BTPay - RO mobile banking app not working

somerandomdude

I have received a recent update to this banking app, and to my surprise I was no longer able to open it. It would instantly throw me a "security error" saying that "we detected a security issue in the app. Please uninstall it." The only options are that and calling support.

I have tried reinstalling it from Play Store, and to no avail. The same screen appears, and the app loads constantly. I have enabled exploit protection compatibility mode and it did nothing.

This is my setup that I have:
App installed in main owner profile alongside Sandboxed Google Play
BTPay version 3.6.1(f8fa69df5a)
Google Play Services version 24.47.35

Everything was working fine before that version, so my assumption might be that they started enforcing Play Integrity API across the entire app, unlike Revolut did some time ago. Anyone facing the problem?

ico

I downloaded the app just to test it and it seems to work just fine, I arrived at the page where it asks for a romanian phone number without issues

fid02

ico I downloaded the app just to test it and it seems to work just fine, I arrived at the page where it asks for a romanian phone number without issues

The message appears after you have verified your phone number.

somerandomdude

ico how did you manage to get it working?

brookie229

Another one bites the dust......this is where all banking/financial and perhaps ALL apk's are eventually headed, unfortunately.

de0u

brookie229 Another one bites the dust......this is where all banking/financial and perhaps ALL apk's are eventually headed, unfortunately.

Maybe... but at the moment that claim seems inconsistent with the situation with the Starling Bank app.

fid02

brookie229 Another one bites the dust......this is where all banking/financial and perhaps ALL apk's are eventually headed, unfortunately.

The future's not set in stone.

de0u

fid02 That reminds me... https://terminator.fandom.com/wiki/No_Fate_(quote)

fid02

somerandomdude how did you manage to get it working?

It didn't sound like they did complete the registration process, and the message, at least for me, didn't appear until after I had registered. But, in the very latest version of the app from Play Store, the message appears immediately upon opening the app, so doesn't even let you attempt to register.

somerandomdude I also let them know there are apparently others facing the same issue as me, but on stock OS surprisingly (pixel users to be exact, based on the reviews on Play Store).

Oh, that's interesting!

somerandomdude

In the meantime, I tried multiple combinations of the app with and without Play Services, with and without exploit compatibility mode in a separate profile. I am hitting just walls at this point.

The only workaround I found was using Huawei's App Gallery, which just works. The app is still on 3.6.0 at the moment, so it may be a matter of time until they may bring some changes to that one. It also needs native code debugging on and Huawei Mobile Services installed as well, although I don't trust then at all, they run just like any other app at least.

I tried to get a hold of them, and asked customer service about what's going on with the app. They said it may be a problem with my phone, so it seems like I might have a feeling about what they did. I also let them know there are apparently others facing the same issue as me, but on stock OS surprisingly (pixel users to be exact, based on the reviews on Play Store). I'm currently waiting for a follow-up with, mayhaps, upper reps or devs.

somerandomdude

Finally managed to get the second call from them. They asked me some questions about my phone, like whether I did some changes to my phone's settings and if I have some remote control apps installed. I said no to either of those (basically nothing was brought up about GOS or having done modifications to the system). After that, they asked me how come the app managed to throw that security error, and I explained to them what happened (updating it from Play Store as usual and being locked out). I had to do some KYC over the phone, and said that I can reuse the app within 30 minutes. Now I am able to use and log back into it without problems, with the caveat of having native code debugging enabled.

I also brought up whether they use Play Integrity API and sorts for their app, but as expected, they declined answering anything regarding the topic due to "security reasons". So it's pretty unclear what mechanics they use to prevent users from accessing their app.