But given all the benefits of using cards, there are still a few issues with plastic money such as fraud due to phishing or someone copying off the digits from your card. Thus people are wary of using their cards online as well due to lack of security since nobody wants to end up giving their card details online on a fraudulent webpage and suffering losses. Online scams soared to an all-time high with over a half million people affected by scams in just the first half of 2016. There is the added misery of getting your card blocked and then waiting for a replacement card to be issued and getting any fraudulent transactions reversed.

However what if the digits on the back of your card could automatically change and thus fraudsters would be left with unusable card details. Sounds cool right? Well that’s just what two French banks are doing to protect their customers from online fraud using high tech cards.

The technology is dubbed as Motion Code, and what it does is add a digital display to the back of the card that displays different digits randomly at the interval of every hour for upto 3 years. This will give a huge blow to fraudsters as they would not be able to rob you as such thefts only occur after a few hours or a few days once your card details have been stolen and thus there will be a very short window left to act. Moreover these cards look similar to the ones currently in use. You can bend, drop or even put it through a wash cycle without any issues.

What we know is that banks see this as a hugely growing problem that needs to be addressed,” Aaron Davis, Business Director of Oberthur Technologies UK & Ireland, told The Memo. Oberthur Technologies is the French digital security company that has developed the tech, called MotionCode, and they’ve been making chip and PIN bank cards for over two decades.

Société Générale and Groupe BPCE, two of France’s largest banking groups, are preparing to roll out these cards across all their customers after completing a pilot scheme last year. There are other pilots underway in Poland and Mexico, and Davis is running Oberthur’s UK operation with the hope of getting a pilot or trial started with a UK bank soon.

Let’s hope someday this solution is implemented with Pakistani banks as well because this card is a huge leap forward for security and will help keeping your hard earned cash safe.

Khurram Zahid

The post French Banks Roll Out High Tech Plastic To Counter Fraud appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Say hello to the good, old and humble SMS. Yes you can subscribe to SMS banking alerts for a nominal monthly charge. Given below are some solid reasons why you should be subscribed to SMS alerts service. In a nutshell, it’s a great informative tool and you will learn why in a moment.

Check & Balance:
This is a real important reason why you should subscribe to getting SMS alerts. The bank notifies you of each incoming and outgoing transaction and then you can tally it at the end of every day, week or month that you actually have the correct amount of money against your bank account. Also if you pay using your card most of the time, you’ll also have a fairly clear idea of your monthly expenses against your income which could in fact help you plan for the next month if you need to save some money by trying to cut down on unwanted expenses.

Safeguard against Fraud:
Because the bank notifies you for every transaction or changes that you make to your account, risk of fraud is minimized and you get to know of any fraudulent or unwanted transactions right away. For e.g if you pay your phone bill, you’ll have to first add the number in your online banking portal and you will get an SMS that will inform you of the number, amount and time etc. of the transaction thus you can be sure that you did the transaction or if someone else misused your account details.

Amount Reversal:
Sometimes it happens that a transaction doesn’t go through the first time and you try again thinking that it was due to some error. But unfortunately the amount has already been deducted and you end up paying twice the intended amount. Or you bought some merchandise at a Point of Sales and had to return it due to any reason. The merchant will generate a request with the bank for refunding your amount after which you will be notified via SMS once your amount is debited back into your account. Similarly if you go to an ATM to dispense cash but the machine gives any error yet you get an SMS that your amount was debited, you’ll not only be able to lodge a complaint with the bank for a refund but you’ll also be notified once the amount reversal to your bank account happens via an SMS.

Get Timely Reminders:
If you’re using a credit card, it’s highly important to keep track of your outstanding amount and pay the bills on time to stay away from paying  fines and interest. Having an alerts service enabled helps to remind you to pay your bills on time and thus saves your money in the long run.

Manage Expenses:
If you’ve got supplementary cards for your family specially your children then you would want to keep track of their expenses so things don’t get out of hand. SMS alerts will let you know each time a transaction is done so you can stay aware of your family’s spending habbits and keep them under control and within your monthly budget.

There you go folks, these are five important reasons why you should consider subscribing to SMS alerts if you haven’t already. Few reputed banks like Standard Chartered, Habib Bank Limited, Faysal Bank and Silk Bank are some of those that offer SMS alerts to their subscribers on Debit/Credit cards.

Khurram Zahid

The post 5 Reasons You Should Subscribe To Banking SMS Alerts! appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.