That's not the issue though. I can log in to my cell account and see the content of every sms i send and receive. an app establishes an encrypted connection between your phone and the bank. sms is open to the public.

in addition, you don't need to copy a sim. you can copy a cell tower. which the authorities do all the time, without any warrants, and capture data en-masse. The fake cell tower fits in a backpack.

But it's not just the cops capturing your cell data. It's anyone, they've been doing it for over a decade, and it's cheap and easily accessible.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/vv7zn9/surprise-scans-sugges...

Maybe. I never owned a credit card, however I also basically didn't use cash for years, only debit card

It usually happens when someone pays with a credit or debit card. If the confirmation is not given in the app within a certain time limit, the bank rejects the card transaction.

Edit: to clarify, my comment is about the UK, and it does not happen with most card transactions; "usually" here refers instead to card transactions being the usual trigger (in my experience) for this app-based authentication flow.

I think it's called 3D-Secure for debit/credit cards. In Ukraine for example it is pretty much a normal path for online payments. Also our "credit" cards aren't the same your "credit" cards. Ours are basically the same as debit cards but with added overdraft amount and different service fees. They are created by the same banks as debit cards, not by a separate corporations.