These are all slowly being phased out. That's the point.
I'm on Natwest too, which is one of the banks I'm actually referring to. As soon as I installed the app (for unrelated reasons) it started requiring it for authentication, even though I never chose that as an option, and it persisted even after I had uninstalled it. It is not impossible to work around it, but it's definitely not a pleasant experience, especially not when dealing with payments.
My recent experience is that Natwest at least has been adding 'friction' for doing things without the app. Case in point, I needed to change my address recently. I explicitly wanted to avoid the app, because it mandated establishing a biometric password. I tried the website, the website redirected me to a telephone number. I called the number, 30 minutes later, it happily informed me that "Great. What you're trying to do is possible from the app. Why not download ...".
In the end I took half a day off from work and went to the bank in person and asked a human to update my details. But judging from other industries, and seeing how the app is being pushed, I have no expectations that "human customer support" is going to be a thing for much longer (except for the typical "Helloooo I'm here to walk you through the app via a script I cannot deviate from" annoying kind).
I'm on Natwest too, which is one of the banks I'm actually referring to. As soon as I installed the app (for unrelated reasons) it started requiring it for authentication, even though I never chose that as an option, and it persisted even after I had uninstalled it. It is not impossible to work around it, but it's definitely not a pleasant experience, especially not when dealing with payments.
My recent experience is that Natwest at least has been adding 'friction' for doing things without the app. Case in point, I needed to change my address recently. I explicitly wanted to avoid the app, because it mandated establishing a biometric password. I tried the website, the website redirected me to a telephone number. I called the number, 30 minutes later, it happily informed me that "Great. What you're trying to do is possible from the app. Why not download ...".
In the end I took half a day off from work and went to the bank in person and asked a human to update my details. But judging from other industries, and seeing how the app is being pushed, I have no expectations that "human customer support" is going to be a thing for much longer (except for the typical "Helloooo I'm here to walk you through the app via a script I cannot deviate from" annoying kind).