Card Details

More likely to have my phone to hand, than my card.

It’s taken me 3 days to find my card, looked everywhere. Found it in my dressing gown pocket this morning 🤦

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Yup, that’s where I keep all my bank cards. Erm, not! :rofl:

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My Lloyds debit card has both the account number and sort code on it. So do my Halifax, TSB, First Direct, Barclays and Nationwide cards.

I no longer have either RBS or NatWest accounts, but when I did, the debit cards had the sort code on them but not the account number. Starling has the account number but no sort code.

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You shouldn’t reveal personal details on this forum…

Not sure if I’ve missed intention in your post, but that’s just an example of splitting down a number. It’s not an account number though

That’s the point of the post, to suggest how to memorise an account number, which is 8 digits long.

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Absolutely, there is little need for the details to be on the card but having them there is a massive security risk.

The marginal inconvenience of having to look at the app instead is definitely worth the security benefit.

Losing your card is basically no problem if no account details are on it, but losing it with the details printed potentially exposes you to fraudulent direct debits - and you can’t change your account details as easily as your card number.

Clearly most banks don’t agree with you about the security risk because they continue to print sort codes and account numbers on debit cards. Having the details on the card is enormously helpful if you have two accounts with the same bank as it helps you to tell the cards apart. I know the card numbers would be different, but I don’t know any of my card numbers, whereas I do know all my account numbers.

If any fraudulent direct debits were set up then you would simply cancel them. Barclays sends me an app notification the minute a new direct debit is set up, - doesn’t Monzo do that? Anyway, losing your card without the account details on it would still allow fraudulent continuous payment authorities to be set up. All you need for those is the card details, not the account details.

Well I’m not trying to be adversarial here, but I disagree.

The difference between the account details and card details is what happens when the card is cancelled. If your card is stolen, and you report this to the bank, you get issued with a new card number and the old number is now no longer valid. The account number and sort code, however, stay the same - and they may have been printed on the stolen card. This opens the door to fraudulent direct debits effectively forever, so you constantly have to be vigilant to make sure this doesn’t happen. The risk is over with the stolen card number as soon as it is cancelled (and hopefully you notice quickly before it’s used), so continuous payment authorities are not a big ongoing risk.

As for banks agreeing with me, some do.
NatWest/RBS/Ulster only print the sort code on their cards, to keep the account number secret, and Curve print no details at all except for the cardholder name on some of their cards (investors only).

I would hazard a guess that most banks still choose to “take the risk” by printing the numbers because 1) their generally less tech-savvy, skewed-older customers would struggle if they were told to always check their statement or use an app/online banking to get the details, 2) an element of “how it’s always been done” and 3) the Direct Debit guarantee imposes the fraud risk on the bank, so technically customers are protected although there would obviously be a stress and hassle factor associated with challenging a direct debit.

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OK, I do take this point, but you can learn the card numbers and also tell the cards apart by the expiry dates - so they don’t look identical.

Also, it’s not a huge issue as often a second account with the same bank is used as something like a bills account, so it’s unlikely you carry the card around with you day to day. A lot of banks let you check which card number is linked to which account in their app too, like Monzo and RBS/NatWest/Ulster do.

How often are you signing up for direct debits that you need this? I only ever need then when signing up for like mobile phone service, bills. etc - If anyone needs them over the phone, put them on speaker, open the app - Go to Account details. done

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I can’t think of a scenario where it would be easier to get a card out of my wallet than to open an app on my phone.

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Many people still don’t use banking apps, so what would you suggest they do?

Find a bank that provides it on the card, write it on themselves, memorise it.

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I recommend Lastpass, used it for the last couple of years now

Urm, not sure if this is a stupid question but if you need your card number, more often than not you remember your expiry and 3 digit security code anyway, and the added benefit of the account number and sort code being on your phone is you can copy and paste it quicker?

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Most banks already do, so it wouldn’t be a problem for most people. It only really affects RBS or NatWest customers.

If they don’t use banking apps then they don’t use Monzo so not really an argument to having them on Monzo cards

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Well you had the answer to your own question already then 🤦

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