Safari 4 on Mac and Banking Websites (USAA)

[khongaeng]

I have been having problems loading the www.usaa.com banking website with all Safari betas and 4.0-4.0.2 on my Mac. For some reason whenever I click to load it, it will load the site in a linear layout with overlapping text and without any images. In addition, I get a message saying the security certificate couldn't be verified.

I have tried deleting the.plist files for safari, resetting safari, and manually accepting the security certificate from the site all to no avail.

The strange thing is when I use other applications that a suppose depend on the Safari frameworks like Omniweb and Opera, I get the same issue, but if I use Firefox everything loads properly. I do not see the issue with any other banking websites like Bank of America, CapitalOne, and Wells Fargo. I also never had this problem when I was using Safari 3.

When I use Safari 4 on a PC, I also am able to load the page properly. Anyone have an idea as to why this particular page will not load on my mac with 10.5.7.

Anyone having the same or similar problems and found a way to fix this? Thanks in advance.

 

[MisterMe]

I have been having problems loading the www.usaa.com banking website with all Safari betas and 4.0-4.0.2 on my Mac. ...

The strange thing is when I use other applications that a suppose depend on the Safari frameworks like Omniweb and Opera, I get the same issue, but if I use Firefox everything loads properly. I do not see the issue with any other banking websites like Bank of America, CapitalOne, and Wells Fargo. I also never had this problem when I was using Safari 3.

When I use Safari 4 on a PC, I also am able to load the page properly. Anyone have an idea as to why this particular page will not load on my mac with 10.5.7.

...

These are issues with web pages having been hardcoded to specific browsers--often to specific technologies in those specific browsers. One of the many wonderful things about the Mac is that you may use any installed browser that you want anytime that you want. When you encounter a situation like the one with the USAA.com, use whichever browser that works. For your other needs, use your favorite browser.

 

[khongaeng]

Thanks for the reply. I find that strange that an upgrade to a browser (in this case Safari 3 to Safari 4) would make it incompatible with websites designed for that browser, I thought Apple was pretty good at being backwards compatible with most things.

At least, as you said, their are other options available. Looks like I'll have to use firefox until the website is fixed.

 

[MisterMe]

Thanks for the reply. I find that strange that an upgrade to a browser (in this case Safari 3 to Safari 4) would make it incompatible with websites designed for that browser, I thought Apple was pretty good at being backwards compatible with most things.

....

When I said "specific browser," I meant specific browser. Safari 3 is a different browser than Safari 4. It is not about software compatibility. It is annoying as h*ll not to be able to use a site following browser upgrade, but it is hardly surprising. The problem is that all too many website developers don't understand the fundamental concept of a platform-agnostic, browser-agnostic World Wide Web. I have had to deal with these people in my own firm.

 

[angelwatt]

I've got Safari 4 and use USAA's web site and have no issues like you mention. So I don't believe it's a browser issue here.

 

[Cinder6]

I've always found it odd that banks are so often the worst culprits when it comes to compatibility. It's better than it used to be, but time was you were always forced to use IE6--Firefox wouldn't do. So you had to do all your sensitive money stuff with the most insecure browser. Great.

 

[EX1127]

I've got Safari 4 and use USAA's web site and have no issues like you mention. So I don't believe it's a browser issue here.

+1 I used it today to upload my check and it worked just fine.

I've always found it odd that banks are so often the worst culprits when it comes to compatibility. It's better than it used to be, but time was you were always forced to use IE6--Firefox wouldn't do. So you had to do all your sensitive money stuff with the most insecure browser. Great.

I believe USAA keeps there website up to date for the most part seeing as a majority of their customers have to use the internet to get to them cause they are not in most states.... Besides i think a bank that is allowing us to upload our check/ file claims and other thing on the iPhone(leaving most other banks in the dust) i believe they are pretty tech savvy

 

[Cinder6]

I believe USAA keeps there website up to date for the most part seeing as a majority of their customers have to use the internet to get to them cause they are not in most states.... Besides i think a bank that is allowing us to upload our check/ file claims and other thing on the iPhone(leaving most other banks in the dust) i believe they are pretty tech savvy

That's pretty cool, actually. I should have made it clearer--I was talking more specifically about the Firefox v0.8 days

 

[EX1127]

That's pretty cool, actually. I should have made it clearer--I was talking more specifically about the Firefox v0.8 days

Yeah i understand. OP i just logged on and my USAA looks fine. Im not sure what could be going wrong for you.

 

[khongaeng]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like it is a problem with my two computers more than anything. Strange things have started to happen since my mobileme data got corrupted a month ago. I straightened it all out as far as the syncing data goes, but I seem to have residual problems on both of the computers. I will try logging in from a different user account and see if that fixes the problems.

 

[khongaeng]

I discovered the root cause of this problem through the resolution of a another issue I was having with activating my iPhone. VerisignHater was the one who proposed the solution.

If you are getting the -9807 error message, it is because your copy of iTunes can not connect to the hosts evintl-ocsp.verisign.com or evsecure-ocsp.verisign.com (preventing access to verisign.com falls in to the best practices handbook for corporate security and filtering, but it is what's hamstringing the phone activation).

VerisignHater was absolutely right. I was able to get things work by just logging in from a different account, but the reason why my iphone couldn't connect with the server to activate was because it couldn't connect to the evintl-ocsp.verisign.com servers. I had inadvertently blocked that communication using Little Snitch.

When I unblocked the communication, I was also able to view all banking websites properly that use verisign. Thanks for the help everyone.