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    SingaporeScene

    DBS deactivates ATM cards, angers customers

    By Chua Yini | SingaporeScene – Tue, Feb 21, 2012

    Many DBS customers are riled after the bank deactivated their ATM and debit cards without prior notice, leaving many shocked and stranded without cash.Many DBS customers are riled after the bank deactivated their ATM and debit cards without prior notice, leaving …

    UPDATE (8:30pm, 21 Feb to correct typo in second paragraph that was not in original message from DBS)

    Many DBS customers are riled after the bank deactivated their ATM and debit cards without prior notice, leaving many shocked and stranded without cash.

    Affected customers Yahoo! Singapore interviewed said that they received an SMS informing them of the deactivation of their card, which read: "We are mailing a new ATM card to you. For added security, your card ending XXXX is deactivated. For urgent replacement, pls visit any DBS/POSB branch."

    Some said the sudden deactivation was a big inconvenience as they were stuck without means of obtaining cash for a while.

    Said a DBS customer Seah Wei Jie, "I was frustrated, because I could not get money asap on the stop unless we went to a DBS bank branch."

    The 28-year-old added that although customers were informed that they could withdraw cash from any DBS or POSB branch, they could only do that during operating hours during the weekdays.

    "But if it happens on weekends, you can't get any money because all the banks are closed. We go to ATMs because we need money urgently, to take cab and all," said the retail supervisor.

    Similarly, another customer, student Chelsea Chang's DBS ATM and debit cards were both deactivated on Monday.  Said the 22-year-old, "How can they suspend people's cards without notice? And the SMS told us to go to a nearest bank if it's urgent. Do they think we're so free to go to the bank?"

    "Luckily I have other credit cards, so I'm not really affected. But those people who need cash will be irritated," she added.

    The issue comes on the back of a recent high-profile DBS ATM skimming fraud in January that compromised 700 cards and the compensation amounted to S$1 million.

    When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, DBS said: "We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. DBS recently introduced a host of additional security measures, including real-time SMS alerts to guard against unauthorised ATM withdrawals and give customers added peace of mind. We have also begun issuing new ATM/Debit cards in batches. Going forward, we will review and improve our card replacement process."

    DBS added that customers can visit the nearest DBS/POSB branch or call them for an urgent card replacement.

     
    • David
      David  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      DBS and POSB : You don't deactivate first before issuing a statement. The SOP was totally wrong. Too high handed.
      • Peace man
        Peace man 3 months ago
        They think, they are the best bank in tower. and the staff , do quite rude somtimes. Is time, for us to think which bank to deposit ..... to many FT thinking
      • Timothy
        Timothy 3 months ago
        @Peace Man, not FT thinking. Typical PAP thinking, same as SingTel and some other companies, think "We must always be on top, therefore we have the right to be high-handed"
      • KY
        KY 3 months ago
        This high handed bank is big in Singapore only, they are nothing when overseas. Even the shitty bank from USA is much larger in scale than this little red pea size bank
    • tool
      tool  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      what a laughing stock of a bank!! you don't deserve your service charge for this idiotic move. must line up long long some more if you go any DBS bank! heads should roll for this.
      • RockyHero
        RockyHero 3 months ago
        The only head that rolls is the customer's. The customers have a choice to change banks but they do not want to. DBS Does not owes you a living. Customers are funny.
      • Kopi boy
        Kopi boy 3 months ago
        I would love to see a head roll at DBS for this mess. This is a mistake that no average intelligent person should make.

