TL;DR
Your banking card certificate is likely expired or invalid. This guide shows you how to check and fix it, allowing you to access online banking securely.
Checking Your Certificate Status
- Open your web browser: Use the same browser you normally use for online banking (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).
- Access Online Banking: Go to your bank’s website and log in as usual. If it won’t let you login, proceed to step 3.
- Browser Security Indicator: Look at the address bar of your browser. You should see a padlock icon. Click on this icon.
- View Certificate Details: A window will pop up showing certificate information. Look for these key details:
- Valid From/To Dates: Check if the current date falls within these dates. If it’s outside, the certificate is expired.
- Issued To: Verify that the certificate is issued to your bank’s domain name (e.g., www.yourbank.co.uk).
- Issuer: Note who issued the certificate – a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) like DigiCert, Sectigo, or Let’s Encrypt is good.
Fixing Common Certificate Problems
- Clear Browser Cache and Cookies: Old cached data can interfere with certificate validation.
- Chrome: Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete (or Cmd+Shift+Delete on Mac). Select ‘Cookies and other site data’ and ‘Cached images and files’. Choose ‘All time’ for the time range, then click ‘Clear data’.
- Firefox: Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete (or Cmd+Shift+Delete on Mac). Select ‘Cookies and Site Data’ and ‘Cached Web Content’. Choose ‘Everything’ for the time range, then click ‘Clear’.
- Safari: Go to Safari > Preferences > Privacy. Click ‘Manage Website Data…’, select your bank’s website, and click ‘Remove All’.
- Update Your Browser: Older browsers may not support newer certificate standards.
- Chrome: Chrome usually updates automatically. Go to Settings > About Chrome to check for updates.
- Firefox: Firefox also updates automatically. Go to Help > About Firefox to check for updates.
- Safari: Updates are handled through macOS system updates (Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update).
- Check Your Computer’s Date and Time: Incorrect date/time settings can cause certificate validation errors.
- Windows: Right-click the clock in the taskbar, select ‘Adjust date/time’. Ensure ‘Set time automatically’ is enabled.
- macOS: Go to System Preferences > Date & Time. Ensure ‘Set date and time automatically’ is checked.
- Temporarily Disable Antivirus/Firewall (with caution): Sometimes, security software can incorrectly block certificate validation.
Warning: Only disable your antivirus/firewall temporarily for testing purposes. Re-enable it immediately after.
- Contact Your Bank: If none of the above steps work, contact your bank’s support team. They may be experiencing a certificate issue on their end or need to reissue you a new digital certificate.
- Explain that you are having trouble with your banking card certificate and have already tried clearing your browser cache, updating your browser, and checking your date/time settings.
Understanding Certificates
A digital certificate verifies the identity of a website (your bank in this case). It ensures that you are connecting to the genuine bank’s server and not an imposter trying to steal your information. When a certificate expires or is invalid, your browser will warn you about a potential security risk.