General Chat

Just when it couldn't get any worse I realised my debit card was expiring at the end of the month and although I have received a new card, I wont be able to use it.

I tel customer services as the letter with the card said I needed to use it in an ATM first to activate the card and then it can be used contactless or used to pay accounts over the phone or online.

I explained that I am housebound, have no one who could travel 1/2 to the town to get to an ATM. The lady said well im sorry unless you can get to an ATM, then the card wont work.
I pay various things online and over the phone every month.Yes some things are set up on D/D but not all for various reasons.
When I said so how am I supposed to do my Tesco online shopping, she just kept saying im so sorry there is no other way!!
At this stage I was nearly in tears worrying how I am going to solve this problem.

She suggested giving the card and my PIN to a neighbour who could drive to the bank. But this goes against their strict guidelines of never disclosing this number to anyone.So if my neighbour decided to steal £20 whilst she sorted my card, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Im telling you all this because I surely wont be the only one in this position and also maybe some of you think that updating your card details on say Amazon and deleting the old card will be ok but it wont.

Im in the process of writing a letter of complaint to my bank.
I suggest all of you look at the expiry date on your debit and see if it is due to expire anytime soon.

Of course if you are mobile and able to get to an ATM then you will be fine but for those of us less mobile, this is more stress than I can handle just now!!

Florence in the hebrides

florence
do you have online banking, if so you maybe be able to activate online

Activating the Card Through Your Bank

1
Call your bank to have a representative activate your card. Call your bank and provide the required information to verify your identity. Then, request that the representative activate your card. Provide them with the card number, expiration date, CVV code, and any other information they ask for, which may include the PIN

3
Go to your bank’s website to activate your card online. Many banks will allow you to activate your card online. Go to the bank’s website, sign in, and click on the “Customer Service” tab. Then, find the option for debit card activation and follow the prompts.[6]

maddie

Telling someone who is in recovery from a very major operation to get in a taxi is not helpful.

Trusting someone to have a second card isn’t much different to giving them your PIN number.

Hopefully Maddies idea will be more useful.

may i add i find if you bank on line using the chat facility on there is far more productive than ringing the bank that is probably a call centre not in this country

Florence, I have messaged you.. :-)

So have I, Florence :-)

Thanyou for all your suggestions.
Rollo, I cannot travel in a car post op! Also at £40 for a round trip in a taxi(if there are any left working here) that's is def a nono.

The customer services which is this country said you can only activate the card by using it first in an ATM. I asked if they could do it over the phone by asking security questions but she said no to that too. I don't have online banking but I still need to get to the ATM.

Maddie I don't really want to sign up to online banking but I will investigate the things you have suggested, thankyou.

Florence in the hebrides

florence
i am in the same position as you and would be really lost without online banking, i can transfer money to my friends who do my shopping whether its pennies or pounds,
i really hope you get your card sorted
maddie

Florence I have sent you a number to ring. Let me know if it helps.

I have just registered for online banking only to find.....grrrr its only credit cards you can activate online not debit cards!!

I do feel for you and the frustration banks cause with their security systems.

A couple of decades ago my daughter was in the middle of a multiple sclerosis episode and needed cash from an ATM. This was the first time she needed cash during a crisis.

She spoke wth the bank after a friend dialled the help line number and she explained she had lost her eyesight again.

Barclays suggestion was she wait at the ATM for someone to use it and ask them to withdraw some cash using her card and PIN.

Barclays had a rocket from me when she mentioned it and she got an apology and some cash credited as way of them negating their stupidity.

I do have fingerprint recognition on 3 bank accounts but the Co-op one is run by Luddites!

You can have a note put onto your file explaining any disability and customer care can make exceptions to allow you to update your card details and a temporary PIN.

The alternative is setting up a second step when buying online, you register another password with your bank and the merchant checkout will redirect you to that and you enter your password and that reassures the bank it is you using the card.

I'd complain to the bank again.

Good luck

Sue x

RTR
"It works if you have registered a smart phone with them and can get a connection"

So it may not work then - and only if, I presume, you have PREVIOUSLY registered a smartphone with them.
I mean, I could be a car mechanic, if I'd taken the apprenticeship!

Also, I'm not sure there's a Santander bank on the Hebrides! :-S

Well peeps, I decided to phone again on another customer services number. Imagine my surprise to be told you do not have to activate the card at an ATM to use it online or over the phone to pay bills but only if you want to make it contactless.
All you need to do is update your card details on say Amazon or paypal!

I explained I had tel earlier and was so upset at what I had been told. The lady apologized profusely that I had been misinformed.
have to say I burst into tears with relief.

I know none of us are perfect and sometimes we things wrong, but this information has to be correct all the time.

I am obviously relieved now to have sorted the situation but not without making me upset and very anxious.

Thankyou to all for your help, really appreciated

Florence in the hebrides j

Florence
It may be worth looking into being to make payments by phone. You need the other parties bank details first and then each time it would be easier.

Glad you have sorted it out now

X

I do make payments by phone but this morning was told wouldn't be able to do that until I had activated the card which I now know to be wrong.

I make several payments a month by debit card rather than direct debit because I have control on what day I pay it.One account I have the payment is due every 28 days, so the date changes every month and a couple of times it was due before I got paid..

Thanks again

Florence in the hebrides

Glad to hear it's sorted for you now, it can be more than frustrating at any time for the banking not to work as you need it to but right now with all you're going through it's so much worse. My son is an essential worker and working all the hours right now and he's been very frustrated with his bank as they've messed up a simple procedure causing him problems including bank charges, banks can be hopeless at times!

Aw Caroline sorry to hear that as its the last thing he needs. Hope it gets sorted asap and a refund of the charges too.

Florence in the hebrides

On a slightly different theme, if you have a teenager living with you open an account for them before they reach 18. As a dependent child it is comparitively easy, but as an adult without any of the required security/proof of identity documents, it can be very difficult.

My friend's son needed an account to pay his wages into - he doesn't pay council tax - he hasn't a driving licence - he doesn't pay the household bills etc.etc. In other words, he couldn't prove that he lived anywhere!!!

I can't remember how it got sorted, but it took ages!

Yes thankfully both my children had savings accounts when they were young.So when they turned 15 they opened a basic current account with little hassle as they had already got an account.

Whats an 18 year old who is still living at home gonna have as id for opening an account?As you said no driving licence, no utility bills etc...they don't make it easy do they!

Florene in the hebrides