I have account with both HSBC and smile (online branch of the Cooperative Bank).
HSBC is as you describe - seems pretty secure, but enormously frustrating that you need the dongle just to check balances etc. They'll only provide a single dongle, which is annoying as I want to access my bank from both work and home. The dongle is small enough that you could fit it in a wallet if you wanted to avoid that, but then you're more at risk of losing it.
For Smile, to login you just need your numbers, including 2 digits from a 4-digit PIN selected via drop-down. I guess this is to avoid keylogging but seems a bit odd as a shoulder-surfer could see quite easily. For any new/ unusual payments, the card-reader is needed. They were happy to provide me with a second reader so I can bank from home and work. The reader is too bulky to carry around though, so this is necessary.
The other thing Smile do is heavily plug "Trusteer" software on every login. Fortunately this is not yet mandatory.
On the whole I prefer Smile's approach, though I'd be happier if they could provide a smaller dongle that would be easier to travel with.
I just keep the HSBC dongle on my keyring. Initially I was doing this so that it would break and I could order another one in disgust at how fragile it proved to be, and repeat until they got the idea.
I have been utterly thwarted in this plan. The damn thing refuses to stop working.
HSBC is as you describe - seems pretty secure, but enormously frustrating that you need the dongle just to check balances etc. They'll only provide a single dongle, which is annoying as I want to access my bank from both work and home. The dongle is small enough that you could fit it in a wallet if you wanted to avoid that, but then you're more at risk of losing it.
For Smile, to login you just need your numbers, including 2 digits from a 4-digit PIN selected via drop-down. I guess this is to avoid keylogging but seems a bit odd as a shoulder-surfer could see quite easily. For any new/ unusual payments, the card-reader is needed. They were happy to provide me with a second reader so I can bank from home and work. The reader is too bulky to carry around though, so this is necessary.
The other thing Smile do is heavily plug "Trusteer" software on every login. Fortunately this is not yet mandatory.
On the whole I prefer Smile's approach, though I'd be happier if they could provide a smaller dongle that would be easier to travel with.