You must have read media reports about how credit card customers received emails/SMS messages regarding fraudulent transactions made with their credit cards from abroad. Did you know that international online credit card transactions do not require a one-time password (OTP)? Therefore, if someone gets your credit card details, they can transact online from a foreign location as they do not need OTP validation.

So how can you protect yourself against such abuse or fraud? One way to do this is to disable some transactions and impose limits on others. Let’s understand how.

Disable transactions and set limits

To protect yourself from fraudulent transactions, banks allow you to deactivate certain transactions on your account. credit cards. Even if a credit card is lost or stolen, you can limit the damage by setting transaction limits. Here’s how to do the same.

International operations

Banks give you the option to enable or disable international transactions. When you receive a new credit card, by default, international transactions are disabled. If you want to make an international transaction, you need to enable them.

For example, the screenshot above shows how you can enable or disable international transactions on your HDFC Bank Credit Card. You can control credit card settings through online banking or the bank’s mobile app. You need to log in, go to the credit cards section and move on to the card limits section. Unless necessary for a specific transaction or when traveling abroad, it is advisable to turn off international transactions on your credit card.

Even when you need to make a specific international transaction, you can enable international transactions on your card just before the transaction. Once the transaction is complete, it is recommended to disable international transactions again.

When you travel abroad or make recurring international transactions on your credit cards, you can control what types of transactions to authorize and up to what limits/amounts. With transaction limits in place, even if card details are compromised, the loss can be limited.

For example, HDFC Bank allows you to control the following types of international transactions on your credit card.

Use of ATMs

When traveling abroad, it is recommended to carry a exchange card with no or low exchange fees. However, in case of emergency, if you are planning to withdraw money from an ATM using your credit card, you can enable the use of the ATM. When you enable the use of ATMs, you can set transaction limits.

Use of points of sale

During your stay abroad journeyYou may want to use your credit card for specific transactions at merchants, such as paying for hotel meals or shopping for groceries for yourself and family members. You can enable the use of POS for such transactions and set appropriate transaction limits. Any transaction made beyond the specified limit will be automatically declined.

Online use

If you need to make online purchases or pay for one or more annual subscriptions, you can enable international transactions. Once the transaction is complete, you can turn off international transactions. When you enable online trading, you have the option to change the limits by increasing or decreasing them at any time.

Using Tap and Pay

Similar to merchant POS usage transactions, you can enable or disable Tap and Pay usage transactions. With the use of Tap and Pay, the transaction can be completed by placing the card on the point of sale (POS) machine without the need to insert it into the POS machine. There is no need to enter a PIN to complete a Tap and Pay transaction.

Enabling/disabling various international transactions as well as transaction limits

The image above shows how an HDFC Bank credit card user can enable or disable various transactions as well as set transaction limits in HDFC net banking.

Domestic transactions

Similar to international transactions, you can enable or disable various domestic transactions and set limits for each transaction type, as explained in the section above. You can choose which transaction types to enable or disable. For example, cash withdrawals by credit card are not recommended as interest will be charged from the day of withdrawal. Therefore, it is recommended to disable the use of ATMs on your credit card.

For POS and online use, you can enable them and set transaction limits. The transaction limit can be set based on your past monthly usage. If you need to make a single transaction for a higher amount, you can increase the limit for that transaction. Once the transaction is completed, you can reduce the limit.

Some people allow the use of Tap and Pay because it is convenient. However, some people disable it for security reasons because no PIN is required to authenticate the transaction.

Why should you disable certain payment methods and/or set limits on them?

In recent years, financial fraud has increased significantly. These are fraudulent transactions related to UPI, credit cards, debit cards, bank details hacking, etc. Therefore, the government, RBI and banks have taken various steps to educate bank customers on how to protect themselves and not become victims of these transactions. frauds.

As a vigilant customer, you should analyze the types of transactions for which you use your credit card(s) and activate only those types of transactions accordingly. For enabled transaction types, you must set appropriate transaction limits. Limits can protect you from potentially higher losses in the event of fraud.

For international transactions, as a precaution, you should disable all transaction types unless a particular transaction type is necessary. For domestic online transactions, you have an additional security measure of authenticating the transaction by setting up an OTP.

However, for an international transaction, the OTP is not required to finalize the transaction. If your credit card details are hacked, they can be used for fraudulent transactions, if international transactions are enabled. So it is better to disable international transactions.

For a one-time international transaction, you must enable international transactions on your credit card. Once the transaction is complete, you need to turn off international transactions again. For recurring international transactions, you must apply appropriate limits.

Use the opt-out and transaction limit features to your advantage

With transaction opt-out and limit features, banks put customers in control in their hands. As a customer, you should use these features to your advantage. You should turn off international transactions when you are not using the credit card for them.

For domestic transactions too, you need to enable only the transaction types that you use and that too with appropriate limits. This will help protect your credit card from possible fraud. Even if fraud does occur, with transaction limits in place, the damage will be limited.

Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with over 15 years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.