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Conveniently and Safely use Credit/Debit Cards

 



Credit and Debit Cards are still modes of money transaction because it is safe to do so, even in the age of digital banking. The problem with Credit/Debit Card usage is someone peeks and sees what is your Credit/Debit Card PIN, while you use it in shops. I will provide a simple solution by which using Credit/Debit cards will be very convenient and safe.

Shop using Smart Phones and Credit/Debit Cards

We all use smartphones nowadays. There are Applications (Apps) in the Smart Phone for all kinds of Banking Services. So we will take a Bank like HDFC Bank. There is an App for its Banking services. You can log into the App in any mode you like. Let's say you go into a store to purchase an item. When you swipe the Credit/Debit Card, it will send a pop-up to the App. In the pop-up, you will see the amount of the transaction, the organization (like More Supermarket) for which the transaction is happening, and the location of the transaction. The safety feature is, it won't allow the transaction if it is not at the closest possible location that can be tracked by Smartphone GPS. That means the place where you swipe the Credit/Debit Card and the location where your Smart Phone is, should at the closest possible place that can be tracked by the GPS, in your Smart Phone and POS machine. Simply put, The Card should be swiped near you. And only if you say "yes" in the App, the transaction will happen. The Options displayed will be [Allow "Yes" or "No"]. 

Before you swipe the Credit/Debit Card, go to a safe place, Enter your Password/PIN in the App, and keep it open. Then swipe the Credit/Debit card. A pop-up will come. Check the amount and other details. Allow "Yes", if all the details are correct. Transaction will be done in seconds. No one will peek in to see your PIN, and the Credit/Debit Card is fully safe to use. This "Yes" option can be chosen by putting fingerprint in Smart Phones like Apple iPhones, Samsung Phones, or possibly Microsoft Phones.

Feature Phones and Credit/Debit Cards

We use Feature Phones for safety purposes even today. It can be GPS-enabled or not enabled. While buying a Credit/Debit Card Service, we have to register the Credit/Debit card with that particular Phone Number. Now, let's say you go into a store to purchase an item. When you swipe the Credit/Debit Card, you will get a message to your number, with details like the amount of the transaction, the organization (like More Supermarket) for which the transaction is happening, and the location of the transaction. The message will say in the end, Reply "Yes" to allow "No" to disallow. If you have GPS in your phone, it will allow transactions only if the transaction is happening in the closest possible location that can be tracked by Feature Phone GPS and the POS GPS. If you type "Yes" and send it back to the same number from which you received the message, the transaction will happen, If you reply "No", the transaction will not happen.

Safety Features

1. The thief needs to steal both the Debit/Credit Card and the Smart Phone/Feature Phone to transact on your card. Because GPS will track whether the smartphone is near the point of use of Credit/Debit Card.

2. The thief must know the Password/PIN of both the Smart Phone and the App inside the Smart Phone to steal from the Credit/Debit Card. In the case of Feature Phones, he needs to know the phone's PIN. If Customers demand more safety features in the Feature Phone, While Replying Yes, They can type a four-digit PIN along with the "Yes" Reply.

3. The Customers can disable the Credit/Debit card from the Smart Phone, if found to be stolen, by logging into the Banking Services App (Or even Specialized Credit/Debit Card App) and disabling its services.

4. The Customer can disable the Credit/Debit card from the Feature Phone, if found to be stolen, by sending an SMS "Disable Card XXXX" (XXXX stands for the last four digits of the Credit/Debit Card) from his registered Feature Phone to a specific number allocated by the bank to such service.

5. To prevent situations where you may inadvertently press the "Yes" button in the Smart Phone App, the Banking Services or Specialized Credit/Debit Card App, will first ask you to enable Credit/Debit Card transactions whenever you want to use them by entering a PIN and disable them when you don't need it,. You can go to a safe place to enter the PIN, Enable the Credit/Debit Card Services, and disable it, once done.

6. You can enable/disable any particular card if you have more than one Card in a Bank.

7. To prevent situations where you have enabled the Credit/Debit Cards (For example: In your car in Shopping Malls) and then the thief steals both your Credit/Debit card and your Smart Phone, knows even your Smart Phone PIN, still has to put your fingerprint every time to say "Yes" to do a transaction in your Credit/Debit Card.

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Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

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