ATMs & Electronic funds transfer

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EFT accounts

Electronic Funds Transfer can be as simple as your everyday Eftpos - the "EFT" in Eftpos refer to "electronic funds transfer". This means that the funds are transferred electronically rather than by hand. If you

• take money out of an ATM;
• use EFTPOS in a store;
• do telephone or internet banking; or
• use your credit card over the phone or internet;

you are making an "electronic funds transfers" (EFT).

In general they are operated by a plastic card with a password, known as a "PIN" (Personal Identification Number). The Australian Securities and Investments Commission administers the EFT Code which is a voluntary industry code of practice covering all forms of consumer electronic payments transactions.

Unauthorised use

What happens if a person uses your card without your permission? The Code protects you if:

• the merchant or financial institution has been negligent in the use of the card;
• the card is forged or faulty and the merchant/institution should have realised it e.g. the card has expired;
• someone uses your card before you receive it;
• there was fraudulent or negligent conduct by the employees or agents of your account institution or of merchants;
• a forged, faulty, expired or cancelled card, PIN or password was used;
• a merchant incorrectly debited your account more than once for a sale;
• the transaction took place after you told your account institution that your card had been lost or stolen, or that someone else may know your PIN or password.

You should always notify the issuing institution immediately you believe the card has been stolen, or someone has had access to the PIN number. Following this you will not be liable for any further unauthorised activity on the card. Otherwise, if you did not contribute to the unauthorised use of the card, your liability is severely limited. However, dont delay you can take a "reasonable" time to notify the financial institution of the loss e.g. to look for it, and liability only begins from the time you should reasonably have been aware that the card was missing. Nevertheless, you dont want to get into an argument about when you should have realised the card was missing or stolen. In all cases it is best to report it as soon as you can.

Negligent users

You may have contributed to the unauthorised use of the card if:

• you gave your PIN number to another person;
• you were negligent with regard to the security of the PIN number e.g. you kept the pin number in your wallet in close proximity to the card;
• you delayed in your notification of the loss of the card or PIN. in that case you might be liable for either the loss or a lesser amount if the balance of the account is smaller than the loss.

It almost goes without saying, but obviously you must never write the code on the card!