Debit Card PIN Transactions - the safer option

Recently, there has been an industry wide increase in Debit Card fraud involving criminals who have created counterfeit debit cards. Rest assured that your information at PFFCU is safe and no information has been stolen from Police and Fire Federal Credit Union, but rather from merchants and their processors. The counterfeit debit cards are being used to make purchases at merchants such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, Target and Giant. The criminals are signing for the transactions instead of using a PIN. The PIN information has not been compromised and that is why the criminals must sign for the transaction when using the debit card.

In order to minimize fraud and safeguard your accounts, PFFCU will require members to enter their PIN number when making debit card purchases at certain merchants, including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, Target and Giant. Many merchants already require you to enter your PIN number when you swipe your debit card. By using the Debit PIN option to make your purchase, you are protecting your account with an additional layer of security.

After swiping your card in the merchant’s card reader at the stores above, you should be prompted to enter your PIN. If the payment screen does not prompt you for your PIN number, please ask the salesperson for assistance to arrive at the screen for entering your PIN. If you try to conduct a transaction and are declined, please ask the salesperson to resubmit the transaction so you are required to enter your PIN.

If you have any questions, please contact us at 215-931-0300 or 800-228-8801 and we will be happy to help you.