If my card is blocked why can I still do contactless?

[Flynn999]

Went into the supermarket yesterday and tried to pay on my card using the chip and pin. Card blocked. Then remembered I put the wrong pin in when I last used the petrol station which was just before lockdown. (Completely forgot to unblock it) I’ve used the bank card both online for my weekly shop and contactless without any issues.

AIBU to think that if the pin is blocked on the card then the card shouldn’t be useable for either online purchases or contactless. Essentially if I had stolen the card They could have happily continued to use it on a contactless/online basis.

Voting:
Aibu - only using the pin aspect of your card should be blocked and you should still be able to use contactless/online shopping as normal.

AINBU - to think the bank should block the whole card. What’s the point of blocking the pin if you can use the card as normal!

If you can still use it online etc then it means the card has not actually been blocked.

You probably just need to reset your pin.

I’m fairly sure the card is blocked, if I put it in the chip and pin it says card blocked. And I seem to remember putting the pin in wrong the last time I used it.

This is my point, surely if the wrong pin has been used then you shouldn’t be able to do contactless and you shouldn’t be able to use it online until the card is reactivated in the cash point?

Your card is not blocked, your PIN is locked. You can unlock it at an ATM.

This is my point, surely if the wrong pin has been used then you shouldn’t be able to do contactless and you shouldn’t be able to use it online until the card is reactivated in the cash point?

But why though? Isn’t this just a pain in the arse when, just like you have, you’ve put the wrong PIN in but the card is still in your possession? You’d have to wait for a new card to be sent to you otherwise.

If your card is stolen, you report it stolen and the bank looks at the transactions and refunds any contactless that you say aren’t yours. Mostly they do this without quibbling. Online transactions they’ll look at IP addresses and the like to see if it matches with the one you normally sign on from.

Banks have to balance convenience and protection. That’s why it’s like that. It’s not perfect, but I don’t think that’s possible!

I think that contactless and debit card transactions are processed in different ways, which may explain why the contactless payment worked.

I tried to close a current account a couple of years ago, and I had used the card contactlessly a few weeks before. I couldn't close the account there and then as the contactless system still had a 'hold' on my account (something to do with how the Tube use the system).

Anyway, the very lovely bank clerk said that contactless payments are processed differently, and that the two systems are processed differently.

It's PIN blocked, not the card that's blocked. You say you have used it inline and contactless since. That's a good thing surely, as you have needed it?