        But I bet my last dollar all will be forgiven and forgotten. Thats the new Singapore culture. Very sad. We are accepting stupidity, incompetence and no personal accountability as the norm.
      • SINGAPOREAN
        SINGAPOREAN 3 months ago
        Singapore new culture not only to forgive and forgotten what DBS have done but also what The Breadtalk boss and Remy Ong have done.....Yet so many Singaporeans still chooses DBS even with the long que and bad service.
    • Shine
      Shine  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Many large corporations in Singapore are taking us consumers for granted. This does not bode very well for the nation at all. Above al, service levels have plummeted to shameful depths. So what is the point of psying CEOs skyhigh pay when these incidents of outtages will easily wipe out years of hard work building up an organisation's reputation?
      • Victor Lim
        Victor Lim 3 months ago
        I fully agreed.
      • Subramaniam
        Subramaniam 3 months ago
        Cheap labour = lousy service ,don't complain.
      • Timothy
        Timothy 3 months ago
        Sometimes (acutally many times) CEO of such corporation always want to control everything, even customer's decisions.
    • Ron
      Ron  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      How stupid is that - to deactivate an ATM card before issuing a replacement? DBS = Dumb Beyond Stupid
      • dewdrops
        dewdrops 3 months ago
        I dont trust them anymore. they play with your money. check your balance at odd times during day or night, your some amount of your balace might be disappeared for ah hr or two. then reappears again after a few hrs! very weired!
      • Flo
        Flo 3 months ago
        every bank play with our money. That's how they earn their money... But how much they play is depend on each bank.
    • again kaypoh
      again kaypoh  •  Melbourne, Australia  •  3 months ago
      High handed, as usual!! very typical!!
      • dawn
        dawn 3 months ago
        haha, not surprising.
    • chen
      chen  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      I was affected very very badly by this last year, even before the skimming fraud incident. They just de-activate my card with just a SMS notice. I didn't even have time to call them and tell them to put mine on hold until I'm back in SG. The worse part was, I was overseas for 4 months, as a student attached in an overseas school. I had to keep calling the bank and go thru their so many levels of verifications just to check on the progress of my card and they cannot send straight to my address overseas. As if things are not bad enough, the first card they 'sent' to replace my old card was 'lost in mail', so they claimed when my family members called to inform me they didn't receive my card in the mailbox at the expected date they said it would arrive. If I didn't call so many times and pester them to check, I would had died overseas without any money to survive. I didn't activate iBanking as the wifi was shared among many other students in the hostel where I was and wasn't stable.
      They have no idea how bad it was for me and only know how to say 'I understand your situation...' over the phone. I was very frustrated and helpless in a foreign land.
      I feel that they do not respect their customers and only see things from their point of view. They ASSUME all their customers are in SG, not overseas. I think the least they should do is to CALL their customers and inform them what they are planning to do, why and if it is a convenient time to de-activate the cards. NOT BY SMS.
    • Observasian
      Observasian  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      they will apologise tomorrow....and urge everyone that this has been done in the interests of everyone. the ends justify the means, and nevermind if you were affected. typical do first, then perform the damage control.... highhanded. i'd better reduce my holding with that bank. they have forgotten what "customer" means... they see things as transactions, not relationships.
    • Kit
      Kit  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Again, must be some brilliant idea from a genius....or even a guru....and of course, a highly paid one for sure......
    • Jiminy Cricket!
      Jiminy Cricket!  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      CEO is a GOONDU.
    • David
      David  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Without prior announcement - deactivating the customer's ATM card - it's shows the worst planning by the DBS management! DBS continuos it's worst service it their peak!
    • Cheemeng Leong
      Cheemeng Leong  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      They will take a century to resolve this issue . Solve 1 problem create 3 . Solve 3 create 90 . LOL
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Hanoi, Vietnam  •  3 months ago
      Singapore is a cashless society --- DBS makes it so.
    • Ming
      Ming  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Some people might lack of common sense, but full of cow sense... but for this case they seems to be short on both...
    • KM
      KM  •  3 months ago
      They probably think Sporeans got lots of money in their pocket or hidden under their pillow , and can live without ATM card..
    • ann zuar ah nae
      ann zuar ah nae  •  3 months ago
      wah lau eh, most people i know today dun have cash in their wallets one and they think anytime can withdraw or pay by nets or credit card. jialat if cashless and cards not working. i guess the old saying that "cash is king" has its wisdom in today's fraud-laden e-commerce world...
    • Sandy
      Sandy  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Haha. They sure gave those affected customers peace of mind alright, so much so that they gave DBS a piece of their mind!!
    • Jimi Hendralin
      Jimi Hendralin  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      That's means POSB card also effected
    • Dante
      Dante  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      Better go and check my ATM card later, before last min want cash and can't get it!!!
    • jimmy
      jimmy  •  3 months ago
      DBS will improve when they change their management. DBS has been the worst bank in terms of customer service.
    • s
      s  •  Singapore, Central Singapore  •  3 months ago
      customer is the real boss here. dbs still dont get it..
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