Dealing With Debit Cards

What you should know:

Your liability when money is stolen from your bank account, with a debit or ATM card for instance, all depends on how quickly you report the theft, so you’ve got to act fast…really fast. If you report it within 2 days, you’ll only lose $50. If it takes more than 2 days, but under 60, you can lose up to $500, and if it takes you more than 60 days to report the theft, you can lose all the money you had in your account. (Some debit card companies voluntarily cap your liability at $50, same as a credit card. Check with your financial institution to find out their policy.)

What you should do:

Take all the same steps you would take if this were a credit card fraud. In this case, because timing is everything, it’s even more important to send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested.

What they have to do:

You had to act fast, so it’s only fair that they do too. Your financial institution has ten days to investigate your case, three days to notify you of the result, and one day to fix the error once they’ve finished investigating. If it takes longer than that, they must return the money to your account while they investigate, for up to 45 days.

They’ll want that money back if they find out you really did spend it, but they have to notify you in writing first.