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Beware the Pitfalls of Stolen Credit Cards
In Singapore, when your credit card is stolen, you will very likely be held liable for the charges on your card before the loss was reported.
This policy is stated in the fine print on the contract that you would have signed when you applied for the card.
Only American Express (Amex) and Maybank have limited liabilities for lost and stolen cards, capped at $500 for Maybank and $100 for Amex.
There was a Straits Times report two weeks earlier about a woman who was left with a $17k bill after she lost her credit cards.
In the US, consumers can simply inform their banks when their cards are stolen and their liabilities would be wiped off. The US Truth in Lending Act has special provisions which limit cardholders’ liability to $50 for fraudulent charges.
Over in Malaysia, their central bank, Bank Negara, limits consumer liability to RM200 (S$82) after a card is stolen.
Moral of the story: Don’t carry too many cards in your wallet. Only carry those that you usually use. Keep the rest of the cards safe under lock and key. And if you don’t really need some of those cards, can consider terminating them.
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