WARNING: us bank automatically replacing all ATM cards with VISA check cards

[zephyrprime]

My USbank did this this years ago. I didn't even know that other usbanks hadn't.

 

[Johneverd]

Originally posted by: larciel
couple years ago when i first opened account w/ BofA , they gave me versatel check visa card.

i've used it little.. online, offline,

one day there's $300 charge on my account, i called BofA , and found out it's charged by an online casino company in Europe... jeeez

what does BofA do? .. immediately put $300 back to my account, and said they'll investigate, until they prove that i authorized the transaction, they wouldn't take the $300 away from me. so downtime for me was about 30 minute at most...

i thought all banks had that good service, but later i found out it's hassle w/ some other banks.. *cough*shitty wells fargo*cough*

i pay shiltloads of fees to BofA, but service i received from them is worth every penny .

The same thing happened to us. When our Check Card number was stolen and used fraudulently, Bank of America credited our account back the disputed amount without an argument that same day. It was a hassle having to use checks to get cash at the bank for the week that it took to get the new card, but nothing was lost.

Although they are not as safe as a credit card, and you can get burned, they work well for those of us who are credit-challenged.

 

[Oakenfold]

Originally posted by: Tates
No need to panic.

FDIC Federal Regulation E (Electronic Funds Transfer) provides consumer protection and set guidelines for financial institutions.

You need to give written notice within 10 days of oral notice to the bank. Generally, banks will provisionally credit your account the amount of the disputed transaction(s) and will complete an investigation within 10 business days.

If in doubt, ask your banker.

This happens to vary from policy of instituition to instituition I"m sure.
The research time where I work can take 30-45 days.
I don't recommend a check card period.
I've seen the worst myself and it isn't pretty.

 

[overclock]

Originally posted by: lo5750ul
A security measure one can use is to write on the signature strip: ASK FOR ID instead of signing it.

Not true. What about places with the Point of Sale keypad where you slide your card yourself, ie Wal-mart, most grocery stores. I have had only 2 people ask to see my credit card when using one of those. Also, on the back of most cards it says, "Not Valid Unless Signed". ASK FOR ID is not a signature.

I worked at a bank for 3 years. Plenty of funny stuff when it came to check cards. Some not so funny. The greatest thing was when some horny dude this chic lived with used his check card for some online pr0n. Her dad came in with her to inquire where her money went. He quickly left when I turned the monitor around to show them a debit for $50 from some pr0n place. The girl was seriously embarrassed. Me and my collegues were laughing.

Another time a foreign exchange student from France had his backpack stolen in the Miami airport. By the time he got back out west and to the bank, his account was cleaned out and closed.

ATM cards are the way to go.

 

[Richardito]

Originally posted by: Rab

But if anyone gets a hold of your VISA check card, all the payments you have made that have not cleared will bounce and you will have to spend hours and days on the phone trying to explain why your checks bounced and why you shouldn't be charged late fees, not to mention the fact that you will be left with no emergency money by the time you realize your VISA check card is not "here, somewhere" but in someone else's hands.

Warn your friends and relatives, as replacements are automatic and are done so that us bank can make mind boggling amounts of money from merchants paying VISA transaction fees.

Welcome to the new millennium.

Most banks have already switched to an ATM/check card, and as a side benefit for that switch, they're covered under Visa/Mastercard's No Liability guarantee.

It is still B$... My bank, Union Planters, replaced my ATM card with a Visa checkcard about 6 months ago. The paperwork stated the 'no liability guarantee', but the small letters stated that it was free for the first two months and that I had to pay for it afterwards. I went to a branch and demanded an ATM card. After some discussion ("why do you want to do that?") they made it happen. But last week going over the bank statement I discovered that my wife has been using her check card! I stated that I wanted her to get rid of her check card and to get a regular ATM card instead.

 

[dman]

My bank (credit union) sent me the visa check cards for my 2 accounts. I had them for a while, but, I eventually had them swap them back out with non-visa enabled cards. It's just not worth the hassle/worries.


In other paranoia... I still have to unlink my savings account from my checking account so I'm paypal safer. I don't have a lot in my savings (on that account) so I'm not that worried but I plan to do it anyway.

