Pre-activated credit cards -- are these legal?

[ess]

When I got home last night, there was a blue envelop on our dining table addressed to me.

Inside the envelope was a BDO Mastercard, pre-activated.
It had a sticker on it which read, "No need to activate, your card is already ACTIVE. For your protection, please immediately sign at the back of the card."

Unfortunately, I was not at home when the courier brought the card. Had I been home, I would have refused to receive the card. Pero nandon na eh.

I immediately called up BDO and had the card cancelled.


I've had my share of credit card spam over the years but all of them were decent enough to do one of the following:
- They would CALL ME UP and ask for my approval (as in the case of BPI, HSBC and Standard Chartered),
- Or would send me a CCard which I then need to activate. If I don't activate within a set deadline, the card is automatically void. (Amex)
- Or they would send me a letter saying I'm pre-qualified ek-ek, and I just have to call their phone banking center to have a card sent to me (Citibank).

BDO is the first ever pre-approved, pre-activated card I've received.
WTF?! Is this even legal?

WHAT if I were lazy or stupid or ignorant enough to ignore the CCard and not have it cancelled? After two years, I'll be surprised to get a statement charging me a yearly membership fee, which I'll then have to contest, and would probably lose out on because I had two years to cancel but didn't?

So now, the burden is upon me to cancel their "gift"?

[CVT]

First time I heard this....

Baka naman kasi they know that you have lots of moolah to burn, so they sent you that...

11.2K:bee:

[shadow]

max mo yun card then huwag mo sila bayaran...

[ess]

Lots of moolah? Heheheh... I wish! :D
Pero I doubt that's the reason. The Credit Limit is only 20k! Halos entry level.

Anyway, I was told that I may call up after three business days to check if the cancellation was successful. Bad trip talaga. Abala!

[CVT]

^^^ I feel for you bro....

11.2K:bee:

[xtremerider]

I think that's part of the BDO Promo about Credit Card...this pre approved card.

Well if you received such promo like this, a friend of mine informed me that whenever you received such pre approved card and you don't want to use it then call the customer service to cancel it or just ignore the card but don't use it. They will not charge you even a single centavo for renewal since you didn't use the card.

[frenchtower]

If that falls into wrong hands and used without your knowledge/authority, you'll be in HUGE mess trying to detach yourself from any obligation. If that happens to me, I'll make sure they will have an appointment with my lawyer.

[andywesteast]

BDO is the first ever pre-approved, pre-activated card I've received.
WTF?! Is this even legal?

WHAT if I were lazy or stupid or ignorant enough to ignore the CCard and not have it cancelled? After two years, I'll be surprised to get a statement charging me a yearly membership fee, which I'll then have to contest, and would probably lose out on because I had two years to cancel but didn't?

So now, the burden is upon me to cancel their "gift"?

Matagal na ginagawa ito sa US.

If you don't want to accept the card, just cut it up.

Don't need to stress yourself up and get emotional.

[_Qwerty_]

matagal na din to dito sa atin.. kahit metrobank ginagawa yan.. tama kung ayaw mo just cut it up and ignore..

[ess]

Yep. Already done that.

Nainis lang ako that I had to call them up to have the card cancelled so I can have my peace of mind.

[niky]

I think there should be a law against sending pre-approved credit cards to clients who don't want it.

I actually had a fight with a bank on the phone. They told me if I don't want it, don't use it.

I told them: "The god-damn card isn't even in the mail yet, and I'm telling you I don't want it. Save your ****ing money and send a card to someone else!"

-

Sending the card makes you obligated if it gets waylaid in the mail and someone else uses it. It's a hassle.

[alwayz_yummy]

di na ako bago dyan.. sa family namin pinapadalhan ng card talaga... it means na may malaki kang deposit/s sa kanila... nasa sayo kung gagamitin mo.. pero pag ayaw mo--either cut it up or balik mo nalang sa branch mo...most likely dun galing yun...

may extra ang manager sa mga ganun...lalo na sa loans...

[boybi]

Matagal na ginagawa ito sa US.

If you don't want to accept the card, just cut it up.

Don't need to stress yourself up and get emotional.

The problem is the card might fall into the wrong hands. The one who gets the card can use it and you'll be the one who'll get charged.

[ess]

The problem is the card might fall into the wrong hands. The one who gets the card can use it and you'll be the one who'll get charged.

And that can easily happen!

Case in point --

I was in office when the courier came to my home with the BDO card. Hence, I was not able to receive the card in person (..but if I was there...sigurado hindi ko tatanggapin yon... )

It was my daughter's yaya who received the card! I did not give any authorization letter. (Hindi ko nga alam na may parating na card eh.)

I have cards from Citibank. The Citibank courier will never leave a CCard to a 3rd party unless I explicitly leave an authorization letter. I also have a card from BPI. I think BPI has the same policy.

Pano kaya kung walang tao sa bahay...malamang iniwan na lang siguro ng BDO courier yung CCard sa mailbox namin na pwedeng sunkitin ng kahit sino.

[boybi]

Nangyari pala one time sa amin, nagpadala ng new card ang citibank sa amin. May kapangalan wife ko dito sa subdivision dati, middle name lang magkaiba. Dun napunta yung card sa kapangalan. Buti nalang kakilala, kundi baka ginamit na.

[ghosthunter]

When I got home last night, there was a blue envelop on our dining table addressed to me.

Inside the envelope was a BDO Mastercard, pre-activated.
It had a sticker on it which read, "No need to activate, your card is already ACTIVE. For your protection, please immediately sign at the back of the card."

Unfortunately, I was not at home when the courier brought the card. Had I been home, I would have refused to receive the card. Pero nandon na eh.

I immediately called up BDO and had the card cancelled.


I've had my share of credit card spam over the years but all of them were decent enough to do one of the following:
- They would CALL ME UP and ask for my approval (as in the case of BPI, HSBC and Standard Chartered),
- Or would send me a CCard which I then need to activate. If I don't activate within a set deadline, the card is automatically void. (Amex)
- Or they would send me a letter saying I'm pre-qualified ek-ek, and I just have to call their phone banking center to have a card sent to me (Citibank).

BDO is the first ever pre-approved, pre-activated card I've received.
WTF?! Is this even legal?

WHAT if I were lazy or stupid or ignorant enough to ignore the CCard and not have it cancelled? After two years, I'll be surprised to get a statement charging me a yearly membership fee, which I'll then have to contest, and would probably lose out on because I had two years to cancel but didn't?

So now, the burden is upon me to cancel their "gift"?

It is not just BDO who does that. Even BPI did it. A couple of years ago, I got a bunch of credit cards from BPI. Gas card, gold card, red card, blue card, etc. Since I don't need so many credit cards (from one bank), I just used the gold card and kept the rest in my desk drawer.

One year later I got a billing for "annual fees" for ALL the cards they sent. I gave them a call asking about it. They said the cards were pre-approved and already activated. I reasoned that I never used the cards since I got them so they can just terminate the (unused) cards and reverse the charges. After a few minutes, they did reverse the charges and had the unused cards canceled.