One of the first things you can do to protect yourself from debit card fraud, is to never allow someone else access to your card. Please DO NOT write your PIN on the card.
Bank of Columbia has several ways we help protect your money as well starting with behind-the-scene restrictions we have for debit card transactions.
1. If you intend to make an online purchase out of the country, please call us first. As a standard rule we don't allow purchases outside of the United States. If you are planning a vacation to Europe, for example, you should let us know so we can lift the restrictions on your card to allow you to make purchases while away. This is also true if you plan to be traveling out of state.
2. The technology we use to prevent fraud uses data collected from transactions, like location, to determine if the purchase is out of your usual area. If it is, the transaction may be identified as fraudulent. If that is the case you will receive an "Enfact" text notification asking you if you attempted the purchase and you will respond with "YES" or "NO." If you respond yes, you should be able to make the purchase. If you respond no, the transaction will not be permitted and will continue to be declined. If you do not respond to the text, you will receive a phone call from our call center, verifying the attempted purchase. If you want to be sure you are enrolled in Enfact, just give us a call and we will verify the phone number associated with your debit card and your up-to-date enrollment.
3. Bank of Columbia customers can set up alerts and notifications through Online banking and the Mobile App as well. These alerts can be sent to your phone via text or to your email--your choice. And they are separate, so you could choose text delivery daily balance notifications and email delivery of changes to your contact information. It's all up to you. For Online Banking Alerts: Log in to your Online Banking account. Select the Alert icon (looks like a little bell) at the top of the page. You will be able to select options for notifications from debits/credits to balance thresholds. Alerts can be sent as text messages or emails or both. For the Mobile App: Click here
4. Our customers can also enroll in the BOC CardGuard App to control your debit cards with your mobile device. With BOC CardGuard you can turn your debit cards on or off, instantly and for any reason. You can also set a TRAVEL PLAN so your transactions out of your usual area aren't flagged as possible fraud and you can control transactions by type of purchase and by dollar amounts. CardGuard allows flexibility to easily set, customize and modify debit card purchase alerts. Click here to learn how to enroll.