Pressure Selling

I have just received a replacement credit card for one that is expiring.

As is standard nowadays you must activate the card in order to confirm it's safe receipt.  I am all for that and it should hopefully reduce fraud a little.

What I do object to however is the fact that with many card issuers they delegate the task of handling these calls to one of the 'Credit Card Protection' companies.  They activate the card for you and then launch into the sales pitch about how many calls they take each day from people who have lost their cards or had them stolen.

Without pausing for breath they then go on to say that they will send you a registration form for their product to provide protection against all these things such as loss of cards, loss of passport, loss of mobile phone, loss of cash, loss of house or car keys, and also the theft of any of these items.  They say that one phone call will enable you to ensure that all your providers are notified.

I thought the government had already given one of these companies a reprimand for this type of selling but clearly it continues.

What they omit to mention is that many people have home insurance which covers against some or all of these.  More importantly they forget to tell you (and it is in the small print but boy is it small) is that you are only covered for the other items IF your credit cards are stolen or lost in the same incident.  Even then there are some pretty strict rules regarding reporting the loss or theft and then there are a number of organisations (and I believe the mobile phone companies are amongst these) who will only take the call from the owner and not a third party.  Many more require you to confirm in writing yourself.  So what are these companies offering - a handsome profit for themselves.

It is time banks and credit card companies got back to being suppliers of the service we want and not marketing gateways for many others.