Pro Tips for Debit Card Safety - Checkexpress

Pro Tips for Debit Card Safety

For hackers and thieves, your debit card is an easy target. Protect your hard-earned money by learning how to use a debit card safely. Here at Checkexpress, we work with you to keep you informed and provide you with the resources you need to protect your finances.

This blog features an article from Money Under 30, with tips for using a debit card safely…

1. Move from Debit Cards to Credit Cards

Use credit cards where possible because they offer more aggressive fraud protections than debit cards — and are starting to sport those safe-data chips I just mentioned. “I recognize debit cards help with budgeting, but their fraud protections aren’t as strong,” says John Ulzheimer, president of the Ulzheimer Group and a guest contributor to the non-profit National Foundation of Credit Counseling.

Debit cards are tied directly to your bank account, so if money is missing, you have to fight to get it back. Credit cards, however, just create an IOU from you to the card company, and from them to the vendor. It’s a lot easier to cancel an IOU than it is to get back money that’s been spent by someone else.

2. The Instant you Discover your Debit Card is Missing, Cancel It!

So what if you find it a few hours later under the bed? You’d beat yourself up a lot harder if someone got hold of your card and started a shopping spree.

Think they can’t guess the PIN? They don’t have to: Lots of stores accept debit cards as credit cards — and often don’t even require a signature.

Of course you would also report a lost or stolen credit card to your bank, but it’s even more imperative to call your bank ASAP when your debit card goes missing. That’s because any purchases a thief makes on your debit card will come right out of the available balance in your checking account.

Most banks will refund that money within a day or two as long as you report the missing card promptly. Still, even a day or two without money in your checking account can cause headaches. Lastly, if a thief manages to snag your PIN and your card, your bank may not protect you against all unauthorized withdrawals or PIN-based purchases. (Read your debit card terms carefully; MasterCard extended its zero-liability for fraudulent charges policy to include PIN-based charges, but only recently).

3. Use Cash

No one can get any of your personal data out of a $20 bill.

“If you want to fully avoid fraud issues when shopping, then go old school and depend on cash,” Ulzheimer says. “At least you’re not sharing personal or payment information.”

Even if you have to visit an ATM to occasionally withdraw cash, that’s one transaction that could potentially put your data at risk rather than the dozen of purchases you’ll make thereafter. The downside, of course, is that you may have to pay ATM fees. A bit of planning can help you avoid fees and keep your debit card safely in your wallet.

4. Watch for Skimming Devices

You swipe your card so many times a day that it becomes a mindless activity. Change this. Cyberthieves insert skimming devices into ATMs, gas pumps, and other point-of-sale devices to scan your debit card information as you swipe.

Once you enter your pin, the thieves have everything they need to drain your account at an ATM and walk away with untraceable cash.

Watch out for any scanning device that looks abnormal.

Read the rest of the article for more tips!

“Be on the lookout for credit and debit card reading devices that look suspicious, such as a plastic sleeve inside a card slot. Crooks are getting very good at attaching their own devices over legitimate card readers and gathering account information from the cards that consumers swipe through those readers. “

Checkexpress can help you protect your money with prepaid debit cards, bill paying services, and check cashing. Visit one of our nine Chicagoland locations and let us take care of your financial service needs ASAP! 💰