Credit cardholder’s RM7,700 nightmare

He claims losing card to thief and ends up having to fork out RM3,080 on purchases he never made

KUCHING: A credit cardholder is seeking justice from Bank Negara to provide better protection to cardholders after he has to fork out RM3,080 in payment to his bank for an extravagant purchase by a ‘thief’.

The victim, Choo Siew Joon lost his wallet around 1pm on Feb 13 but he did not realise it until after a thief charged a sum of RM7,700 in a single transaction on his credit card at 1.55pm,” said Member of Parliament for Bandar Kuching Chong Chieng Jen yesterday.

“The bank, without prior confirmation with the cardholder, approved the transaction. It was only after the transaction was approved that the bank called the cardholder. By then it was already too late,” he said.

He added that the thief bought jewellery and earlier on at 1.26pm, the culprit bought fuel.
Chong said after several rounds of negotiation, the bank finally offered Choo, a businessman a sum of RM3,080 as full settlement of the amount.

“As the cardholder was fearful of litigation against the bank which has the resources to engage a lengthy litigation, the cardholder was compelled to accept the reduced amount,” he said. He pointed out that he had helped Choo to lodge a formal complaint against the concerned bank on its failure to implement precautionary measures to safeguard the interest of its cardholder.

“Given that the transaction was clearly out of the normal spending pattern of the cardholder and was excessively high, the bank ought to have called the cardholder before it approved the transaction,” he added. Chong said if the bank did not have such a precautionary measure to protect the interest of its customers or credit cardholders, then it should make it clear to the public.

Bank Negara should make it compulsory for banks to implement a system whereby there must be a maximum charge per transaction or per day for all credit cards, above which the banks must obtain the prior approval of the cardholder before charging to the cardholders’ account, he said.

“Bank Negara should also make it compulsory for banks to make public whether it provides such protection to its cardholders,” he suggested.

“Banks with such measures would have a competitive edge over those which do not have,” he said.

Meanwhile, Choo urged for better security system concerning credit cards to prevent similar

Source : The Borneo Post