Your banking app asks you to re-link the phone
To your bank, a new phone is a device it has never seen. Before it lets you sign payments or transfers from it, it will ask you to prove it's really you with a second step that isn't just your password.
In short: your bank ties your session to a specific device as a mandatory security measure across the EU. The new phone has to go through that linking before it works normally; in the meantime, some operations may take longer or ask for extra steps.
What happens
When you install your bank's app on a new phone and sign in, it's normal for it to ask for something more than your password: a code by SMS, a notification you approve on another device where you already have a session, or a code you were given at some point. Until you complete that step, the bank treats the phone as "unrecognized": it may limit certain operations (especially payments and transfers) or ask for extra confirmation to sign them.
Why it happens
It's not the bank being difficult: European payment services regulation (known as PSD2) requires "strong authentication" for electronic payments since 2019. That means using at least two factors from different categories — something you know (a password), something you have (your phone) or something you are (fingerprint, face) — and repeating the same one twice isn't enough. A new phone is, literally, a different "something you have" than yesterday's: the bank has to verify it again before trusting it to sign operations.
No bank decides this requirement on its own, nor can it remove it even if it wanted to: it's the same rule for any institution operating in the European Union. What does vary from bank to bank is how it asks for that second check (SMS, push notification, a code you already had) and how long it takes to recognize the new device as trusted.
Who it hits hardest
People who use instant transfer apps daily and don't expect the bank to ask for an extra step right when they need it most (for example, the same day they switch phones). And people whose operation confirmations were tied to push notifications on the old phone: if that phone is no longer available, confirming a payment can get complicated until the new one is linked. It also affects people using several apps from the same banking group (personal and business banking, for example): each one usually links the device separately, so confirming one doesn't automatically confirm the other.
What to check before you switch
- Do you know what your bank asks for, besides the password, to recognize a new device?
- Are you keeping the same phone number to receive SMS or verification notifications?
- Do you have access to another channel from your bank (online banking, a branch, phone) if the new phone takes time to get linked?
- Do you know where to find your bank's blocking hotline in case something goes wrong during the switch?
If it already happened to you
If your phone was stolen or lost and you're worried about fraudulent use of the banking app, the urgent thing is to call your bank (every one has a 24-hour card and banking block hotline) and lock access from there, as well as blocking the line with your carrier. Do that before worrying about anything else: a bank can always help you recover access afterward, but the sooner you block it, the less room you leave for possible fraud.
If what happened to you is calmer — you simply switched phones and the app is taking time to recognize it — you should normally be able to keep operating through online banking on your computer while the new phone gets linked. There's no need to force anything or call urgently: it's simply the bank checking that it's still you.
Official sources: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/389, strong customer authentication