PM in response to Tired_Rabbit

Tired_Rabbit wrote:

Ummm... okay,I could be totally misunderstanding things but isn't the "Prevent cross-site tracking" box supposed to be unchecked?

It's checked on my computer. You might need to uncheck it for this site.


If you want more information, you can always click on the "?" button in that dialog. It will display online help. This is what it says about "Prevent cross-site tracking":


Periodically delete tracking data from third-party content providers, except for third-party content providers you visit.
Some websites use third-party content providers. A third-party content provider can track you across websites to advertise products and services.
For a Privacy Report that shows who’s been blocked from tracking you, see See who was blocked from tracking you.


The bank also requires that I do not "Block third party cookies" and then something else about "Cookie tracking" that I don't know how to interpret but it has never been a problem before and IAC Safari offers no such settings like that anyway.

So I should go ahead and "prevent cross-site tracking"?

I'm not sure what you are asking. The default setting is to prevent cross-site tracking. You should disable it just to see if that is what the problem with your bank site is. Beyond that, you'll have to make the call.

Sep 22, 2024 5:27 PM in response to BDAqua

Well yes, I could do that or I could use the <<insert browser name here>> browser. Whenever Safari chokes, I've found that absolutely any other browser will work. I was just hoping that with all the hype about the new OS and the Safari enhancements that I could actually use Apple's Safari browser to do common tasks like pay bills.


This has got to be an unintended bug since Safari used to be able to handle it. It's just one more little thing taking up time trying to solve when the most efficient, time saving approach would be to just keep my mouth shut, accept that there's a bug and work around it with another browser or just stick to using the bank's phone app. And if the app fails then I'll just have to go to the bank like in the good old days. And in the evenings when pondering existence, I'll also ponder why I even have a desktop computer. Or a smart phone. Or television or...

Sep 23, 2024 5:22 PM in response to Tired_Rabbit

Tired_Rabbit wrote:

I'd just want to know if I might as well get comfortable with another browser.

Well, if you need to pay bills and Safari won't do it, for whatever reason, then you'll have to use another browser.

I'd do this if nobody is going to recognize broken bill payer UI's as a bug. Apple can dismiss it or use their own definitions and throw hands in air; it's a bug. While Apple can't possible keep up with all of those bank bill payer web UI's, you'd think that at least they'd check if things were working for say, the top 10 commercial banks.

It really doesn't work that way. Apple codes the web browser to a set of HTML and Javascript standards. And it's been very well tested both inside Apple and with thousands of beta testers over the past few months.


Apple's teams for these things are much smaller than people might expect. There are no Trust branches in Cupertino, but there are in Austin, so it's likely that Apple has tested this with Truist.


And about that banking stuff, just today I logged into Chase, tried to send a message using their UI and got a spinner.

That's a good indicator that the problem is unique to your computer.

Same thing has happened in the past on other sites but I never gave it much thought because it wasn't all that important. I'd be thinking on the stuff that you said about maybe it's my configuration of extensions and what-not except it's Apple & Safari. My choices for popup blockers and the like is limited just a bit. But to your point, I did disable all 2 of them (App Store approved) - no change.

There is a lot less involved with App Store approval than you might think. That means the apps aren't obviously malware, aren't violating any Apple developer terms and conditions, and don't crash on launch. If those extension break your bill payment, Apple doesn't care. But there are a lot of other apps that could be interfering.


You could try an "Extensions off window". You can also try a new user account on your computer. Ideally, you would confirm this with an entirely factory-fresh system. I have very high confidence that everything would work perfectly in that situation. There is a reason why this entire support forum exists - and it's 3rd party system modification software.

Sep 22, 2024 4:57 PM in response to etresoft

etresoft wrote:


Tired_Rabbit wrote:

Safari, after my OS/Safari update today, does not have a setting for cross site tracking
....
So I don't think I've missed anything there?
Maybe double-check those Safari settings...


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/ce88be4c-7db7-46ad-83a2-c51e338223b4



Ummm... okay,I could be totally misunderstanding things but isn't the "Prevent cross-site tracking" box supposed to be unchecked? The bank also requires that I do not "Block third party cookies" and then something else about "Cookie tracking" that I don't know how to interpret but it has never been a problem before and IAC Safari offers no such settings like that anyway.


So I should go ahead and "prevent cross-site tracking"?


Sep 23, 2024 9:34 AM in response to Tired_Rabbit

I feel like I need to clear things up:


  • After the update to 15.0 (Sequoia), Safari can no longer use my bank's bill pay.
  • I know I can use other browser but I'd like to use Safari
  • The bill pay app displays the following message:
  • My only Safari settings that seem to apply are:
  • And just to be sure, I did try checking those Safari settings and got the same result.


At this point I don't even care about "fixing" things. All I want to know is:

  • Is this problem unique to me or
  • Is this an unintended bug resulting from the update to the new OS/Safari


If it is a bug then why hasn't Apple reported it as such? I guess it's a minor thing since absolutely any other browser out there has no problem handling bill pay. It's just weird that Apple would want to encourage users to leave Safari and do their banking with some other browser. Ignoring bugs by giving them the silent treatment is something we've all learned to accept as SOP by every tech company out there. But this one's a little weird if indeed it is a bug.


My bank bill payer does not work with Safari

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