 

[tk149]

FYI, I work at a bank, and this is part of an email notification I received at work:

The card industry is starting to see a dramatic rise in a type of card
fraud known as skimming. Skimming is the process of capturing the full
contents of the magnetic stripe data on an existing card. Methods of
skimming can range from an individual using a hand-held device no larger
than a pager to planting technology inside a point-of-sale device to
receive and store the data. Skimming can occur with or without the
involvement of the merchant. Once a card is skimmed, the data is encoded
onto another stolen or counterfeit card to make fraudulent purchases.
Recently, <EDITED NAME> was made aware of a large-scale skimming operation
involving a number of ATMs in Canada. The ATMs had been retrofitted to
capture not only the information on the magnetic stripe, but the PIN as
well. Preliminary figures indicate thousands of cards were compromised.
Subsequent fraudulent activity has been occurring in Canada, Europe, and
Asia.

 

[nuonce]

i only keep $100-200 in my school bank account at a time anyway (lower-middle class college student).. and i never use my check card. if you keep over $500 then you should definately clip the check card in half and use credit cards/cash only.

 

[Winchester]

Just so you guys know,

There is like a $500 daily limit on these cards. My debit card was stolen and the first charges were around 5AM, then they went to buy DVD players, Computers, Cell phones, etc and got caught.

You can also say what you want your limit to be.

I absolutely love my check card, it can be used everywhere and they dont ask you for medical records like they do when you pay with a check.

 

[Fritzo]

Man...get with the 90's will you? ALL banks use Visa or MC check cards now (Unless you're a member of Fred's Bank in Hicksville USA). You still have to sign them and most places now make you show ID when you use any form of CC. Geeze....I don't know anyone that still uses an old ATM card. BTW- You still have Visa and MC's fraud protection, so if your card is used fraudulently, I think you're only liable for $50.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: azoomee
My bank did this to me and it really made me mad. Said I didn't have an option. I wrote void all over it and on the back. Plus never activated the credit card part of it.

Woah! You showed them!

 

[pukemon]

I don't see what the big deal is. As far as I can tell, all major banks use a Visa or MC Check card as their ATM card. The small mom 'n pop banks don't. If that's what you're looking for, go with an independent mom 'n pop type bank. There are still a few around.

As for the folks out in the St. Louis area who have gone from Roosevelt Bank => Merchantile Bank => Firstar => USBank, what's one more newly issued card?

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Winchester
Just so you guys know,

There is like a $500 daily limit on these cards. My debit card was stolen and the first charges were around 5AM, then they went to buy DVD players, Computers, Cell phones, etc and got caught.

You can also say what you want your limit to be.

I absolutely love my check card, it can be used everywhere and they dont ask you for medical records like they do when you pay with a check.

Yeah, mine's a $250 daily limit. They call you if you go over it too

 

[Winchester]

Originally posted by: pukemon
I don't see what the big deal is. As far as I can tell, all major banks use a Visa or MC Check card as their ATM card. The small mom 'n pop banks don't. If that's what you're looking for, go with an independent mom 'n pop type bank. There are still a few around.

As for the folks out in the St. Louis area who have gone from Roosevelt Bank => Merchantile Bank => Firstar => USBank, what's one more newly issued card?

Incorrect, I use a Mom N' Pop bank and they have debit cards.

 

[Cal166]

I like the design of my Washington Mutual Visa check card. i only keep a small amount in the checking account. They said they only advance $100 over what you have in your account. so nothing big to worry in my part.

 

[DrPizza]

I *always* sign the back of my cards with "ask for ID", and I complain if the cashier doesn't ask for ID.
I can use my card as either a credit card, or debit card. If I use the debit card option, I have to punch in the pin number, and no signature is required. If I use it as a credit card, it is the cashier's responsibility to make sure the signatures match. [also, I believe a credit card purchase under $25 doesn't require a signature]
I find it to be much handier than having to write checks, and I feel just as protected as having checks. The biggest problem is that cashier's aren't trained very well.

 

[tk149]

Your bank can set your daily limit. Of course, that doesn't help if someone uses your card number over several days.

Read your Disclosure Statement. It should state what your liability and responsibilities are if your card is stolen or your number is skimmed.

My bank sets a $50 maximum liability if someone rips off my card, IF I notify them promptly. This is the same as all my credit cards.

 

[c627627]

Of course you'll get your money back eventually. That's not the point.
The point is that all your CASH money will be "GONE from your account... and gone WHILE you convince the bank to put it back."
If you rely solely on yourself and your own cash to survive in life, you will be hurting once that cash is gone and you're going through the procedure of getting it back. And if it happens on a Saturday and your fridge is empty... you'll think twice about ever owning a Check Card again.

