Question: I am 75 years old and have a savings account with a local. For these past few years, my bank has always given me a card to allow me to withdraw money from an ATM. Recently, I became a resident of a nursing home and was thinking of asking the bank to stop automatic renewal of the card as I am wary of any unauthorised usage of the card if third parties become knowledgeable of card and the PIN. What should I do?
Cards being payment instruments in line with the Payment Services Directive are bound by Terms and Conditions that are issued binding the provider (the bank) and the card user (the customer). Cards will automatically be renewed unless the cardholder informs the provider in writing about the intent to cancel the card. Usually, a card holder should write to the bank at least 30 days in advance of the expiry date of the card.
If misuse is suspected, the card will be cancelled with the bank obliging to giving the cardholder prior notice in writing. Obviously, the Bank cannot act arbitrarily and dictate an age following which old people may not be eligible to use a debit card anymore. So long as a bank is not informed otherwise, it will continue to renew your card automatically. It is therefore your responsibility to inform the bank of your intention not to renew the card automatically.
From a legal perspective, should a person be no longer able to administer his or her accounts in a proper manner, then a Court Order will be issued to inform the bank about the circumstances, prompting the Bank to ensure that the said customer will not have access to accounts including cards.
As to the PIN being accessible to third parties, we reiterate our emphasis that the PIN should be destroyed upon its receipt. Many banks include such a condition in their terms and conditions. Most importantly, a cardholder should never DIVULGE THE PIN TO ANYONE, even to close relatives.
