Citizens Bank Does The Right Thing

[unixronin]

You've probably heard about the recent massive data breach at Hannaford supermarkets.  Someone apparently compromised the POS terminal system and stole as many as 45 million credit card numbers.

Citizens Bank knows, of course, that we've shopped at Hannaford within the last 30 days.  They "have no indication" that our cards were among those compromised, or that the card numbers have been misused.  But they didn't wait for us to have a problem.  They automatically issued us new cards, just in case, and emphasized that we have zero liability for unauthorized transactions.

Now that's how a bank SHOULD watch out for its customers.

Comments

[skellington.livejournal.com]

AND that prevents them from having to eat the loss if someone DOES use the card.

AND that might reduce the odds someone tries the scam in the future if they figure they won't make much money on it.

Sounds like good business from their end too.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Win win :)

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Meh. I still haven't forgiven them for buying out US Trust (where I was a customer) and proceeding to jack the fees through the roof.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Fees? The only fee we pay is $3.95 a month for online banking, to get direct OFX downloads instead of unreliable "web access". (Where "unreliable" means "unnaceptably many duplicate transactions downloaded".)

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I remember the reading the literature that Citizens sent to US Trust customers after the buyout and being sticker-shocked at the fee schedule. Perhaps they've changed their business model a bit.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

It depends a lot on what services you want on your account. We're using their "Free Basic Checking" account, which, for the account itself, really is free. (Online banking, per se, is free too; online bill payment - I misspoke above - which is what you need to get OFX downloads, is $3.95 a month, and of course you have to pay to order checks.)

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

well, to be fair, it's eight years later. OTOH I *heart* my credit union.

[tomatoe333.livejournal.com]

My credit union sent me a letter to the same effect last week. They say the new card should arrive next week.

It's in their best interest as well as yours.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

We had to ask our bank for a new card. They said they were watching for suspicious activity...

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

well, you know, i wouldn't want them to just issue me a new card without my permission. yah, i know they CAN...

what happens during the transition? i was away a week, would my card stop working? what about automatic payments, and my preferred vendors i've already registered with? i'll have to do that AGAIN. trust me, it was a pain in the ass the last time card normally expired.

and what's to stop them from flagging it down a week or a month or 3 months or ... again and again? VERY annoying.

still, i'm glad you weren't ripped off or anything. not that you're liable at all anyway.

#

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

what happens during the transition? i was away a week, would my card stop working?

Old card doesn't stop working until you activate the new one, I think.

[genuine-snark.livejournal.com]

I'd actually prefer just to be warned and asked. I got an auto-issue a couple of years ago. Can't remember which leak it was, but my card was in the "possibles".

Problem is, it's the card that every single one of my service autopayments was going through. That was a minor PITA to maintain.