ATMs

Smart Tips on Using ATMs
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- ATM Cards and Passwords
  Keep your ATM card safe. Set a password that is difficult to guess and different from the ones for other services. Change your password regularly. Do not keep your ATM card and password together.
- ATMs
  Beware of anything unusual about the card insertion slot, keypad and keypad cover (e.g. whether any suspicious device is installed). Cover the keypad with your hand when entering your password and check whether anyone is trying to peek at your password.
- Handling your Cash Withdrawals
  Count the banknotes immediately after each cash withdrawal. Do not take away any banknotes at the cash dispenser or ATM card at the card insertion slot left behind by someone else. Let the banknotes or ATM card return to the ATM automatically.
- Overseas Cash Withdrawals
  If you intend to withdraw cash from overseas ATMs, check with your bank whether your intended overseas destination can support cash withdrawals using your ATM card. You should also activate the overseas ATM cash withdrawal function in advance and set a prudent overseas ATM cash withdrawal limit and an activation period.
- Messages from Banks
  Check the transaction records provided by your bank in a timely manner. Inform your bank immediately if you lose your ATM card, or in case of any suspicious transactions or situations, regardless of the amount. Banks will not ask for any sensitive personal information (including passwords) through phone calls or emails.
- Fund Transfers
  Verify carefully the transferee’s account number and transfer amount before confirming a fund transfer instruction. In case of any transfer to a wrong account by mistake, contact the bank for assistance as soon as possible. However, the bank can only transfer back the fund upon getting the transferee’s consent. If the transferee is not cooperative or refuses to return the fund, the transferor should consider reporting to the police. Besides, anyone who discovers a deposit to his bank account from an unknown source should report the matter to his bank immediately, otherwise, he can be criminally liable.
Security Controls for ATM Services
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The Hong Kong banking industry adopts chip-based technology to further strengthen the security of ATM services. The chip of a chip-based ATM card is equipped with a micro-processor which protects sensitive data stored within the chip and therefore is more effective in preventing card data from being copied to produce counterfeit cards.

As many ATMs outside Hong Kong are still using magnetic stripe technology, all ATM cards continue to feature a magnetic stripe to allow cardholders' use outside Hong Kong. But enhanced security measures are implemented by banks to offer additional protection against unauthorised ATM transactions outside Hong Kong.

Smart Tips on the Withdrawal of Social Security Payments outside Hong Kong by Recipients of Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, Guangdong Scheme and Fujian Scheme
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Recipients/Appointees of the Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (PCSSA) Scheme, Guangdong (GD) Scheme and Fujian (FJ) Scheme implemented by the Social Welfare Department who are currently staying on the Mainland but having difficulties in returning to Hong Kong to collect their social security payments owing to the COVID-19 may withdraw such payments on the Mainland through the following channels.
- Activation of ATM Cash Withdrawal Capability Outside Hong Kong
  Generally speaking, ATM cards issued by banks in Hong Kong support cash withdrawal on the Mainland, subject to activation of the cash withdrawal capability of the card concerned beforehand. To facilitate the withdrawal of monthly assistance or allowance by needy recipients/appointees of the above schemes on the Mainland, retail banks in Hong Kong have put in place an arrangement that allows them to activate the function of cash withdrawal of their ATM cards issued by banks in Hong Kong (including debit cards and those credit cards with cash withdrawal function) on the Mainland through different bank channels (including bank hotlines), without the need to return to Hong Kong. An expiry date of the activation period as well as a cash withdrawal limit can be set when activating such function. It should be noted that cash withdrawal transactions using ATM cards outside Hong Kong may entail fees and charges. For details, please refer to relevant information provided on the homepage of the Social Welfare Department and the Hong Kong Association of Banks, or contact your card-issuing bank direct.
- Remittance to bank accounts on the Mainland
  Many retail banks also provide cross-border remittance service, and customers can set up standing instructions to arrange for remittance on a regular basis to designated bank accounts outside Hong Kong. To facilitate the recipients/appointees of the above schemes to receive social security payments without having to return to Hong Kong in person, some retail banks in Hong Kong are now providing remote channels (including by post, internet banking and/or mobile banking) for recipients/appointees residing on the Mainland to set up standing instructions to regularly remit social security payments from their bank accounts in Hong Kong to their designated bank accounts on the Mainland. It should be noted that some banks may charge for this service. For application details and other relevant information, please refer to the webpages of the Social Welfare Department and the Hong Kong Association of Banks, or contact the relevant bank direct.