Are Laser Cards safe?

Johnny Utah

How safe are laser cards?

I understand that a laser card can only be used if there is money in the account. What would happen if you had a few thousand Euro in your account, and your laser card is skimmed- would you be liable for any transactions/withdrawals by the person who skimmed your card?



Does a credit/debit card offer more protection than laser?


(I recently applied for a laser card and I couldn't really get a clear answer from the bank).

Johnny Utah

Edit: Forgot to say, the daily limit on my laser card is €2,500. I asked for a smaller limit, but I was told that they don't provide individual limits on laser cards.

Cool Mo D

Johnny Utah wrote: »

How safe are laser cards?

I understand that a laser card can only be used if there is money in the account. What would happen if you had a few thousand Euro in your account, and your laser card is skimmed- would you be liable for any transactions/withdrawals by the person who skimmed your card?



Does a credit/debit card offer more protection than laser?


(I recently applied for a laser card and I couldn't really get a clear answer from the bank).

I'm pretty sure that credit cards have more fraud protection than a laser card, however, it's also easier to commit credit card fraud, as you can use credit cards online with no PIN, as long as you have the security code, and even that may not be necessary over the phone, and on older websites.

I'm fairly sure that if your laser card and PIN fall into the hands of someone else, that they can withdraw your money from an ATM asap, and you have no real recourse.
The same goes for if someone makes a credit card purchase with a PIN - you have no recourse.

Basically, as I understand it, if someone has your card (credit, or debit), and your PIN, and makes purchases, you will have a very hard time getting your money back. If someone gets your credit card, without the PIN, you can get a refund on any money spent.

chris85

Cool Mo D wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that credit cards have more fraud protection than a laser card, however, it's also easier to commit credit card fraud, as you can use credit cards online with no PIN, as long as you have the security code, and even that may not be necessary over the phone, and on older websites.

I'm fairly sure that if your laser card and PIN fall into the hands of someone else, that they can withdraw your money from an ATM asap, and you have no real recourse.
The same goes for if someone makes a credit card purchase with a PIN - you have no recourse.

Basically, as I understand it, if someone has your card (credit, or debit), and your PIN, and makes purchases, you will have a very hard time getting your money back. If someone gets your credit card, without the PIN, you can get a refund on any money spent.

if a transaction is done fraudulently on the laser then the bank will investigate and refund of a victim of fraud. THis would be if card skimmed or robbed. each bank has a division devoted to this.

Atlantic Dawn

It's as secure as your pin number.

greeno

My laser was skimmed last year. Noticed 700 withdrawn online and rang the fraud dept of the bank ASAP. They asked me a few questions, they then said they would investigate the case. I was refunded within the week.

**Timbuk2**

Are Visa Debit cards any safer than Laser cards, or are they equal with relation to chargebacks and fraud recovery?

I was listening to the Joe Duffy show the other day about 1800 Hotels, and people who used Laser card could not get their money back, whereas some people who used Credit Cards managed to recover part of their loss back.

BuffyBot

Visa debit has much greater protection that Laser cards, similar to a Visa credit card.

sept09baby

My friends card was skimmed at one of those in shop atm machines. They're still investigating (only got the security tapes last week which show the shop not the machine) but have basically told her she won't be covered.

Is she being ripped off??

jor el

sept09baby wrote: »

My friends card was skimmed at one of those in shop atm machines. They're still investigating (only got the security tapes last week which show the shop not the machine) but have basically told her she won't be covered.

Is she being ripped off??

It varies from bank to bank, and how exactly they get the details. There may be cases where the victim gets a refund, and there may be cases where they don't (cases when the victim had a PIN written down, or was in some way negligent). Your friend needs to wait for the outcome of the investigation, and if no refund is given, consider taking it further - Regulator maybe.

Whippersnapper

How safe are they to use online? With an official site like Amazon or Aer Lingus etc.

BuffyBot

As safe as any card. It's not the card that's the problem, but the site. Any big retailers like Amazon, airlines etc are going to have all the security in place to handle cards and protect the data