Debit card handed to station staff - next steps of the staff?

[43094]

Thought I’d ask what others on here would have done / would expect to be done in the following scenario, which happened today:

I found a debit card on the platform at (a station). Having handed it in to the travel centre there, with details of which train it was found next to (unit number and last worked headcode of that unit), the staff said ‘thanks, we’ll cut it up’.

I’ve deliberately not mentioned the station so as not to get anyone into hot water.

Would people expect the card to be cut up by the staff, or held in lost property (intact) for a short while? I can see that it could be treated different to a normal item of lost property (bag etc).

 

[Robertj21a]

Safest, for everyone, to cut it up (preferably with 2 present).

 

[Termy]

Given the most recent increase in Contactless payment limit, definitely safer to cut up, especially trying to hit the contactless chip...

 

[ARIC]

If your card is lost or stolen, advice is to ring immediately and have it cancelled, not to spend time looking for it. I'd hope anyone who found mine would destroy it, not leave potentially unlimited access to my bank account out of my hands!

 

[simonw]

If your card is lost or stolen, advice is to ring immediately and have it cancelled, not to spend time looking for it. I'd hope anyone who found mine would destroy it, not leave potentially unlimited access to my bank account out of my hands!

Most banks allow you to temporarily switch it off, for want of a better phrase, on an app. You can then switch it back on if you find it, saving you have to wait for a replacement.

 

[alxndr]

Given the most recent increase in Contactless payment limit, definitely safer to cut up, especially trying to hit the contactless chip...

The "chip" isn't where the contactless ability comes from, there's a loop around the perimeter of the card. I got a small crack in one of my cards, only about 5mm long, and it destroyed the contactless ability and you could just see the three tiny wires that had been severed.

 

[43094]

I’d not considered the contactless element - good point.

I was working on the basis that the owner of the card could have potentially have asked if it had been handed in shortly after arrival if they realised straightaway (potentially while in a queue to speak to the bank!), and immediately cutting it up would mean it couldn’t be retrieved.

The responses above are all fair enough in support of immediately cutting it, though.

 

[Mak1981]

This is what at least one police forces current policy is:

Police Scotland's Lost Property Form. - Police Scotland

Police Scotland's Lost Property Form. Use this form to notify us of the loss of an item of property without speaking directly to a member of staff. Where possible the form will be looked at the next working day.

www.scotland.police.uk

"Please note it is our policy to destroy bank cards handed in as found property and notify the bank accordingly."

 

[Termy]

I was aiming for the specific part of the card with the wireless loop, I know the chip is for chip-n-pin, and the contact less comes from elsewhere, thankfully! :3 I just have never worked out where in the card it is...

 

[gka472l]

straight in the shredder......

 

[Monty]

Any wallet or purse I find is usually taken straight to a ticket office where the contents where I get a written itemised receipt from the booking office clerk. If not possible then I get a fellow colleague at the depot to witness and sign a similar receipt and the wallet/purse is deposited into the the safe at the end of the shift. My current understanding is that ticket office staff will hang on to the wallet until the end of the day, then destroy the cards while the rest is sent to the lost property office.

Any wallet or purse I find is usually taken straight to a ticket office where the contents where I get a written itemised receipt from the booking office clerk. If not possible then I get a fellow colleague at the depot to witness and sign a similar receipt and the wallet/purse is deposited into the the safe at the end of the shift. My current understanding is that ticket office staff will hang on to the wallet until the end of the day, then destroy the cards while the rest is sent to the lost property office.

 

[scrapy]

If you phone the banks they will advise to cut it up straight away. Is generally good practice to notify the bank so they can send a replacement to the person that lost it out asap. Some staff may keep hold of the card for a short while in case the owner comes back but I don't think that's official policy.

 

[800001]

Log it to show its been handed in, cut it up, and dispose of it, in to multiple bins.

 

[SouthStand]

"
The "chip" isn't where the contactless ability comes from, there's a loop around the perimeter of the card. I got a small crack in one of my cards, only about 5mm long, and it destroyed the contactless ability and you could just see the three tiny wires that had been severed.
"

Of course it is, try taking the chip out and see if it still works

EDIT quote facility failed for some reason?

