SBI customers? State Bank of India can block your debit card from online transactions: Check how to reactivate it

If you are a customer of State Bank of India, then you must know that your bank holds the right to block your ATM/Debit card. The largest public sector bank lead in Debit Card issuance in the country, with a market share of 32.3% having issued approximately 27.83 crore Debit Cards as of March 2018. It's market share in debit card spends stand around 30 per cent. However, you may be surprised to know that the bank has been putting restrictions for some customers on the online transactions done by them using their debit cards.

The SBI sends an SMS alert to the customer once their debit card online transaction facility is blocked. You may worry why the bank needs to do it?

Explaining the rationale behind the move, the SBI said, "In order to avoid any online frauds, any customer who has not used their card for online transactions (e-commerce) for a long time, such cards are deactivated and are notified about the same through SMS notifications."

Thus SBI made it clear that the restriction is not permanent and can be removed on request. The bank also detailed the process by which a customer can re-activate the service by sitting at home.

"To activate e-Commerce functionality send SMS “SWON ECOM NNNN" (NNNN IS LAST FOUR DIGITS OF THE CARD EG., 0647) TO 0922396666. You may also use Internet Banking for enabling the same at ATM Card Services> ATM card limit> Channel> Usage Change under e-Services tab," said the bank.

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It's well known that financial crimes are on a rise in India. While the SBI's move may cause trouble for you and that also only for a short time, the move goes a long way in securing your money from the fraudsters.