First Direct, the British online bank owned by HSBC, has written to its most regular cash machine users to tell them that they’re at risk of being defrauded, and that they should consider getting all their weekly cash out in one go.
Now, there are two types of ATM fraud: the type that involves dummy hardware, and the type that involves reading your PIN over your shoulder, hitting you with a cosh and nicking your card.
First Direct’s advice has no impact at all on the latter, more prevalent kind of fraud – it merely removes the “reading your PIN over your shoulder” step for the mugger-to-be.
It might have a limited impact on the first kind… but even here, the chance of being tricked by a stick-on keyboard is lower than the chance of having your wallet nicked.
Has First Direct taken leave of its senses… or is it being cynical? A customer’s bank is liable for most of the money defrauded from their account – and for none of the cash stolen from their wallet. If First Direct can try and ensure its customers shift their likely way-of-losing-money-to-criminals from fraud to mugging, then its own financial position is noticeably improved.
(also, why is the bank contacting the people who use cash machines most? Surely they’re *more* likely than average to notice strange add-on equipment, lurkers behind shoulders, etc…?)