DEBIT CARDS - USE THEM WITH CARE.

There are about 100 million Debit Cards and 35 million Credit Cards currently in circulation in India.

DEBIT CARD CAPABILITIES:
Cash Withdrawal and Deposit at ATMs.
Top up prepaid cell phones.
Utility Payments like Phone Bills/Electricity Bills and Card Payments.
Pay LIC premiums and other insurance premiums.(Corporation Bank has enabled this feature in all of the ATMs.
Making donations to temples/charities.
Booking of Air and Rail Tickets.

Transfer of money to debit card account with another debit card.
Transfer of money to account holders within the same bank or to the account holders of other banks below 50,000.00.

A host of other usages of the card are in the offing.

DEBIT CARDS - MORE FRAUD PRONE VIS A VIS CREDIT CARDS: BEWARE!!!!
Ignore calls purportedly from your bank whereby you are required to furnish details of your card including security codes/account details. Please keep in mind that a banker never calls a customer for these information since they already have these information. You could be taken for a ride.

Skimming is a process of swiping your card through a card swiping machine with a skimmer attached, which we are not aware. The skimmer captures all the confidential features of your card. The information is used by fraudsters to clone the cards. IF THE USAGE OF A DEBIT CARD IS IMPERATIVE, INSIST THAT THE CARD IS SWIPED IN YOUR PRESENCE.

Never use a Debit Card to do your shopping if you can help it. Please bear in mind that there is no grace time for Debit Cards. Use your Credit Card since there is an option for your to contest a fraudulent transaction.

Insist on debit cards with PIN usage every time you use it since it is more safer. Debit cards which does not require PINs are more dangerous.

Surveys have shown that merchants, airline staff, petrol station attendants, and restaurant cashiers never checked signatures and 75% of the cases test purchases made by males using credit cards issued to females went unnoticed.

When misuse is noticed, complain to the bank issuing the card. If the same is not resolved, complain to the Banking Ombudsman within 30 days.

Fraudulent/phishing emails seeking debit card details not be answered.

Shop/book using credit cards since you have option to contest in case of fraudulent usage. Never use debit cards while shopping through the net/web.

Check/track the bank accounts. Statements to be scrutinized periodically.
Complete transactions in ATM before leaving. Scope of card left and used for withdrawal by the next user. Readiness of ATM to be ensured. Wait till the welcome screen appears on the ATM.

Guard ATM statements. Destroy before putting in the waste basket lest account/card details would be given away inadvertently.