Financial security by proxy
Rarely, the advertising inserts in our daily newspaper offer a product that might be personally useful. Sure, there’s a steady diet of dreams, but I can learn all the costly details by going directly to a local mall outlet or with some judicious online shopping. Rarely is not the same as never; today my son noticed a flyer dealing with increased security for debit cards.
The efforts to reduce loss to criminal behaviour have increased, and the efforts in Europe are starting to be copied over here. The Interac Chip will offer a card that should be more difficult to copy.
This afternoon I was out picking up some new headphones for other family members (a move to reduce noise pollution) and had braved the gauntlet of accredited sales associates. Finally in line at the counter, I swiped my card, put it back in my wallet and then received a do-over request. Slips on the number pad happen, so I tried twice more. Each time, the terminal flagged my card as inactive. Not good, not foreseen. I went next door to a second shop, and this time the terminal reported my card as deactivated (a subltle difference) and requested that I contact my bank branch.
The hours of business have (happily) been expanded, so I headed across the mall lot to the bank of my choice. There, I was sent to see an agent in a closed office, where it was my joy to learn that my card had, possibly, been cloned at some point during the last few days. I worked through a printout of transactions (my life is really boring, from a financial aspect) and was relieved that all seemed in order. The agent told me that current practice is to “freeze” all client debit cards that have been used in an area of reported cloning. Just in case; better safe than sorry. Better that it happen when I have a few free minutes to resolve the issue by dropping by and replacing my plastic wallet. All my money is safe with them until that step is taken.
I did get to finish my shopping trip, and I’ll never know (for reasons of confidentiality) which merchant or instant teller had been compromised. Still, the idea of a better, safer, two-step authentification device can’t come too soon to my neighbourhood.
