Credit Card Policy

[Guest]

A friend recently had their credit card stolen and $2,000 of charges were placed within a couple of hours. However, it was not until the next day that he noticed this, and informed his bank.

It now transpires that even though all transactions following the report have been cancelled, he will still be charged the $2,000 for the transactions BEFORE he informed the bank.

The merchants are required to provide receipts, but fraudulent transactions can only be proven if the signatures don't match (and of course, that is not hard for any career criminal).

Having checked the terms and conditions, it appears that this is normal practice for all banks and credit card companies in Singapore (apart from Amex). Has anyone come across this before?

I am very concerned as you are also liable for any fraudulent transactions made on your card EVEN IF you haven't lost it (such as online transactions). There is also no upper limit for your liability (like the US), and no protection for the individual (like the UK).

Any advice from anyone?

Or is it time to ditch my Singapore cards?

[Strong Eagle]

I was going to get a Sing card but after your post, I checked the language at Citibank, StanChart, and DBS... absolutely terrible... merchant assumes no responsibility for risk, and if you are travelling internationally, you could really get hurt... you might not know for a weeke until you got home that someone was using your cc #.

I'm sticking with my American cards for now. I've heard Wells Fargo offers international cards without the garbage liability clauses of the Sing cards.

From the Citibank card agreement:

You are liable for all unauthorized card transactions effected following
such loss, theft or disclosure, whether they are effected as a result of
the unauthorized use of the card, any MCCA check (if we have granted
you the MasterCard Check Access Facility), the PIN and/or the TBS
Access Code or otherwise but provided that if we are satisfied that
such loss, theft or disclosure is not due to your negligence or default
and that you have fully complied with clauses 9.1 and 9.2, we may
agree at our absolute discretion to waive entirely or limit to such
amount determined by us from time to time, your liability for all
unauthorized card transactions made after our receipt of your
notification to us under clause 9.2, provided that such waiver or
limitation shall not apply to cash advances.

[Savage]

In the last 2 years, I have been a victim of credit card fraud while travelling in the US (with my Singapore Amex card) and in Thailand (with my Singapore Citbank Visa card). In both cases, the amounts were upwards of US$3000 and at retail outlets with use of a physical card. I only discovered these fraudulent transactions after a couple of days when I was checking my online account statements.

In both cases, Amex and Citibank waived the charges from my account and sent me new cards as soon as I reported the fraud.

YMMV.