Businesses Truly Have Full Liability on Debit Fraud

In the last post I mentioned that many banks have adopted a zero-liability policy for PIN Debit, Signature Debit and CNP  transactions.  Not so if you are a business.  Here's a snippet from story written by Laura Ruane published in Tallahassee's Business Matters regarding the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce and their experience with debit card fraud. 

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce learns debit card protection lesson

The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce lost $32,000 to debit card fraud and the losses were not covered.

Last fall, the islands chamber discovered about $32,000 in unauthorized purchases when its outside accountant did a routine monthly reconciliation of the checking account.  Further inquiry showed that data from the chamber's debit card was "skimmed," and used to create another card. No one knows where or exactly when this occurred; however, small, hard-to-detect skimming devices have been used at gas station pumps, automated teller machines and restaurants.

In the case of the islands chamber, Edison National Bank declined to cover the loss. The chamber has since parted ways with the bank.  Bank policy is to disclose to business applicants that having a debit or credit card in the company's name "is unlike a natural person having a debit card," said Robbie Roepstorff, Edison National president.  That's not to say the bank wouldn't cover a business' credit or debit card-related loss, Roepstorff said: "We never like to say never."  (didn't they just say never twice?  Nevermind...)



Businesses, however, aren't afforded the same protections by law from these losses as are individual consumers."There's an assumption businesses are more sophisticated than consumers, (Editor's Translation:  Consumers are Dummies) and are less likely to need protection," said Nessa Feddis, senior vice president with the American Bankers Association.