Update: I got a call from POSB to apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and also to get my feedback. Thanks for calling, guys.
When the DBS/POSB ATM overseas skimming fraud happened, people got worried about losing their money.
Then DBS/POSB sent us new unsolicited ATM cards, their GO! Card, as a security measure, saying that we had to activate this new ATM cum Debit card at an ATM.
Frankly I just need an ATM card. Why foist a debit card on me too? I don't want thieves to be able to access my account with just a signature, whereas in the past, they needed to know my PIN.
Though to DBS/POSB's credit, the debit card withdrawal limit is set to $1 until you change it. Still, it is disconcerting to know that my friends didn't even know their GO! Cards are debit cards and they have their white strip left blank instead of signing on it.
The new card issued to me has the overseas withdrawal function disabled by default, in the light of the skimming of some of their customers' cards. You have to enable that overseas feature yourself now. Fine, I can understand that.
So I go and try activating my new POSB GO! Card at an ATM one night, only to discover there was an "office hours" timing to activate cards at ATMs.
Fine. My fault for not reading your fine print about activation hours. Wasted my 18 cents parking. Never mind.
Tried activating again during the day. Unsuccessful. I am getting very annoyed.
Wife's card was activated at the ATM successfully though.
So I call the DBS/POSB hotline and was told to either send some form by mail or come down to any branch to get a new card issued.
To run salt on my wound, I get an SMS from DBS/POSB that same day, saying:
"Fr DBS: Yr new card and PIN should have arrived. Pls activate it immediately as yr old card ending XXXX will be closed on XX MAR 2012. For enquiries, pls call +65 62201111."
That deadline is just a few days away. Thanks DBS/POSB. Thanks hor.
I made my way to a POSB branch and oh my goodness, a long long long queue of people all with ATM activation problems.
After queuing at the POSB "May I Help You" counter for 26 mins (guy in front of me had a complex transaction that took up a lot of the teller's time), it was finally my turn and I am told to join the even LONGER queue to sort out my ATM card.
May I Help You, your head lah.
To quote my friend Callan, "Thanks a lot for the trouble it takes to activate a new ATM card that I didn't ask for, DBS/POSB."
Eh, DBS/POSB. My ancient ATM card was working fine lah. Why did you send me your new GO! Card and force me to activate it? The skimming fraud was your security problem but you made it mine.
And I even had one friend who apparently had her old ATM card deactivated before she got the new GO! Card in the mail.
I am still in the queue for my turn at the counter. I am surrounded by the young and old. Some of the older folks probably never had to deal with this kind of complicated nonsense their whole lives beyond the first time they opened their account. You can see the confusion on their faces as they queue in frustration.
Ok. It's my turn already. You know what saves the day, DBS/POSB? Your counter staff is polite and apologetic. And I in turn, praise her for her good service and tell her I feel sorry that she has to work overtime during this trying period.
