Taking care of your Credit cards Part 1

By Francisco J. Colayco, Ph.D

In previous articles, I have talked about the big responsibility of owning a credit card. I emphasized the need to use your credit cards only for emergencies and only if you have the money to pay it on due date. You should not to be tempted to pay on installment.

However, there is a another aspect about credit cards that we need to be aware of. There are so many people who are busy trying to cheat others. This is an unfortunate story that happened but it gives us a good lesson to remember.

A man went to the gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, "Funny, I thought I locked the locker.”

Hmm… He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.

Everything looked okay - all cards were in place. A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of P14,000!

He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions.

Customer care personnel verified that there was no mistake in the system

and asked if his card had been stolen.

"No," he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and you guessed it - a switch had been made.

An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet.

The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.

Verdict:

The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them.

How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy?

P10,000!

Usually, credit card customer service calls the cardholder if they suspect something wrong. In this case, there were no calls made to verify the amount swiped because the amounts were small and small amounts rarely trigger a "warning bell" with credit card companies.

It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!

Some stores do not check the signature of the credit card holder who is making the purchase. Most, however, are usually very careful. But it is still better to be careful than sorry. More stories on the need to take care of your credit card in the next article.