New Services Help Monitor Credit Cards

Magnifying glass and credit card — (Image credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Thieves are coming up with ever-more-ingenious ways to gain access to your credit and debit card numbers. And, let’s face it, mistakes happen. So card issuers are making it easier to police your accounts.

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Most card issuers have zero-liability policies for fraudulent charges on your credit card. Bogus transactions on your debit card can take longer to resolve, even when your bank doesn’t hold you accountable (see Safeguards for Debit Card Users). Beefed-up monitoring services are alerting customers to questionable charges, and a recent survey by CreditCards.com found that 4 in 10 regular credit card users have received such an alert.

Some charges aren’t necessarily unlawful, but they may be unwanted. For example, two in three customers overlook potentially duplicate charges, says Capital One. Its new alert service, Second Look, flags such charges and sends an e-mail with instructions on how to question the transaction, if warranted. Second Look also highlights subscriptions that renew automatically and flags increases in recurring charges, such as a cable bill that might have risen without your noticing. Debit cards are slated to get the service soon.

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Of course, thieves can’t use your card if they can’t get it to work. New mobile-banking apps allow you to switch your debit card on or off. Deter scammers by keeping your card turned off and switching it on only when it’s time to make a purchase. Tech firm Malauzai provides the capability to about 80 community banks and expects to have partnerships with a number of larger banks by the end of the year. Capital One, USAA and online bank Simple have introduced their own on-off switches in their mobile-banking apps.

Anderson has been with Kiplinger since January 2004, when she joined the staff as a reporter. Since then, she's covered the gamut of personal finance issues—from mortgages and credit to spending wisely—and she heads up Kiplinger's annual automotive rankings. She holds a BA in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the 2012 president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and serves on its board of directors. In 2014, she was selected for the North American Car and Truck Of the Year jury. The awards, presented at the Detroit Auto Show, have come to be regarded as the most prestigious of their kind in the U.S. because they involve no commercial tie-ins. The jury is composed of nationally recognized journalists from across the U.S. and Canada, who are selected on the basis of audience reach, experience, expertise, product knowledge, and reputation in the automotive community.