Safer banking practices are an essential tool to protect yourself from fraud and to prevent criminals from accessing your accounts.
We recommend that all HSBC customers follow our vigilant care guidelines in order to remain safe and secure when banking online or using your card in public.
What does exercising Vigilant Care mean?
Exercising Vigilant Care means taking the following precautions as a minimum:
- signing your Credit Card as soon as it is received and following the security instructions
- protecting your Credit Card and card security details
- not allowing anyone else to use your Credit Card
- not disclosing your PIN or online banking passwords to anyone
- not allowing anyone else’s biometrics to be stored on your mobile device
- destroying any documents which contain your Credit Card security details
- not writing down your Credit Card security details, nor disclosing them to anybody else, including the police or HSBC staff
- if you change your Credit Card security details, do not choose sequences of letters or numbers that may be easy to guess
- not tampering with the Credit Card
- keeping your card receipts secure and disposing of them carefully
- cutting any old Credit Cards into at least 6 pieces
- keeping your Credit Card in your sight at all times while in public
| Event | Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? |
|---|---|
| You act fraudulently | You are responsible |
| You let another person use your card or your security details (e.g. your PIN) or your Account | You are responsible |
| You intentionally or with negligence (i.e. you have not taken sufficient care) do not use your card, Telephone Banking or Personal Internet Banking in accordance with these General Terms or any other relevant terms and conditions | You are responsible |
| You do not keep your card, HSBC Secure Key or your security details safe | You are responsible |
| You intentionally or with negligence (i.e. you have not taken sufficient care) do not notify us as soon as possible of the loss or theft of your card, cheque book, security details or HSBC Secure Key, or if you suspect someone has tried to use any of them | You are responsible |
| If someone else uses your card before you receive it | We are responsible unless you have acted fraudulently |
If your card has been used without your authority or knowledge to:
|
We are responsible unless you have acted fraudulently or been negligent (i.e. you have not taken sufficient care) |
| After you have told us that your card or security details have been lost or stolen | We are responsible unless you have acted fraudulently |
| If you have asked us to make a payment and provided the correct payment details | We are responsible unless we can prove the recipient’s bank has received the payment within the usual timescales for making the payment. |
| You have provided us with incorrect payment details | You are responsible |
| Event | You act fraudulently |
|---|---|
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | You are responsible |
| Event | You let another person use your card or your security details (e.g. your PIN) or your Account |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | You are responsible |
| Event | You intentionally or with negligence (i.e. you have not taken sufficient care) do not use your card, Telephone Banking or Personal Internet Banking in accordance with these General Terms or any other relevant terms and conditions |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | You are responsible |
| Event | You do not keep your card, HSBC Secure Key or your security details safe |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | You are responsible |
| Event | You intentionally or with negligence (i.e. you have not taken sufficient care) do not notify us as soon as possible of the loss or theft of your card, cheque book, security details or HSBC Secure Key, or if you suspect someone has tried to use any of them |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | You are responsible |
| Event | If someone else uses your card before you receive it |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | We are responsible unless you have acted fraudulently |
| Event |
If your card has been used without your authority or knowledge to:
|
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | We are responsible unless you have acted fraudulently or been negligent (i.e. you have not taken sufficient care) |
| Event | After you have told us that your card or security details have been lost or stolen |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | We are responsible unless you have acted fraudulently |
| Event | If you have asked us to make a payment and provided the correct payment details |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | We are responsible unless we can prove the recipient’s bank has received the payment within the usual timescales for making the payment. |
| Event | You have provided us with incorrect payment details |
| Who is responsible for the unauthorised payments and all losses that result from this? | You are responsible |
Frequently asked questions
In what circumstances would you close my Account?
You give us incorrect information, act fraudulently or act dishonestly.
When will you freeze or block or put a hold on my Account?
We suspect a money laundering, fraud or other Financial Crime has been committed
in respect of your Account or we believe that the continued operation of your Account
would breach international financial sanctions.
When will you not make payments from my Account or when may a payment be delayed?
We will not make a payment if:
- we consider that your Account has been or is likely to be misused; or
- there is a risk of fraud
For fraud prevention purposes we or the third party merchant may have to contact you (for
instance by calling you or sending you a secure e-message via Personal Internet Banking)
to re-confirm some types of payments, for example high value payments, or request some
additional security information from you. You must contact us as soon as possible if we
have left a message for you to contact us. If you do not do so we will assume you have not
authorised payment requests made through Telephone Banking or Personal Internet Banking
and will not make these payments. However, Credit Card payments will usually be made
provided there is no reason for us to believe there are any other suspicious transactions on
your Account.
If we suspect there has been fraudulent misuse of your Account, our fraud prevention
procedures may lead to your payment being delayed or not sent at all. We will not be liable
for any losses in the event of a delay or if the payment is not processed for this reason.
If we believe there is any suspicious or unusual activity happening on your Account, we
may need to carry out an investigation and we may ask you to give us more information or
supporting documentation. You must provide us with this information as soon as possible
otherwise this may lead to us delaying or canceling the payment or even restricting or
closing your Account.
You must report any unusual transactions on your Account as soon as you notice
them by calling us using the Telephone Banking numbers at the back of your Card
or on our Website or by visiting a Branch.
How will I know if you have not made one of my payments?
We will usually try to contact you to tell you the first time we do not make a payment unless there are fraud prevention, security, legal or regulatory reasons why we cannot do this.
Will there be times when I cannot make a payment from my Account or you might put restrictions on my use of my Account?
We can suspend the use of your cards (and ask you to return them to us) and suspend your use of phone banking or online banking to stop you making payments.
We may also freeze, block or put a hold on your Account or monies in your Account. We will do this if we think it is necessary because:
- we have concerns about the security of your cards or we think someone else has accessed your Account through online or telephone banking
- we suspect that your card has been used fraudulently or in an unauthorised way
- we suspect that money laundering, fraud or another financial crime has been committed in respect of your account
We will usually give you advance notice of any suspension and tell you why. However, we will not do so if this would compromise our reasonable security measures or we consider it is unlawful or contrary to a regulation to do this. Occasionally we may not be able to contact you to give you advance notice - for instance, if we have to act quickly to prevent losses on your Account.
If you are planning on travelling outside of the UAE and want to use your cards, we recommend that you notify us in advance so that we do not suspect that your card is being used fraudulently.