"Online Banking Guarantee"

[Retire Soon]

Online Banking Guarantee from WaMu


I was pleasantly surprised this morning while paying bills online at Washington Mutual Savings Bank that they have instituted an "Online Banking Guarantee." WM guarantees to reimburse a customer in the event that someone should fraudulently take money out of their online account. It would be nice of other businesses that allow financial transactions online would follow suit. Perhaps everyone would then feel safer.

 

[CuppaJoe]

In the mid-'70s I worked in the "lost and stolen" credit card dept. of a large bank. They covered virtually all losses.

When I had some internet fraud on a credit card about 2004, that mega-bank also covered the entire $500 loss and were unable to remove the points for that $500 so I got the $25 gift card sooner.

Banks make soooooo much money, they can do this.

 

[ziggy29]

In the mid-'70s I worked in the "lost and stolen" credit card dept. of a large bank. They covered virtually all losses.

When I had some internet fraud on a credit card about 2004, that mega-bank also covered the entire $500 loss and were unable to remove the points for that $500 so I got the $25 gift card sooner.

Banks make soooooo much money, they can do this.

Yep. It's somewhat unsettling, but banks make so much money on credit cards that unless the amount involved in a particular incidence of fraud is absolutely staggering, they just write it off as a cost of doing business because that's cheaper than pursuing the fraud.

My Amex was compromised to the extent of about $3,000 a month ago. I gave them information about the intended shipping address of some of the fraudulent charges which I received from the customer service folks at a couple of the places where the charge failed to go through, but I doubt they pursued it.

Ultimately that gets passed on, perhaps some to merchants and some to people who don't pay their balance in full each month.

 

[Texas Proud]

Ziggy...

Even pursuing the fraud will not usually get you the culprit... and even if you find them you still need to get enough evidence to prosecute... a tall order.

Just because something that was ordered with a stolen CC shows up at someones door is not proof they bought the item...

One of the news magazines followed some purchases and there were drop houses.. and one even had a sign on the door... no deliveries accepted... don't know why, but their address was being used and they were not involved at all.. others were dupes and forwarded the stuff on to other countries..

So, getting the person who actually DID the crime is next to impossible. And even if you did, the punishment is so small it will not deter the next guy from doing it... it is easier to put procedures in place to stop it at the beginning...