We had a situation yesterday that I would like to get some opinions on:

A mother and daughter have a joint account with us. They both have debit cards attached to this account. Mother calls in to find out why a charge on the daughters card was declined. Our call center declined to speak with the mother because the card was issued in the daughters name.

I've read some older threads discussing the issue of privacy on debit cards and I questioned the call center as to why they wouldn't talk with the mother since it was a joint account. We have differing opinions on this topic. I guess my question is - when is it ok to discuss debit cards with a joint owner and when should we not? For example:

1. Unauthorized debit card claims - can either joint owner call in and claim unauthorized transactions? And sign a written statement?
2. Can a joint owner call in and put a travel notice on another owners debit card?
3. Can a joint owner call in to find out why a card was declined?
4. Can a joint owner call in and close a card?
5. What if the joint owner has other accounts attached to the card that are not joint accounts?

I guess reading through older threads, I agree with the thought that the cards are issued on the account and not to individual owners, however, there are other employees who disagree with me because we require the individual to sign an application and agree to the terms and conditions. They consider that an individual contract. Plus, there could be multiple accounts attached to one debit card that are not all jointly owned.

I'm just looking for a little more clarification on how requests should be handled.

Thanks!

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. That is just silly if you allow it.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. We do not allow that - One account per card

If the daughter wants "privacy" over their debit card purchases, they should have an individual account that mom can't access.

1. Reg E specifically allows either party to notify the institution of an electronic funds transfer error. We would be in violation of the regulation if we told mom we couldn't accept a claim from her that was charged to the daughter's card.
2. This is just good customer service. What possible reason would we have to refuse?
3. Yes.
4. Consider this scenario: Mom calls in to request a card be closed because her daughter had her purse stolen with the debit card in it. The bank refuses because they want to hear from the daughter even though the daughter is at the police station filing a report and can't call right now. Several unauthorized charges occur because the bank refused to close the card. Guess who pays? The bank!!!
5. The joint owner should only be given information relating to the account on which they are an owner.

Staff should review the commentary to 1005.6.

2. Notice by third party. Notice to a financial institution by a person acting on the consumer's behalf is considered valid under this section. For example, if a consumer is hospitalized and unable to report the loss or theft of an access device, notice is considered given when someone acting on the consumer's behalf notifies the bank of the loss or theft. A financial institution may require appropriate documentation from the person representing the consumer to establish that the person is acting on the consumer's behalf.

Thank you Randy, Sunshine Lady and Brian. I appreciate the input!

I wonder...is it uncommon to allow multiple accounts on one card? I guess I'm just thinking about a customer with a checking and savings - one card would be easier for them than issuing them two.

Not uncommon at all. The ATM gives the customer the ability to transfer between the accounts.

So let me ask you this Brian - customer has a debit card on his checking and savings account. Checking account is joint with his wife. Savings is individual in his name only. His wallet is stolen and his wife calls in to report the card stolen and asks that it be closed (similar to your example above). Is this still ok for the bank to do since only one account is a joint account?

You only issue cards that match. You do not issue two cards tied to multiple accounts with just one account in common. You might print one name on the card, but that card does not just belong to that one person. That is never the way I ever interpreted the agreements that we used to use with our cards. Maybe you use something different. Talk to your legal counsel.

Thanks Randy. I will check into this!