Halfiax email - You've not used your debit card

flaneurs_lobster

lr1277 said:

I am surprised debit card usage is a measurable metric,
Say you run the current account in such a way that money comes in and the only money that goes out are through SO’s and DD’s. This is because you do all your spending on a credit card not from your bank. No cash required.
Like I said a surprising metric.

It clearly is monitored at Halifax (at least on the Reward accounts) to check qualification for the monthly bribe  reward.

vacheron

lr1277 said:

I am surprised debit card usage is a measurable metric,
Say you run the current account in such a way that money comes in and the only money that goes out are through SO’s and DD’s. This is because you do all your spending on a credit card not from your bank. No cash required.
Like I said a surprising metric.

I think it may be more about housekeeping / cost reduction. 

I called Barclays over Christmas io request a new joint account debit card for my wife because she couldn't find hers, only to be told by the adviser that the reason she couldn't find it was when her last one expired in 2021 Barclays didn't send out a new one as the previous one hadn't been used for 4 years. 

They then told me that mine hadn't been sent out either.
According to the advisor this is primarily to save the costs of sending out new cards.

Would have been nice if they had informed us of this at the time like Halifax did for the OP though. 

p00hsticks

flaneurs_lobster said:

miller said:

There was a list of 3 links for various scenarios (Lost/stolen, Damaged, Forgotten PIN). I wont be clicking on any of them because they don't apply (and from a security standpoint). They have supplied the last part of my postcode as per LBG comms, but again, that counts for little. My view is it is probably genuine, but I wont be doing anything as a result.

Suppose they deserve kudos for being proactive but does seem a bit full-on. If my card had been lost/stolen etc think I'd be contacting them not waiting for a reminder.

But if you rarely / never use it you may not realise straight away that it has been lost/stolen. 
Mine is tucked away in a hopefully safe place and the receipt of such a letter would probably make me check that it is still safely where I think it was...

northwalesd

I probably use my Halifax debit card (joint account) two or three times a year, last time it expired they just replaced it. Never had a communication from them about its use. OH did though, but he'd never used his card at all  

friolento

I had a similar strange email a while ago from Barclays. Turned out eventually that it was about an account that I thought had been closed years ago. It had not shown in my app or online as they also had a second profile for me. They apologised and insisted to pay me £25 for disturbing me, even though I said I didn’t want any money.

Do you possibly have a second Halifax account that you have forgotten about, or that you don’t know about? Is there information in the email that allows you to verify the card or account number? I‘d call them - or alternatively, just spend a pound or two with the card you have and ignore the email 

miller

friolento said:

Do you possibly have a second Halifax account that you have forgotten about, or that you don’t know about? Is there information in the email that allows you to verify the card or account number? I‘d call them - or alternatively, just spend a pound or two with the card you have and ignore the email 

It's my only account with them, but prior to the transaction at the end of last year (which may have been the cut-off for the mailing), the last card payment was over 6 months before that.

lr1277

This thread got me wondering.

I wonder if your debit card is in your Apple/Google/Samsung wallet, but not used, would the bank send out such an email or cancel the card? I ask because I think the bank has to agree to the card's inclusion in the wallet. Well that is what I remember when i added my credit card to my Apple wallet.

So for those who have received such emails, was your card in one of the above named wallets?

Thanks.

Shakin_Steve

lr1277 said:

This thread got me wondering.

I wonder if your debit card is in your Apple/Google/Samsung wallet, but not used, would the bank send out such an email or cancel the card? I ask because I think the bank has to agree to the card's inclusion in the wallet. Well that is what I remember when i added my credit card to my Apple wallet.

So for those who have received such emails, was your card in one of the above named wallets?

Thanks.

I haven't used my debit card since I received it, nor the one before. As you mention, I only use it in Apple Pay. That must make them issue a new card, though, because I had to update the details in my wallet when the old one expired.

wiseonesomeofthetime

miller said:

Received an email today saying that I'd not used my debit card in a while. Last used for an online purchase at the end of last year. So, it has been used just over a month ago and I received a refund in January. Obviously not frequent enough for them.

Is your card due for expiry?

It could be that, althouth your card details have been used, the physical card has not and they are deciding whether to send you your next card.

Only reason I say this is because it happened to me with both Santander and Starling. I only used the card details, not the physical card, or even in the Google Wallet, tbh.

My 2021 Halifax debit card expires end of the next month, so I will keep an eye out for any such email.

surreysaver

Got one from the Bank of Scotland a week or two ago. The only thing I use it for is to take cash out