Of course every bank issues Check cards. That's not the point.
The point is that they are now replacing regular ATM cards that people have specifically requested earlier and that it now requires yet another phone call to switch back to ATM cards WITHOUT the Visa logo.

Read about what's going to happen to you if you fall for the TV advertizing about VISA check cards.

The most relevant info in this thread is from people who actually had to go through the procedure of getting their money back.

 

[salfter]

A security measure one can use is to write on the signature strip: ASK FOR ID instead of signing it.

You can't do that...there's a notation on every card issued in the past few years along the lines of "not valid unless signed." A store that's paying any attention at all will refuse to accept a card that only says "see ID" on the back, as it opens up the possibility of huge losses for them if they accept such a card.

 

[loudmouth]

I have to agree with many of you. It is not worth while for anyone to have a check card. I mean lets face it, what is the real difference in terms of use from the two. I see no reason to take the risks for having a check card. So what if you moneys are protected. The fact still remains that if someone cleans you out you will we left with NOTHING in you account. Sure you'll eventually get you money back but what the hell do you do until than, tell your creditors to wait until you bank finishes with their investigation and you get money in your account.

Why do people even have check cards. For one you screw the merchant becuase they pay a higer fee to visa/mc and two they have no real protection in term of getting your money back ASAP. Tell visa/mc and your bank to "shove it". When it happens to you will be crying and no one including your check card company will be around to help.

 

[loudmouth]

You can write "Check for ID". What more proof can you provide than a Government ID.? I think writing "Check ID" will provide greater security than a simple signature. The signature on a card and that signed on a receipt are never the same. It would be pretty easy for someone to duplicate a signature that is similar to the one on the card but how easy is to duplicate an ID. Granted it's easy to obtain but it does require a little more work.

 

[Overzeetop]

Oddly enough, low balances are more dangerous than high ones with a check card, especially if you also write checks on the account (for paying bills, etc.) If you have a low balance, a single fraudulent purchase can get your phone/electric/cell bill returned NSF, including all the associated fees.

Requiring ID is useless in the age of online purchases. I had a (business) check card compromised once. The bank was cooperative, and credited the balance until the investigation was complete, but I refused to order another. I use an Amex with Private Payments now (one time use numbers) for all online purchases.

As for needing an ATM card, my CU swithced to check cards and dropped ATM-only cards altogether. Since I use mine only for an ATM card, and have a regular visa for purchases, I whipped out the dremel tool and carved "do not accept - not valid for purchase" across the front, and wrote the same (with a sharpie) on the back. I NEVER use the card except in ATMs, including never using it online.

I hate that I have to go to these lengths, but security for credit cards is just plain awful. That's okay if it's somebody else's money (like the CC company), but when it's my cash that's gonna magically disappear - I get a bit touchy.

 

[alkemyst]

There is some misinformation here and of course some banks do handle them differently.

Most "Check" cards have no protection after 24 hours....what happens many times is the bank says to call the underwriter (Visa, MC, etc)....they will tell you to talk to the bank that issued it, etc.

Visa I believe is the only one that will protect you if and only if you report the loss within 24hours.

Writing "Check ID" on any credit card technically voids it, however, it's mostly overlooked....some merchant one day when you really need to use the card can deny it.

 

[lungster]

My bank pulled this switch on me too. But instead of taking it blindly, I called them and told them all I wanted was the ATM and nothing more. They tried to sell me on how I didn't have to use the credit card portion and yada-yada. I told them firmly to give me back my old card 'cause I'm tossing out the new one. They did. I'm back to a plain old ATM and there's no change of me using it for something else.

If you don't want the VISA check crap, let them know and insist on a plain ATM. If they refuse, you can always take your business elsewhere. Consumers have to let merchants know when they're not happy.

 

[Ranulf]

Last time I opened an account with US Bank (say 2 years ago) they seemed all surprised that I didnt want a debit/check card and made it a bitch and a half to get a regular atm card so I dropped the issue. US bank isn't one of my favorite banks, unfortunately where I live they are the most convenient to get to. Last time I bothered to use my debit card I had to enter my pin and sign a chit IIRC. I still wouldn't use one though, especially online. I've been lucky with my CC's and online purchases (knock on wood) but most places I make sure not to keep my #'s stored.