Yukonprince

Same here but my bank manager suggested I email them as well asking for another 10,000 points. They offered an additional 5,000 which I accepted for a total of 7,500 points.

I kept the email positive and quite short and used the "good, bad and ugly" scenario = what went well, what did not and the ugly part was only 2,500 points as compensation.

ceaton

I've also found them unhelpful, except where in one beautiful instance where my card was actually used fraudulently (in another city) while I was actually on the phone with their fraud department. I have to admit, they really were quite good about that one.

jarusoba

So it's for the BANK's protection, not the client's protection. The client have ZERO liability when the card is compromised.

Now, with the PIN codes, the client might not be off the hook if the fraudulent transaction goes through by entering the PIN. That's why I hate using the PIN cards. Unfortunately, the banks are getting smarter and all cards will be chip cards in the future.

epost77

+1^

Yes this in inconvenient but let's put this in perspective. We are angry at banks and CC companies for protection OUR money so that someone doesn't steal it!! Give me a break!!

For anyone who worries about being "stranded in some far off land" without recourse I have a solution for you...get a second or third credit card!! I never travel without at least 2 cards and usually 3. If you travel that much then you do it wisely or get burned!

Yukonprince

+1

I have a regular CIBC no charge Visa card too and both credit cards are set up to access my bank account as well in case I lose my regular bank card.

Tangoer

We can end this conversation with: And that's why credit card interest rates are 20-30%.

(Most of this cost is eaten up by fraud. I'd guess that fully 5% of transactions are fraudulent. You can buy credit card numbers and equipment to clone card online these days. And then spend the ill-gotten funds online, too. Professional crime groups spend 24/7 making and stealing cards).

ylwae

You're both missing the point, but if you're happy with the way things have worked out for you, that's great.

FrequentFlyerYYZ

2009 Credit card fraud in Canada was reported at about $350M, while total V/MC transaction volume was $270B. That works out to a 0.13% fraud loss rate, which is a bit better than 5%. Also, fraud losses are funded by interchange (the fee paid by merchants). High interest rates are to cover loan losses and generate profit. If you want to get that back, you need to own bank shares...

Credit card fraud actually dropped from 2008-2009. This is due in large part to more aggressive blocking. A large majority of 'compromised' cards are never used/captured by fraudsters. The bank blocks them due to unusual usage or because the card was used in a terminal or ABM that ended up getting compromised. You were probably never at risk, but the bank is being conservative. However, this results in terrible customer service and creates the impression that things are a lot worse than they actually are. Things will improve with more chip installations (harder to skim) and better fraud algorithms.

Spex

I just signed up for the CIBC areogold last week, so keeping my fingers crossed that I will not have a bad experience like the OP

As an aside, why are CC companies so secretive about cards being compromised? I have a joint BMO MasterCard with the wife and got an "urgent" call about our card being compromised and cancelled. When I called back to ask what happened, they would not tell me.

I know this isn't Visa specific, but can anyone answer my question. Because A. If this was a legit purchase by myself or my wife, I could have cleared it up right there; or B. If I bought something from or store or website that was compromised, I would know to avoid using my CC at that place for a while.

ylwae

I think that's a perfectly valid question. Others will tell you it's for your own protection, so shut up and use another card.

David Z

However BS this is to some people, one reason is they don't want potential
thieves to know what security measures or so were input or broken into. Few
believe in "security through obscurity", though that's obviously not flawless.

Some cc companies give a few "specific" details how to prevent or lessen the
chance of this happening. They just can't give really specifics further.

Of course, another reason is they don't want people to know and maybe just
change providers...

RCyyz

Indeed - here's an example of a fradulent use that involved the PIN. CIBC held the cardholder responsible.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...udulently.html

RCyyz

My RBC British Airways card has been suspended at least 3 times for fradulent use. The latest incident happened in Turkey where I did a chip & pin, but the pin didn't work because I was using a 6-digit pin whereas terminals in Europe can only handle 4 digits. I phoned RBC Visa fron Turkey and was told of course, to proceed to my branch where they would fix the issue.

I now use a 4-digit PIN and I have taken to calling Visa ahead of time to notify them of where and when I'll be. They put a note on my file and thus far, there have been no more cancellations.

As a relatively infrequent traveller this works out, but it's a pain and I don't think it should be incumbent on me to niotify them of all this. I always travel with 2 cards, but that too shouldn't be necessary.

Face it folks - credit card security just isn't what it should be.

RCyyz

P.S. I will add that when I had the CIBC Aerogold, it was suspended at least 5 times that I recall. Only once did I agree with the suspension - I bought breakfast in YYZ, lunch in YUL and a late dinner in YVR. The other times, my spending was "outside my normal pattern" but of course, they declined to actually identify my "normal" pattern when asked.

HR_Traveler

This is an interesting discussion. For a number of years I had a CIBC Visa which was temporarily blocked as a result of normal and authorized transaction a minimum of twice per month. I complained to CIBC each time but never received any compensation and the problem never stopped. Keep in mind that in many cases they were blocking my Visa for card present transactions of small amounts (<$50).

I have a family member who worked for one of the networks (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Interac) in a fraud management and education capacity, with the police and Canadian banks. I expressed my frustration at CIBCs practice and that my experience was limited to my CIBC Visa and did not carry over to my Amex. My family member indicated that CIBC has very low risk tolerance thresholds and as a result much lower fraud than other Canadian or international banks. CIBC views the adverse impact on their customers as an acceptable tradeoff for the lower costs they incur. This family member also confirmed that under Canadian law banks cannot hold their customer responsible for fraudulent transactions and it the banks are not able to send the cost back the the merchant they must cover it themselves. So make no mistake, CIBC blocks cards more quickly than other banks to save money and drive up profit, not to protect it's customers.

With regards to the Chip/Pin concerns, keep in mind, for a pin transaction to take place both the pin and the card must be present. Since chip cards cannot be duplicated, or skimmed (at this point) that means that not only must the person have copied down your pin, they must also have stolen the card itself. If someone stole my credit card I would be aware and would have already cancelled the card anyway.