Credit and debit cards.

[amajaa]

We have just had the e mail about if you register a credit or debit card you now have to give a PIN number and £50 is deducted against your on board spend. What if you don't spend £50, we have a lot of OBC so doubt we will spend anything else. Do we get our £50 back or can we just say we don't want to register a card?

[jody75]

Suggest you tell your Bank if P&O are asking for your PIN and see what they say ....!!!

[kentchris]

We have just had the e mail about if you register a credit or debit card you now have to give a PIN number and £50 is deducted against your on board spend. What if you don't spend £50, we have a lot of OBC so doubt we will spend anything else. Do we get our £50 back or can we just say we don't want to register a card?

No money changes hands, P&O pre-authorise £50 which reduces your available credit. They don't actually charge anything to your card until the end of the cruise. The pre-authorisation is temporary and either expires when P&O take payment from your card, or automatically after a week or so if they don't.

 

This was chewed over pretty thoroughly in threads here and in the Cunard forum.

[kentchris]

Suggest you tell your Bank if P&O are asking for your PIN and see what they say ....!!!

That's how card transactions in person usually work so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

[HomelessBear]

I agree with Jody75. No one should be asked for their card PIN.

I'd suggest it's a scam. You could phone P&O and ask if they've emailed you about this. I've not received any such email. If I had I'd be deleting it.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[kentchris]

I agree with Jody75. No one should be asked for their card PIN.

I'd suggest it's a scam. You could phone P&O and ask if they've emailed you about this. I've not received any such email. If I had I'd be deleting it.

It's not a scam, it's a slight change to the checkin process where previously they just swiped your card. Move along, nothing to see...

 

From the FAQ: https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/fleet/pay_onboard

Edited August 23, 2017 by kentchris

[Thejuggler]

The only 'giving' of a PIN number is via a keypad, just as you do in stores.

[Eglesbrech]

I would never give my PIN number in an email and as suggested above would check this out with P&O.

 

P&O have never asked for it before either, from us anyway.

[jeanlyon]

You give your card to the checkin lady and she hands you a terminal into which you put your PIN. So what's new, you do that every time you use your card? And they do not take £50, they pre-authorise £50 to see if it is rejected. Suggest you read the email again.

[kentchris]

I would never give my PIN number in an email and as suggested above would check this out with P&O.

 

P&O have never asked for it before either, from us anyway.

They haven't asked anyone to provide their PIN in an email. It's at checkin, just like when you buy something in a shop with your card.

[Eglesbrech]

It's not a scam, it's a slight change to the checkin process where previously they just swiped your card. Move along, nothing to see...

 

From the FAQ: https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/fleet/pay_onboard

 

I only saw your link after making the post above, thanks for adding it. So this is something new then but in person at the check in desk.

 

I am extremely catious with all things financial when it comes to P&O given that they raided my bank account (and the accounts of many, many other customers) earlier this year. I wonder if this change is as a result of that fiasco, if the initial transaction is done with a PIN then perhaps it stops the "computer" dipping into accounts several months later and taking more. Most of the issues were double payments of balances so this would not prevent that happening but there were also cases of onboard spend coming off twice as well.

 

The cynic in me thinks it is more likely to be a security for P&Os cash flow.

[kentchris]

The cynic in me thinks it is more likely to be a security for P&Os cash flow.

Hardly, the previous process was to pre-authorise every day for the previous day's spend so their exposure was never going to be more than a day's spend, or perhaps two at the start of the cruise. They've just added an initial pre-authorisation before anyone starts using their onboard account.

[Eglesbrech]

Hardly, the previous process was to pre-authorise every day for the previous day's spend so their exposure was never going to be more than a day's spend, or perhaps two at the start of the cruise. They've just added an initial pre-authorisation before anyone starts using their onboard account.

 

Yes I'm well aware of the previous process, the final comment was directly relating to the hope that they had done something to stop them, or their agent helping themselves to money twice as they did earlier this year.

[kentchris]

Yes I'm well aware of the previous process, the final comment was directly relating to the hope that they had done something to stop them, or their agent helping themselves to money twice as they did earlier this year.

The change is probably due to updated card payment industry standards, doing 'customer not present' transactions when the customer is actually stood there is presumably deprecated as unnecessarily risky. Life's too short for a lay person to wade through all their documentation to find out.

