Is there such a thing as duplicate debit cards?

I've never heard of it. You could always ask your bank, but I would suspect they might think it was a fraud risk.

Imagine that you make a withdrawal in London, and ten minutes later there is a withdrawal in Edinburgh. With only one card, you can say 'they can't both have been me; somebody must have cloned my card'. With two cards, when the bank asks you 'was the card in your possession at all times', you're going to have to say 'no' - and the bank is going to suspect that your work colleague/spouse/relative made the Edinburgh withdrawal, either with or without your consent.

Alternatively, with only one card you're going to notice when you've lost it, and report it to the bank pretty quickly; with two, you might not realise you've lost the second one for ages. (Obviously some people don't use particular accounts for ages, so also wouldn't notice the loss of their card, but there doesn't tend to be much activity on those accounts so the bank would probably spot the fraudulent transactions).

I appreciate that the second card doesn't make fraud intrinsically more likely, but I still think it might be a problem for the bank.

Although the bank could of course identify the cards separately; I shouldn't post when I'm still asleep!

Every time my card is renewed my old card validity overlaps my new card by one month. So the banks can cope with this.

"Pete Verdon" wrote in message news:4a42beb4$0$512$ snipped-for-privacy@news.gradwell.net... |I sometimes find it convenient to keep two wallets in different sets of | clothing. At present, I swap my debit/cash card from one to the other, | but it would be nice not to have to. Is there such a thing as a second | debit card on the same account, like his&hers cards for a couple but | both in my name? I can't see why this presents an intrinsic problem, but | I've never heard of it being offered. | | Obviously I could have a second account, but that's a lot of | complication just to avoid swapping cards over when I change from work | clothes into BBQ shorts. | | At present I'm with Halifax, but I'm curious whether this exists anywhere. | | Cheers, | | Pete

They probably wouldn't officially allow it. But how about getting a second card for a ficticious brother who happens to have the same initials as you?

I don't know whether this is possible in the UK, but all accounts I hold with HSBC overseas allow you to have multiple account types encoded into a single debit or credit card. I have my savings, current and credit accounts all encoded into a single credit card, so I only need to carry one card around which does everything. That leaves the normal ATM card that came with my current account free as a spare. I normally keep this card in the glove compartment of my car as a backup in case I forget my wallet when I leave home or lose it somehow.

Chris

So how does the card know which feature you wish to use on a per-transaction basis?

Although if you use the new one does it cancel the old one?

I don't know how you manage to have such a problem to take your wallet out of your pocket when you get changed then put it back in your pocket afterwards.

Do you have two sets of keys and two mobiles as well? Have you ever forgot to take your wallet out when you wash your clothes?

He feels he needs to keep a photo of his wife in his wallet. But he doesn't want his two wives to know about each other. The photos would get damaged if he were to swap them in and out of one wallet all the time, and that's why he needs two wallets.

You betcha.

No chance. His wives wash his clothes, so he has to make damn sure the wrong wallet/phone/keys are never in them.

The ATM screen asks which account you want to carry out the transaction on.. You select from "Current Account", "Savings Account" or "Credit Card Account".

Chris

At 04:54:05 on 26/06/2009, Chris Blunt delighted uk.finance by announcing:

This is not yet supported by all UK terminals. Applications can be automatically selected based on priorities, but that would still leave you automatically paying by the pre-selected method at many retailers.

ATMs wouldn't be a problem, since - as now - they would automatically select LINK first, then the debit product if LINK isn't present.

Visa are working on introducing the 'One Card' in the UK, but it doesn't exist here yet.

Does the same apply if you make a purchase in a shop - or over the internet?

The card gets accepted as a VISA credit card when used at shops or on the internet. I've never been offered any other choice in those situations. Its only when used in an ATM that the option of using either of the other encoded bank accounts gets offered.

Chris

I'm fairly sure I did get the choice of which account to use when I used the card in an HSBC ATM machine in the UK.

Chris

So you can't get cash-back at stores, where they'll only offer the facility if you use a debit card.

I've never tried. As I said, this is an HSBC card issued outside the UK. It probably cannot do a lot of things that are possible in the UK with UK issued cards.

Chris

Like the famous naval toast immortalised by Patrick o'Brian

"to our wives and girfriends, may they never meet".

Wasn't there a Barclay card, back in the early 90's that was both credit and debit card and you had to chose which it was when you paid?

Note the "two wallets" part. One is a solid leather item containing various cards both financial and otherwise, a varying amount of folding cash, and usually a fair bit of change. It's fine in a pair of jeans or other normal trousers, but in a pair of lightweight linen shorts such as I might change into after work given the current weather, it's like having a cannonball in my pocket. So at this time of year I also have a small nylon wallet containing a £20 note and a debit/cash card in case I need more (I might only be going for a walk round the park, but it's entirely possible I might bump into a mate and end up in the pub for the evening).

I don't usually discuss my wardrobe choices on the Internet, but you did seem very interested.

Keys, yes. The small wallet is one with a keyring attached, and it carries an extra front door key.

Pete