Fraud Protection
Debit cards provide convenient access to your current account funds anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, this makes them valuable to criminals. Debit card fraud can take a a variety of forms. You should be aware of the possible types of fraud, so that you can take measures to protect your financial details from theft. There are many steps that you can take to ensure your money is not at unnecessary risk, such as keeping your debit card safe in a zipped pocket, memorising PIN numbers and keeping your details secret. These measures are explained in the article Basic Security Measures.
If you use your debit card to pay for goods and services online, you should ensure that you follow safety procedures to help ensure that your details are secure. Use anti-virus software, verify the website's authenticity and ensure you use reputable retailers: this will help to protect you against fraud. If you have lost your debit card or it has been stolen, you must inform your banking institution as soon as possible to enable them to freeze the card and prevent any unauthorised payments. For more details see article Lost / Stolen Card.
Cost of Card Fraud
Each year, the total cost of fraud committed with credit and debit cards is hundreds of millions of pounds, and increasing each year. Most banks and building societies have security measures in place that provide compensation if you are a victim of a fraudulent transaction on your account. The Banking Code, which provides banks and building societies with detailed guidelines on a wide range of issues, states that you will only be liable for the first fifty pounds lost on a stolen or lost debit card. The only exception is where the bank or building society can prove that your own gross negligence was to blame for the loss.
The non-financial cost of debit card fraud is limitless; you will be inconvenienced in many ways by the investigation and freezing of your account – above all, you will have to put up with temporary loss of your card and time wasted while the investigation is being conducted.
For more details on these topics, see:
