These days, it is assumed to be a fashion statement if you are a holder of multiple credit cards. With the ever growing and “always-in-demand” factors of holding credit cards, banks and credit card companies have definitely found their ways to keep the business of lending up and high even in these times of financial uneasiness. Although these cards definitely provide you with a lot more convenience than compared to liquid cash in terms of travel safety, reward options etc, you as a card holder are open to a lot of risks like the misuse of your card, problem of theft, skimming etc.
In order to combat such problems, RBI has taken the initiative and came up with a unique solution of making the two factor authentication mandatory in order to carry out online transactions which surely has made this mode of payment quite secure. However the threat still lurks in the offline mode.
In order to protect yourself from such incidents, it is best to protect yourself. These days there are a lot of insurance companies and banks provide their credit card holders with the option of protecting themselves under circumstances when their card is stolen, or any unauthorized purchases might have been carried out etc. Depending upon their banking policies, the feature of providing protection can vary from one bank to another. Some may provide protection up to 12 hours the theft is reported while some provide protection against a fraud if it has been carried out on the Point of Sale (PoS).
Most banks these days, like the Citibank, ICICI Bank, Axis Banks and even LIC Cards have teamed up with the card protection service provider CPP Assistance Services to provide insurance protection to credit card holders. As a customer, all you have to do is, get in touch with your bank or your credit card provider and get yourself enrolled for the scheme, register for all the cards you may hold like the credit cards, debit card, loyalty cards, reward cards etc. So, for example, if you happen to lose your wallet containing all such cards, you need to just call the toll free number, that will be provided to you at the time of enrollment, and notify about the theft and they will block the cards unlike calling up each bank or each credit card company where you have signed up for a credit card.
This service is best for those people, who hold credit card as a primary source for making payments and also for those who are frequent travelers.
Do read the terms and conditions:
It is not always that the insurance protection plans of one bank or a credit card company will always be the same with other such financial institution. Therefore it is always advised to go through the terms and conditions carefully so that you will know as to what are the hidden charges, sub charges or what are the basis on which you might not be given a protection.
Some banks do not provide you with the protection if the incident of theft or fraud has occurred during an ATM transaction or even if the liability is restricted to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh. Some covers are not provided to that transaction that might have occurred after 12 hours of reporting a theft or a fraudulent transaction. The schemes provided by CPP Assistance, have a major drawback being that, you as a card holder, will be provided the protection only after the card is lost and not under situations where the fraudulent transaction might have taken place because your password or any other security detail might have been compromised.
Therefore if you do not wish to take another debt like a personal loan or any other type of loan to repay the debt on your credit card due to avoidable circumstances, go ahead and get yourself a protection. Also, it is extremely important that you notify the bank or the credit cards as soon as possible once a fraudulent or an unauthorized transaction comes to your notice.