ABM: Bank customers have to collect replacement debit cards

KUCHING: Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) wishes to explain that the majority of the replacement debit cards have to be collected by the customers from a bank branch.

In a press statement sent to The Borneo Post yesterday, debit cards, unlike credit cards, were not mailed directly to the customers as they had to be personalised on collection and also required a MyKad identification.

Card issuers have been using multiple channels to notify customers to collect their cards and have also implemented various measures to encourage cardholders to collect their debit cards.

The multiple channels include ATM screen messages where customers are reminded to update their contact details and change their old debit cards, statement inserts, SMS, email, Internet banking, as well as advertisements in the various media. The methods employed vary depend on the card issuer.

On another note, card issuers have taken various steps to encourage cardholders to collect and activate their debit cards such as promotions to incentivise cardholders to collect their new PIN debit cards; extending branch opening hours to the evening and opening of selected branches on weekends to enable customers to visit the branch outside of office hours.

The statement also said there were currently 102 bank branches in East Malaysia (61 bank branches in Sarawak and 41 in Sabah) that have extended operation hours and/or are operating over the weekend to facilitate the collection of PIN- enabled debit cards.

Cardholders are also advised to visit their website at www. abm. org.my for the details of such branches;

Meanwhile, the statement also clarified that Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards are a type of debit card and as such, would also need to be upgraded to the new PIN- enabled card.

However, it should be noted that old signature debit cards which are not replaced will continue to work for cash withdrawals at ATMs.

The statement also said June 30, 2017 is not the deadline for card replacement as it is the date after which no more signature transactions will be permitted in Malaysia.

If a customer replaces the signature card (credit or debit) with a new PIN- enabled card, but forgets the PIN when using the new PIN card at point- of- sale ( POS) terminals, it is possible for the retailer to allow the customer to complete the transaction with signature.

However this will stop on July 1, 2017 whereby only transactions with a PIN will be allowed.

Meanwhile, the industry deadline of Dec 31, 2016 is the same for all financial institutions. However, not all cards (credit or debit) can be replaced at the same time due to the volume of cards involved.

Individual institutions may notify different cardholders to collect their cards at different times to better manage the recarding exercise.

The deadline set by the individual institutions may vary and no penalties will be imposed.