bank visit: done

At home, I had been able to do the re-registration procedure for my Shinhan Bank app up to the point where I needed to speak with a human being, then a message would flash saying I was outside of the hours of operation for the humans. So I went to my local bank branch today and recruited help from the teller, who got as far as the chat screen. She then handed the phone to me, showing me how to display my face and show my ID card on the screen for my unknown interlocutor to see. A few questions and answers later, and the "registration complete" flag came up. Of course, getting into the app now required me to remember a rarely used 6-digit access code. I asked the lady about the "pattern" method of accessing my account (where you use your fingertip to connect nine dots in a "unique" pattern of your choosing, instead of using a password, to access your account), and she simply repeated that it was that 6-digit code now. I fumed a bit, but when I got back to my place, I saw there was an option for returning to the pattern method, but I'd need my ID card, my account number, and something else (can't remember what) to do so. Lovely. Korean internet security must be awfully weak for there to be this many annoying steps involved for authentication. When I'd signed up for PNC Bank online banking long ago (PNC's American), all I had to do was pick a "strong" password, and that password's been with me for years. I've never had a problem with break-ins.

In any event, the nightmare is over until the next phone-OS reset in a few months. I can go back to transferring money and checking my slowly dwindling balance at liberty. I might switch over to the "pattern" method of access later today since I'd gotten used to it. Right now, though: Spanish, weightlifting, and churning out more Substack posts for scheduling.