Protecting Your Debit Card

Ontario consumers use debit cards so widely now that most couldn’t imagine life without them. Millions of times a day, consumers use their cards to access their financial accounts or to buy goods and services.

But as the use of debit cards has risen, so has the number of scam and fraud artists targeting consumers’ hard-earned cash. The main reason is the large return that the scam artist can receive with little effort. Even though financial institutions cover consumer losses in cases of fraud, it’s important to understand when you could be liable for losses.

Quick Tips

While the federal government regulates financial institutions, the Ministry of Consumer Services has a number of tips and advice for credit and debit card use:

• Keep photocopies of all cards and identification in a safe place.
• Choose a PIN that will be very hard to "crack" - avoid using a birthday, an address or telephone number.
• Securely store and then destroy bank statements and ATM transaction records after you are finished with them.
• Check monthly bank and credit card statements thoroughly. Check up on any discrepancies, even small ones.
• Remember to take your card and transaction record after every use.
• Don’t write down your PIN or reveal it to anyone, including friends and family. If you do, most card agreements say that you are liable for any loss you suffer.