Not Receiving Santander OTPs

[JaiSkorpio]

Ever since I changed over to the Three network, I've not been able to receive One Time Passcodes (OTPs) from my bank (Santander). I've contacted the bank who have verified my phone number, and that the messages are being sent, I've contacted Three who have verified that I am able to receive SMS messages and tested the service on my device. They also raised my Spend Cap in case that was causing an issue (the OTP messages are free). I've since been back to the bank who have again verified that everything is right at their end. So now I'm back here.

I've now missed a payment on my mortgage because I cannot transfer money out of my account, as I cannot verify the OTP on my phone, and everybody keeps batting me backwards and forwards. Is it worth contacting the ombudsman to have this taken seriously? I really don't know what to do now because nobody is taking responsibility. I am able to receive SMS from everybody else, good signal, I've restarted the device many, many times. Is there some sort of technical "fix" for this issue? I can't be the only one...

[DAMIAN-BOULTON]

Good morning Jonathan,

I too am having the same issue whereby trying to load the Santander Online Banking app but it seems that I cannot get passed the OTP page.

I enter my Personal ID number, followed by my Security Number.

I am then prompted that a OTP code will be sent to my mobile number which is correct but nothing comes through.

I have recently renewed my contract with Three (last month), was already with Three.

Up until today I've had no issues logging into Santander on this phone but something has gone south and can no longer access the app.

I've tried clearing the App cache, even deleting the data and uninstalling/reinstalling the app but still the same problem.

Tried turning off WiFi calling on the phone to see if that caused issues, rebooted the phone, Now not sure what else i can do to resolve this.

I am using a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Please can you assist

Regards

Damian

[DAMIAN-BOULTON]

Problem solved, for now at least.

My phone uses Google Messages app as opposed to the generic Samsung messaging app.

Upon searching the settings, I found that Santander for some unknown own reason had been blocked and this, i now believe was what was causing the issue.

I removed the block, cleared the app cache and data once again on the phone handset. Rebooted the phone and attempted to load the Online Banking app once again.

Hey presto, upon entering my details the OTP code came through and without any delay I was back up and running again.

Hope that others may have similar luck 🙏🏻 

[JonathanB]

Ah great find @DAMIAN-BOULTON that could well be the reason why this issue has been so inconsistently reported.

Had a look in my own Spam texts, and discovered a genuine company had been blocked there too. I believe that Google collects Spam report info from various Android users, and uses this to proactively identify and block senders, so you may never have actually marked any message as Spam yourself.

Hopefully some other community members can confirm if your solution addresses this for them too.

[JonathanB]

I've found a couple of tips to check for blocked messages, just in case it helps anyone else with this issue.

On Android you open the Messages app, then click on the menu in the top right, and you'll usually have a "Spam and Blocked" option.

For iPhones there should be a couple of relevant settings in Settings > Messages. "Message Filtering" and "Blocked Contacts" should appear in this menu.