 

[LowLevel]

There are various rules regarding lost property that may seem a bit odd but they're for everyone's safety. One is that cards should be logged and then destroyed. Another is that passports should not be held in lost property but should have the top right corner cut off and be sent to the relevant Government address, they're not meant to be returned to the holder.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Whenever I find a card I always call the bank concerned and give them the card details, informing them who I am and where I found the card. They always instruct me to destroy the card.

 

[Tubeboy]

On TFL, we cut it in half after two hours and put it in the bin, if unclaimed. If it’s within a wallet/purse, the same but keep the card within the wallet and process the whole thing as lost property. That’s the rules.

 

[dgl]

"
The "chip" isn't where the contactless ability comes from, there's a loop around the perimeter of the card. I got a small crack in one of my cards, only about 5mm long, and it destroyed the contactless ability and you could just see the three tiny wires that had been severed.
"

Of course it is, try taking the chip out and see if it still works

EDIT quote facility failed for some reason?

Yep, the chip has all the smarts including the contactless transceiver and the loop around the card is just the antenna for the contactless bit, noting that contactless and other RFID based systems use a relatively low frequency, hence the need for something a bit more substantial than what you could get away with for something like Wi-Fi.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Is there still a 'reward' for handing in a card?

 

[JaJaWa]

Should definitely be cancelled and destroyed. Anyone who saw the card before you could have written down the card number and could use it for payments at any point in the future (even months after the card is returned).

 

[John Luxton]

If I found a card my instinct would be to call the issuing bank or hand it in to a branch of the issuing bank if convenient.

 

[Skie]

Is there still a 'reward' for handing in a card?

I got a free pen and a nice letter for handing someones wallet (with a NatWest card in it, and money) into a branch. I was 12 at the time so that was novel for a simple mind

 

[43094]

Handing it in to the bank wasn’t feasible this time, I had a train to catch 20 minutes later for a long distance journey. My main priority was to hand it in somewhere safely, within the same station I found it.

Thanks to everyone for the responses to / perspectives on this.

 

[bluegoblin7]

On TFL, we cut it in half after two hours and put it in the bin, if unclaimed. If it’s within a wallet/purse, the same but keep the card within the wallet and process the whole thing as lost property. That’s the rules.

Definitely local practice rather than 'the rules'. Different areas (and, indeed, different staff on different areas) do it differently; I've come across all the methods listed here - and then more.

 

[Surreytraveller]

I got a free pen and a nice letter for handing someones wallet (with a NatWest card in it, and money) into a branch. I was 12 at the time so that was novel for a simple mind

There used to be a £50 reward for retail staff if they retained a card reported as lost. I was still wondering whether that was still the case

 

[Ibex]

When I worked on stations we destroyed cards after about 20-30 minutes (usually bang out an announcement for *surname* to speak to a member of staff too). We had a sheet where we recorded the name on the card incase they asked later on, a signature of the person cutting it up and a witness.

Then the remains went in the bin.

 

[40129]

Whenever I find a card I always call the bank concerned and give them the card details, informing them who I am and where I found the card. They always instruct me to destroy the card.

That's exactly what I do and what the banks tell me to do

 

[johntea]

I lost my wallet a couple of months ago and it took 5 minutes to cancel every card (or at least completely freeze their functionality) via the various banking apps on my phone, to be honest I was more annoyed at the loss of the wallet itself rather than the contents as someone had recently treated me to it for my birthday!

The banks in fairness were very fast at getting the replacements sent out, within 1-2 days in some cases

Since that incident my wallet now only contains a single debit card and a single credit card rather than the multiple ones I carried around before, as I can transfer money between my bank accounts in seconds anyway, the cash pocket usually only carries around moths

 

[cjmillsnun]

The "chip" isn't where the contactless ability comes from, there's a loop around the perimeter of the card. I got a small crack in one of my cards, only about 5mm long, and it destroyed the contactless ability and you could just see the three tiny wires that had been severed.

The chip is important for the contactless. The loop of wire is just an aerial.

 

[TheEdge]

The chip is important for the contactless. The loop of wire is just an aerial.

But the chip doesn't do anything specifically for contactless. The chip is what drives the functionality of the card but the aerial is what makes the NFC used for contactless work.