Have You Changed Your Maybankard Yet?

Old card (left) and new card.

If for some reason your Maybank ATM card is faulty, then by all means change that Maybankard. Otherwise, stick to the old one. I will tell you why.

Couple of months back, my five year old Maybankard began to show trouble. It was apparently so old that its own ATM didnt recognise it. And I cant withdraw money as I please. Sometimes it worked like a charm, sometimes I wish I owned another bank's card. So I changed it.

I went over to one of the many Maybank outlets in the city and the process was fast. Within minutes the new card was ready, the old cut snipped into two by a very sharp pair of shears, and I got a spanking clean card - with debit facilities, too. That means if I want to use it to buy things, and as long as the amount I spent equals the amount I have in my account, I just need to pass the card over to the counter girl to be swiped for payment. No questions will be asked.

Reason I changed to the new card was because the Maybank girl told me there was no more yellow-and-black cards. They had been discontinued. So, unwillingly, I changed. And now I am sorry I did.

I did not think much of it till I returned to the same outlet, accompanying a friend to change her card. Guess what: Another Maybank girl over the counter asked her which card she would like to have: old yellow-black Maybankard or the 'Cherry Faced' Maybank Debit Card. Either way she would have to pay RM12.00 for transaction fee. So, I asked what's the difference. The Maybank girl replied:

"You can use the new card for purchasing things. You can't with the old card.

"But if you lose your new card, someone finds it, he/she can spend up to RM500 and you can't do anything about it." Why? "Well, above RM500, the spender would have to key in the pin number."

Apparently, there is no special security measure like getting the spender to key in the pin number for any amount of spending below RM500. So, if you lose your card and I find it, I can spend up to that spending limit before you can get me - or if you report the loss first. Stupid, isn't it?

I suppose if you are young and naive, and stupid, you would want to have the card that may cause you to be RM500 poorer if Father Fate decide to pull a fast one on you.

But then, I suppose owning one debit card can be a bragging right for some people but to me, the old card, which requires Pin for transactions, is a much smarter alternative. If the bank cannot come up with tight security features, why bother coming up with the new card?