HSBC blocks its app from running inside Samsung's Secure Folder

Samsung Secure Folder is a secure enclave inside its devices, preventing threats or vulnerabilities that may otherwise be present on the entire device from accessing apps stored and run inside the enclave.

That's one of the reasons why a lot of users choose to use banking apps inside the Secure Folder. However, HSBC has taken a different view, as it now prevents its app from running inside Samsung's Secure Folder.

HSBC's decision isn't just limited to Samsung. Reports highlight that the bank is preventing the apps from running inside Android Private Space, which allows for Secure Folder-like functionality on non-Samsung devices as well.

HSBC UK has formally confirmed that it has made this change, but it remains to be seen if apps for other HSBC jurisdictions are similarly blocked inside Secure Folder. HSBC UK has said that this decision is a “proportionate security control designed to mitigate a foreseeable security risk.”

It clarifies that users can continue to use the HSBC UK app on their Android phones, just as long as it's run outside the secure environment. It further added that utilizing the app inside the secure environments “could prevent or limit the identification of certain threats, or from sending timely fraud notifications.”

Users are understandably not happy, as they remain able to use other banking apps inside Secure Folder. Some also feel that HSBC should have been proactive in informing them of this change, as its clarification has only emerged once users reached out with complaints that the app was inaccessible in Secure Folder.