 

Entering a PIN isn't in itself going to stop the card processor running transactions more than once if there's a hole in their processes - all we can hope is Elavon have worked out how they managed to do it and how to avoid doing it again. Assuming of course that Carnival UK still use them and haven't moved their business elsewhere.

[amajaa]

I would never give my PIN number in an email and as suggested above would check this out with P&O.

 

P&O have never asked for it before either, from us anyway.

 

Sorry if my original post was confusing I didn't mean you had to give a PIN number by e mail. I would never ever do that and would have deleted the e mail and run a scan.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

[grapau27]

Suggest you tell your Bank if P&O are asking for your PIN and see what they say ....!!!

Never give your pin the banks will not compensate you if there is any fraud.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

[grapau27]

No money changes hands, P&O pre-authorise £50 which reduces your available credit. They don't actually charge anything to your card until the end of the cruise. The pre-authorisation is temporary and either expires when P&O take payment from your card, or automatically after a week or so if they don't.

 

This was chewed over pretty thoroughly in threads here and in the Cunard forum.

It has with RC but never to my Knowledge on our cards.

 

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

[majortom10]

Hyperactive over reaction by some P&O/Cunard are not asking for your PIN but as an extra layer of security instead of swiping your card at check-in they will ask you to put your PIN in the same as you already do when using your debit/credit card throughout the UK. Calm down folks nobody will see your PIN number or stored anywhere.

[grapau27]

Hyperactive over reaction by some P&O/Cunard are not asking for your PIN but as an extra layer of security instead of swiping your card at check-in they will ask you to put your PIN in the same as you already do when using your debit/credit card throughout the UK. Calm down folks nobody will see your PIN number or stored anywhere.

We are told by our banks to be careful and the ops post probably not clear but nowadays there are scammers everywhere so no not an overreaction by people IMO.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

[majortom10]

We are told by our banks to be careful and the ops post probably not clear but nowadays there are scammers everywhere so no not an overreaction by people IMO.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

 

Of course it is P&O or Cunard have not asked you to divulge your PIN to anyone else all they are saying is when you check-in the method has changed where they scanned your card they are now asking that you will put your card in a machine like you do every time you use them in this country and type your PIN number in. This will not be stored or seen by anyone else exactly the same way as when used every time in this country at any shop or supermarket.

[davecttr]

The OP wrote if you register a credit or debit card you now have to give a PIN number

 

I think that means enter the pin number on the terminal and not say it out loud or write it down, if not, we have a problem!.

[kentchris]

The OP wrote if you register a credit or debit card you now have to give a PIN number

 

I think that means enter the pin number on the terminal and not say it out loud or write it down, if not, we have a problem!.

As a number of people have already pointed out in an effort to head off the rush of headless chickens yelling "it's a scam" for absolutely no reason whatsoever. It's a perfectly normal chip'n'pin transaction at checkin instead of the previous card swipe.

[john watson]

Presumably the process of putting your card into a credit card terminal and entering your pin number confirms that your credit card account number has been accurately recorded and the card works. Under the previous system perhaps clerical errors were occurring and they want to eliminate them.

 

Regards John

[grapau27]

Presumably the process of putting your card into a credit card terminal and entering your pin number confirms that your credit card account number has been accurately recorded and the card works. Under the previous system perhaps clerical errors were occurring and they want to eliminate them.

 

Regards John

That sounds sensible.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

[amajaa]

Hyperactive over reaction by some P&O/Cunard are not asking for your PIN but as an extra layer of security instead of swiping your card at check-in they will ask you to put your PIN in the same as you already do when using your debit/credit card throughout the UK. Calm down folks nobody will see your PIN number or stored anywhere.

 

Again, sorry if my original post confused. I wasn't querying the putting the pin in at check in. I realised that was all genuine.

I thought they were going to take £50 off our credit card which ordinarily wouldn't have mattered as we know we would spend at least that on the gratuities alone. I was saying we had a lot of OBC this time so probably wouldn't be spending anything else other than the OBC, so would we get the £50 back or could we just not register a card. That query was answered fairly early on that £50 wouldn't be taken, so will be interesting to see what does happen.