robertliu.com

You may remember a post from me earlier this year where I was pleasantly surprised after I received an automated call from my bank. It was a standard security check but I was left wondering how much that it cost ME because I was out of the country and therefore would be charged at roaming rates from my mobile operator. Well, I’ve had a few more experiences recently which has tipped me enough to write a short(ish) rant about it.

So that first occasion was when I made a purchase on the internet and Lloyds TSB just wanted to confirm that was me, rather than block the card outright. They do this by getting a computer to dial your phone and confirm various details in such a way that both sides (the bank and the customer) can trust each other. Although they call you, so in theory there is no cost to the customer, it doesn’t work when you’re on roaming e.g. if your on holiday or business and are out of the country (even worse if out of the EU).

On a second occasion when I was in Thailand last month, Nationwide decided to block my debit card as I attempted to withdraw cash from an ATM. OK, it’s a security measure a little on the over cautious side to be safe but it adds the hassle of needing to sort it out. That means making an overseas call from my mobile phone. I fortunately had a local sim card but even with the ridiculously cheap call rates in Thailand, the call to the Nationwide card center was still long enough such that all my credit ran out on my sim before I could finish the call. That cut me off not knowing what the situation was with my card. Since I couldn’t get any cash in the first place to top up the phone and I was in the middle of an island, I had to resort to calling them back with my UK iPhone on O2 contract, which set me back at £1/minute! (That’s equivalent to 2 filling meals per minute in Thailand!)

The next day, still in Thailand, I tried to book a hotel using my Post Office Mastercard. It was declined. I tried to call the Post Office but strangely enough they don’t have 24 hour customer service centers like most banks/card issuers. So I had to wait a whole day (until it was day time in UK) so I could call them. This too was not cheap.

I also remember when I came back from Japan for a Christmas break. I started using my cards once I was back in the country. Both Nationwide and Lloyds TSB detected a change in spending behaviour and decided to block my cards. This time I was in the country, so the cost to sort it out was negligible but again there was that hassle of having to call two banks up on Christmas Eve!

So, as you can see, I’m a little bit annoyed with my banks. It’s all about them not giving me access to MY money when I ask for it. I think banks should have some internet banking facility to be able to handle security features and resolve card block issues quickly and cheaply. I really don’t see the point of call center security, confirming your name, address, date of birth. Everyone who wants to know these things can find out easily anyway but no one should know your password/PIN combinations to log into your internet banking, in theory. In the Post Office Mastercard case above, they decided to send me a letter to ask me to call the security department. I presume this was in case my card was actually stolen and so I wouldn’t know if the card was getting declined or not. I find the letter rather pointless especially when I’m on the other side of the world or if Royal Mail decides to go on one of their regular postal strikes. An email would have been much more useful as I would have been able to pick it up within 24 hours, if not immediately.

I understand it all from a security point of view, especially having worked with a few banks but it is a hassle when they make so many false calls.