I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s possible in the NAB app to tell the bank to not send the second card onwards. You still have to receive the first card but from then on you don’t have to receive the second or subsequent cards. This would be good for the environment and less wastage of resources as well as plastic each card has a chip.
When I asked ING or Westpac if they had a similar opt out I got several messages before they understood what I wanted and why. And no they now don’t have that option.
So I ask the choice community which banks have this feature? It would seem to be a simple feature to implement and with the rise of mobile wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay it would over the whole banking population save lots of plastic and resources, even if a single person it wouldn’t make much difference.
While it may be a great idea, a physical card may still have some use. We have had experience in our business where a guest arrived and couldn’t get mobile reception and couldn’t pay using their digital wallet. They said they had problems earlier in the day…used it a couple of times offline, then stopped working. Fortunately they had a physical card to use for payment. The next day after contacting their bank, it appears when there is no mobile/internet connection, a limited number of transactions can be processed offline (they were out of their mobile coverage all day). Then transactions fail, not allowing a transaction for purchase to occur.
While digital wallets might seem a perfect solution, they are until they doesn’t work - like our guest found out. I personally would at least have one alternative form of payment to a digital wallet - thus being something physical. Maybe a wad of cash if one is comfortable carrying it around at all times as backup, or at least one credit/debit card.
It is worth noting our bank uses cards containing 82% recycled content. A step in the right direction but would be good to see them at 100%, use alternative bioplastics or allow them to be returned after expiry for secure recycling.
Edit: As a business owner, we wouldn’t accept card information stored in a device as security for futureMOTOprocessing - something our merchant bank advises against. Future MOTO processing may be needed when mobile network or EFTPOS connection is down. This has occurred in the past, albeit infrequently. If we accept what is on a device without seeing a physical card, we expose ourselves to higher risk of chargeback fraud or false details being provided. It is worth noting the name on a physical card can be used to match the individual presenting it. As indicated above, it one is relying heavily on a digital wallet, an alternative form of payment needs to be carried. Otherwise one might find themselves unable to make purchases if there is a problem.
The starting point failure scenario is “you don’t have a mobile phone at all” - so there is certainly still a market for a physical card. But I am happy for those that want to be further beholden to Apple or Google to opt out of getting a physical card.
(The pandemic and the need to scan a QR code to check-in did expose for me how many places have flaky mobile signal.)
Another approach, giving an immediate payoff, would be to extend the life of the card i.e. the expiry date. Is there a solid reason for having such a limited life? Could it be pushed out by a few more years? There was a solid reason when it was all magnetic stripe because the stripe would get tired after a few years but that doesn’t apply to the chip.
Possibly need a better quality of card. I’ve long kept my everyday cards in a man style wallet carried in a shoulder bag. There is a thin clear plastic film which at some age commences peeling away from the core of the card. It seems to relate to frequency of use and or technology. Not an issue with my Medicare card or now ancient Flybys card. Both regular use bank cards and the Woolies rewards card (also now well aged) are displaying this defect in lamination. I’ve twice needed to replace cards early due to the failure.
There are other ways to store and protect cards. Personal preferences and convenience vary.
Prior design cards with the embossed lettering routinely shed plastic film and often needed replacing prior to expiration. More recent flat cards, where personal information is imprinted not embossed have not had the problem. Further it was the norm a few years ago where the card had to be inserted into a reader but now waving is the norm excepting for a reducing need to insert debit cards in a slot. A difference in that wear and tear likely contibutes to longevity.
An aspect not mentioned is that some, unfortunately not all, new cards are designed for the blind and vision impaired. Westpac was one of the first in 2023.
Digital cards in a phone wallet are well and good, but do they serve everyone adequately? Letting each consumer decline a plastic card rather than one size fits all might be a good step.
Yes, I have that happening on a loyalty card that I have that has no expiry date and is now almost 10 years old. However the magnetic stripe on that card still works and I don’t imagine that a chip on a banking card would care about the plastic film.
During a recent overseas trip, I stayed at a couple of hotels that only accepted physical credit cards and wouldn’t accept my digital card (luckily I had one). Because of that, I wouldn’t risk traveling without a plastic card. When not on holiday, I rarely carry a physical card, or even a wallet.
