$17000 shock for credit card owner

Ms Tan Shock Ling had her credit cards stolen and ended up with a bill for $17,100. Her card was used by the thieves to buy luxury goods such as 3 Rolex watches.

Under the terms of agreement with the various card issuers, UOB, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Citibank, she was liable for all losses before she reported the loss of her card. This is a matter of contract law - she agreed to it and she now has to bear the losses.

What can we do as consumers? We should pay attention to the loss provisions of the credit card issuers. We should think carefully about taking the credit cards issued by banks with harsh loss provisions on overseas trips where the risks are higher. Even better, support those issuers who protection limits for loss cards and don't do business with those issuers who have no loss limits.

I understand that American Express has a low loss limit. If any reader knows of other issuers with loss limits, do let me know and I will share this knowledge on this blog.

Card issuers will of course claim that having a loss limit will in the long term lead to all customers sharing the losses of careless customers. To some extent, it is true but perhaps, the card issuers should learn from the insurance companies. All customers should have loss limits at the start but after the loss of the first card, then no loss limits are offered to them. Furthermore, all customers when applying for cards will be queried on their loss history. This would be fairer to all parties concerned.