People have their wallets stolen all the time, its happened to you, its happened to people you know. picked from
their pockets in the train or in the bus or in a crowd or their domestic help
flicks it and you realize it only when
the messages start popping in for the transactions of withdrawals at ATMs / merchants/
fuel pumps and you really don’t know what to do because you don’t even know the
account number/ card number sometimes you don’t even know the Bank name either
and in the state of Panic you forget the name of the account holders too which
is you yourself or your spouse or which or your children or …….
WHAT DO YOU DO?
In a lot of ways I just refuse to connect with people but
somehow people associated with my wife and my child imagine me as the man who probably
works in a bank and has the answer to everything associated including the odd
phone call every now and then from neighbors, friends and relatives to check if
the bank was open today or would open tomorrow or not.
To be fair ; the banks print a lot of paper on the DON’T DO THIS LIST but people simply
refuse to read it because it is fine print and if its bold print then they are
only selling something. So why read it.
Ignorance and Stupidity have no age. At the age of 15/20/30/40/50/60/70/80
also you can remember the name of your childhood crush and his/her birthday but
you simply refuse to memorize a 4 digit password for an ATM Card / Credit Card. You would rather keep the password noted on a
piece of paper or maybe the same paper along with the respective cards in an organized
manner and pat yourself on your back for your meticulous organization skills. Some
of you would even keep signed blank cheques in your wallets, just In case
the ATM runs out of money. So much so
for a backup for a backup.
It’s amazing how the same person who has an OCD of checking
the house lock twice and then walks away but turns back to open the lock again,
reopens the lock and walks into the kitchen to check if the Gas was fully turned
off, Locks up the house again, checks the lock twice again after turning the
keys and keeping it in the pocket and walks away knowing he has done everything
to secure the house from theft and fire.
To cut a long story short – people forget their wife’s and
offspring’s birthdays despite running successful and rewarding lives but don’t know
what to do when they find their wallet missing other than asking for help, which is also a great thing. It’s a good
thing to seek help. By nature all of us are helpful and sensitive in
nature.
It’s just money, earned through your lifetime lying in your
bank account, waiting to find a purpose
Call the helpline of the respective banks. Immediately !
Yes, you need to know the names of the banks for you to start
with, to begin to even search for the help line numbers or anyone to be able to
help you.
I could note down all the helpline numbers here but that
would be a waste of time or maybe I will, who knows.
Almost all bank help lines even the automated Interactive
Voice Responses have the first option as Card or Bank account and then
generally have the 1st option as report loss of card. It is Open 24x7x365.
There is a real human being’s voice at the other end. (That
should put you at ease)
Tell your Name/ Bank account/ Debit Card number/ Credit
Card Number and the representative would hotlist the debit cards / credit cards
immediately after verifying your identity with your complete name/ date of
birth/ mother’s maiden name / last transaction / last payment / last withdrawal
/ mobile number / billing address or any other random information that only you
would know.
Remember to take down the service request number / the last transaction
on the account and the balance for follow up action.
You might ask why would they ask you for verification, instead
of simply blocking the card but the fact is that if they don’t, you could simply
block anyone’s card by just knowing his/ her name. Imagine the fun pranks you could play on
your friends by simply blocking their debit cards and credit cards. Yes you can do that, if you do your homework
properly. (There is a forward going on in whatsapp on why to remove your
name/mobile from Facebook else fraudsters can empty your bank account without even stealing your wallet)
Now here is the tricky part in the mind - - like most people
including me, you don’t know your
account number/ debit card number/ credit card number so what do you do now ?
If you are, who you are saying who you are – say upfront you lost
your cards with your wallet and you don’t know the numbers.
Assist the representative of the bank with your Name / Date
of Birth / Pan Number / registered mobile number and he/she will be able to
pull out all the details. It is all a
matter of keying in the details while you speak it out slowly and clearly.
If you don’t know or don’t have your PAN Number or can’t even
remember your Mobile number - then you
might face some difficulty or an extension of anxious moments but nothing that
can’t be overcome because searching further requires isolating your name matched details with further verification. Yes there are other people in the world who
have the same name and the same date of birth as you, living in the same country and
having an account with the same bank in the same city and the same branch. Amazing
isn’t it.
If it is a bank account – it helps knowing the city and the branch in which the account was opened for quicker search and find
on the bank’s data base.
Well so you get the general drift now. That’s about all there is to it.
If you have overcome your state of panic by this time, then
go ahead and request for a fresh replacement credit card/ debit card in this
phone call itself. Considering you don’t
know your account number or card number and the representative would not be
disclosing the same to you, other than confirming that the same has been
blocked. You would not be able make a
fresh phone call to request for a new debit card/ credit card till you go
through your records at home to find your account/ card numbers.
Repeat the above process by calling the helpline for all the remaining banks. I know it is not fun but every
subsequent phone call is easier to follow through as you go down through your list
of cards to block.
On re-issuance of the plastic, all your standing instructions
would get transferred to the new number and you don’t have to do anything for
that and trust me that knowing that from beforehand is a big relief.
But then not to underestimate the power of the buffoonery of
the humans and the quality of the mobile network - Calls can get dropped - Please
call back. Sometimes a particular representative
may not be able to search for your particular account successfully and express
regret. Not to worry – Simply disconnect and call back again and start afresh. The
representative at the other end is a new one and would have a different skill
and training level and may be able to help you successfully. I have experienced
such instances in my life time and hence mentioning. Please also explore the possibility that you might
not have an account with that bank either.
I have also come across a bank whose helpline was not
willing to search and find without knowing the account number or the debit card
number and that was truly a scary situation to be in that despite giving all
personal details the helpline expressed its inability to act upon the loss of debit
card and that is what prompted me to write this piece.
Interestingly the wonderful thing about the cards in your
wallets are that they come with an expiry date too. If you are lucky you might
be carrying cards in your wallets which have expired and the helpline would
update you on the status as EXPIRED.
In the times and age that I live in, the word “EXPIRED”
never provided so much of relief.
In case you are the internet savvy customer – all banks have
the option of hot listing of debit cards including registered credit cards
after you have logged in. It’s faster
than calling the help line.
In case you have the mobile app of the bank you use – you can
hotlist your card on that aswell.
Replacement cards generally arrive in 3 to 4 days. If you
live in the Metros you have the new card at your doorstep even before you have
taken complete stock of your life after you lost your wallet and made those
phone calls.
Now that you have the cards - replacement cards cost a mere Rs 150/- plus taxes to Rs 200/- plus taxes and vary from bank to bank.
Hope this helped.
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