What are the Ways to Protect Your Cards?
By Anupama Deshpande | May 15, 2018

Usage of plastic cards has made our life very convenient. We find it very comfortable to carry the cards in our wallet and make use of them when required. There are variety of cards offered by banks and other card providers which serve different purposes.

Majority of us hold multiple debit/ credit/ membership cards for serving our different needs. These cards are specially designed for different sets of people which have specific needs. The types of such cards are fuel cards, lifestyle cards, frequent flyers card, etc.

Holding multiple cards is very good but when it comes to their protection, you need to pay special attention. If you have 1 or 2 cards, you can manage them comfortably but when you have more cards then managing the cards properly and protecting them seems very difficult task.

There are several ways to protect your cards in a better way. I have mentioned below these ways to make it easier for you to protect your cards.

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If you are finding it difficult to manage and protect your cards properly, immediately avail Card Protection Plan (CPP). Card Protection Plan is an insurance cover against loss, theft and fraud of credit card, debit card, ATM card, membership card or loyalty card.

If you are having multiple cards for your various necessities, there is no problem. You always try not to carry all your cards in your wallet all the time. Take only one or two cards with you which are going to be utilized by you. It will reduce the risk to far extent.

Inform the bank or card issuer immediately, if your card is stolen, lost or misplaced and take action to block that card so that it cannot be misused by other person.

Ask for a chip enabled card rather than a magnetic strip card, as it offers more security to the card holder.

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You must use your card yourself and should avoid handing over it to anyone else, otherwise you need to share your PIN and other card details as well.

You should always use safe portal to make financial transactions online such as online bill payment, online purchases, etc. You should make sure the address uses "https" rather than "http". Also, check whether your browser is displaying the secure lock, usually in the bottom right corner in the browser.

You should request bank to send SMS alert for each and every transaction made through your cards. This way you will immediately come to know in case any fraud transaction has taken place.

You should not share any of your card details such as Card Verification Value (CVV) number, PIN, Expiry date, OTP, etc. with anyone. Key in the PIN yourself in any POS machine.

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You must avoid using public computers such as Cyber cafe, work place, etc. to make any online transaction using your debit/ credit cards.

You may have cards whose validity has expired or which have become invalid, you should make no delay in destroying those cards safely and securely. For disposing them off, you must destroy the chip, demagnetise the magnetic strip and cut up the card.

You should use One Time Password (OTP) service for making online transactions for more security as OTP is sent only to your registered mobile number and no other person can use your card in such a situation. It will provide a second layer of defence against any financial fraud. In an OTP enabled card, before accepting payment through your card, the bank or the payment gateway sends an OTP to your registered mobile number. For completing the transaction, you need to enter this OTP.

You must use Personal Identification Number (PIN) while using your cards at merchant points. It will give your more security. You should prefer punching in of a PIN to complete card transactions. When you use a PIN enabled cards at a POS terminals, the POS machine will ask you for your PIN to be entered. You then need to enter the Card's PIN in the machine in order to complete the transaction.

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