How secure is a credit card?

How secure is a credit card?

Credit cards are becoming increasingly secure as a payment method. Nowadays they are just as safe as a normal bank card. You should report loss immediately. If you lose the credit card, the finder could misuse the card. With most credit cards, however, the deductible that you have to pay in the event of fraud is rather low or even zero.

If you immediately report the loss of your card to your credit card provider and there is no gross negligence on your part, then you are not liable for the fraud. Every provider is available around the world 24 hours a day for such a report. He immediately blocks the credit card. If abuse has already been made for this, most card issuers will also compensate this damage.

Credit card more secure due to the pin code

Credit cards are just as secure as a regular bank card. Nowadays they also have a chip and a pin code. Paying in a store, hotel or restaurant is therefore exactly the same as with a debit card. The credit card does have a different pin code than your bank card. You can usually choose or change this pin code yourself. The magnetic strip is used little or no longer. This technology was not completely safe. The strip could be copied by so-called skimmers, scammers who secretly place a device on a payment terminal. The chip is much safer. A crook must now place his 'copier' in the slot where you insert the card. This trick exists but is extremely rare, there are only a few known incidents in North America with an advanced paper-thin reader. This is called shimming.

Finally, the shopkeeper sees very quickly that something is wrong, the payment is not going well. Only if he never pays attention does the crook have a chance. If you ever experience problems with inserting the card, immediately report this to the retailer.

Pay on the internet with your credit card

Most credit cards come with additional insurance for almost all your purchases. The insurance means that you do not have to pay for an order that arrives damaged or simply does not arrive. The insurance makes online payment with a credit card a lot safer. But the most important protection starts with you.

Do not use your credit card on websites that you do not know well. More and more fake shops are being spotted. These do deliver a product, but that is not the product that you expect. Usually it is a cheap clone from, for example, China. These fake shops are not so much interested in your money. They collect data from as many credit card users as possible and sell their bundle to the highest bidder.

What should you pay attention to?

So only do business with web shops that you really know. And always check whether the webshop is not counterfeit. The internet address must start with a lock and https. Then the webshop and your credit card payment are just safe. If something ever goes wrong, there is still the card issuer that guarantees. That's the nice thing about a credit card.