A bank card as a means of payment appeared relatively recently, only about 50 years ago, but during this time it has won a lot of fans. The development of digital technologies served as an additional impetus for bank cards, it became possible to conduct financial transactions online and even on a smartphone, using an application or special pages of the bank’s websites. However, along with the growth in the number of issued cards, the number of frauds with them, unauthorized access to funds on accounts using cards also increased. The main means of protecting a card is its PIN code.
What is a pin code?
PIN (personal identification number) is usually a four-digit number and is actually the cardholder’s password, his electronic signature. Such a code is assigned to the card in order to identify the identity of its holder during financial transactions. This is an electronic analogue of the holder’s signature.
Only the cardholder should know the code. It must be kept secret and in no case be disclosed to third parties, including relatives and friends.
In the interests of the safety of your funds, you should not enter the PIN code in the presence of strangers and keep the recorded code next to the card. It must be remembered that for payments on the Internet, a PIN code is not required and any offer to enter it is an act of fraudsters.
How is it installed?
There are several methods for setting a pin code:
- One of the first ways to set a pin-code is by the bank itself at the time the card is issued. It is provided to the user together with the card in a special envelope, is opened only by them and is not known to anyone except the user himself. The main disadvantage of such a pin-code is that it is disposable, it cannot be installed;
- When receiving and activating a bank card, the pin code can be set by the user at will in special terminals, here the numbers can be selected by the recipient of the card, from those that will be easiest for him to remember;
- The code from the card can be reset by a special bank service to the financial phone number of the card recipient, in the form of SMS. It is recommended to delete it, and remember the pin code.
Whichever method you receive the PIN code from the card, you must remember it in order to have access to all financial transactions with the card, make payments or withdraw money from an ATM. Very often, people who are not sure of their memory write these numbers on a piece of paper or on their phone. There are also some important rules here. If you wrote down your PIN code on paper, never store it with the card, only in a separate place. If it is recorded on the phone, never designate this entry as a pin-code from a card, come up with a completely extraneous name for it. This way you can protect yourself from unauthorized access to your funds.
What to do if the PIN code is forgotten?
If you have forgotten your PIN code, there are several ways out of the situation. The exact exit depends on how you received the pin code.
- If the PIN code was issued together with the card in a special envelope, it is impossible to replace or find out. You can only contact the bank branch with a request to replace the card with a new one in accordance with all the conditions of the bank.
- If the pin code was set in the terminal or dropped in SMS, everything can go much easier. It is enough to call the bank’s hotline, go through the client’s authorization and receive an SMS with a pin code to your phone again.
- Sometimes the bank requires you to reset the old PIN-code in such cases. To do this, you can go to the bank branch and re-set the PIN code in the terminal.
Thus, even if you have forgotten the PIN code from your own card, it is better to immediately start recovering it. Do not try to remember it, this can only lead to blocking the card.
The cardholder usually has three attempts to enter the correct code. Their number is set by the bank. When their number exceeds the maximum allowed limit, the card is automatically blocked.
In case of blocking due to an incorrectly typed PIN-code, some ATMs may withdraw the card (depending on the settings of a particular bank). If this happens, you need to contact the credit organization that owns the ATM and write an application for its return. Next, you need to come to your bank and apply for unblocking the card. Within a week, the card will be returned to the client.
If the ATM returned the card to the client, then to unblock it, you need to call the bank and give the password-identifier or answer the secret question, as well as dictate your card number. The identifier password and the answer to the secret question are determined by the cardholder himself and indicated during its registration. This is important information in case of loss and blocking of the card, it must be remembered. Also, the bank can clarify other information from the client: passport data, registration, etc. If a person does not remember his password, he needs to contact the bank and write an application for unlocking. Some banks in any case require the mandatory presence of the client in their office and an application for unblocking the card.
There are credit organizations that, in such a situation, set automatic unblocking at a certain time interval.
What to do if you lost your card along with the PIN code?
If you have lost your card, and the pin code for it was written down somewhere nearby, immediately call the bank and block your card. Be sure to notify all financial organizations with which you work, for example, Oncredit.vn, about this, because, having gained access to your card and the PIN code from it, a fraudster may try to carry out illegal actions with it. But in this case, you are responsible for all expenses from the card before it is blocked, since it is the owner of the card that is responsible for the safety of the data on it. And if someone took credit loan (vay tín dung) for your card due to your misattention – it will be only your fault.
How to take care of card safety?
Banks are constantly concerned about increasing the level of protection of the cards they issue. For this, several levels of payment verification are established, the ability to pay without handing the card into the hands of the cashier, and even the ability to pay without a card at all, using only a smartphone or smart watch. However, the number of issued cards is so great that it is simply unrealistic to keep track of all the fraudsters. Therefore, it is very important for every bank card user to observe at least the simplest security principles when working with bank cards. We remind you that if the card or its data were lost through the fault of the user himself, the bank is not responsible for unauthorized access to funds and their waste. Therefore, be vigilant – it is in your best interest.
Using the card
Rule No. 1. Never write down the PIN-code on a plastic card: in case of theft or loss of the card, unauthorized persons can easily withdraw funds from it.
Rule # 2. Block your card or financial phone number in case of theft or loss.
Rule No. 3. Notify the bank that you are going to use the card abroad.
ATM use
Rule No. 1. Use your card at reliable ATMs (in branches, in a shopping center or at PrivatBank ATMs), while:
- when entering the PIN-code, cover the keyboard with your hand;
- use the withdrawal service without a card.
Rule number 2. When paying in supermarkets:
- use contactless payment PayPass, Google Pay, Apple Pay;
- do not hand the card into the hands of the cashier when making payments.
Rule No. 3. If you are planning significant expenses abroad, issue a separate chip card, which will be replenished for the amount of the planned expenses.
Bank cards are very convenient, and the pin code is designed to protect the funds that are stored on them. Be vigilant – and using the cards will bring you only = benefit and pleasure. It’s so simple – to quickly and conveniently manage your money with just one click, one click of a button. But remember about safety.
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