There are certain times that you need the physical card.
Typically, hotels require the actual card on check-in as they need the full card number to enter into their system.
Also, there has been times when the eftpos systems have gone down in the shop (not the bank side) and they were only able to do “offline" transactions if you had the physical card or cash.
So, having a card is still a necessity (at times).
I don’t think I said anywhere that I was asking for bank cards to be opt in to getting a physical card, only that consumers be given a choice to opt out.
For a community that is pro-choice or putting the power into consumer’s hands the general vibe I get from those who posted is decidedly anti-choice.
Even if you think it’s a good idea to have backup physical card, don’t have multiple banks many customers have both a credit card and a transaction card. It’s not necessary to have two as one can be used to access both credit card and savings account.
So, once again, besides NAB what other banks offer opt-out of receiving a physical card?
Suncorp doesn’t. But, if one banks only with one institution potentially with one and/or linked accounts on the same card, which many do, the practicalities of having electronic only card and a different physical card for back up may not be possible.
It would only be possible if one has accounts in multiple institutions or an institution issues multiple cards to their account holders, such as one card for each account. In the case of Suncorp, one can ask for one card for all accounts - we have done this for our personal accounts. It assumes accounts without cards can be accessed through other means (e.g. online, phone banking, branches).
I’ve been tempted and done some careful trimming in the past. A temporary fix as it seems to accelerate once it commences. To not know what purpose if any the film serves and if down the track there may be an unintended consequence when one least expects it. I’ve had one well known card replaced half way through its valid years prior to expiry without further question. Likely a known outcome depending on …..
Anyway - an interesting aside that needs no more said for now.
Yes, I am one of those senior persons who does not have a mobile phone. I would never use a mobile phone to do any form of banking in any case….not ever. I agree that in general, credit/debit/transaction cards, should have a far greater life than they currently have. Seems ludicrous to me that the lifespan is so short. Anyone who has a ‘damaged’ card shall we say, can apply for a new one when necessary. Auto issue is so unnecessary. However, I suppose that the time frame may be considered a safety point, in that having a ‘fairly short’ lifespan means that anyone losing their card and not realizing that fact (perhaps because the card is not often used), has a shorter period of time for someone to dishonestly use it. (they can purchase goods below $100 and no pin would be required). There is protection in that regard.
I have a mobile phone and only use it for anything financial in unusual circumstances. I prefer my card. I lost my phone once and that brought up just how risky doing anything financial on my mobile phone is. Or having any sensitive personal data on my phone is.
Mobile phone security is not particularly good. According to
Scams via phone calls accounted for 50% of all scams. Scams via text messages
accounted for 23% of scams. It will be worse now as those figures were for 2022.
The bank I have does have an app and security checker which is a pain to use and I have to use via my mobile even when banking on my home computer.
I don’t really like the push to try and get everyone to do everything on their phone and add apps (trackers) galore. I like to be be able to see what I am doing so prefer to do banking on a big screen and type easily; not tap, tap,tap…
Not to mention that it may helpfully get backed up to the cloud, so that there are now two copies of your sensitive personal data for someone to steal.
Of course all copies should be encrypted but there is no obligation on Apple/Google to provide any transparency around that. It may be. It may not be. It may be weak. It may be strong. Who has access? Under what circumstances?
As an aside, it can be irritating to be behind someone paying with everything from cards to loyalty cards on their mobiles, and the mobile then ‘fumbles’ displaying an incoming call, message, text, or/and app message at the same time leading to stacked screens. It can be managed for many, not always for all, and it happens more than rarely.
Taking a hard card from a wallet is quick and rarely encounters interference.
I’ve two cards which have recently been replaced and ready to be destroyed per the required protocol. Both have signs of the plastic film failing on both sides.
For one the front facing film came off one half. The film carried the dark ink colour of the details pressed into the base card. What was left devoid of the black ink lost legibility. To assume the latest cards not embossed might see other details go with the film?
The other card alarmingly had the backside film lifting. An attempt to remove that film saw the magnetic stripe still found on all cards come away with the film. Enough said to make the card useless in many circumstances.
To suggest if one has a card that is starting to fail for what ever cause, requesting a replacement asap seems the way to go.
to opt out of getting a physical card.
