ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Consumers now are able to lock and unlock their debit and/or credit cards in seconds – if that card is issued by a PSCU credit union, that is.
PSCU Financial Services went live with its “CardLock” service Monday following several months of testing. PSCU said the first to use the patent-pending service will be the cooperative’s 600-plus member-owner credit unions and their 13 million credit and debit accountholders.
Steve Ruwe, chief risk officer for PSCU, told Credit Union Journal CardLock continues the cooperative’s desire to provide risk management solutions to the credit union space. “The product is very simple, but I think quite unique and innovative,” he said. “We have given credit union members the ability to participate in fraud prevention by having access to their accounts. People can change the status of their account – lock it, if you will – if they have any reason to believe something suspicious might be going on with their card. Currently people can call their credit card company and ask the issuer to block it, but they have to explain why, and the process is done manually. With CardLock, that step is skipped entirely. The control the issuer had to block or unblock accounts now is moved to the consumer.”
CardLock has “really resonated well” in focus groups conducted by PSCU, Ruwe reported. He said the speed of locking or unlocking makes it attractive. If the user preprograms a cell phone, the process can take place in as little as 10 or 15 seconds, Ruwe said. Cardholders call a toll-free number, and by entering a four-digit key code, can check their card’s status, change from lock to unlocked or vice versa. “It’s incredibly simple.” So much so, he added, some users choose to lock their cards after each transaction, unlocking it only when they are ready to use it again.
