Federal Bank has launched ‘Soft PIN’ facility for Debit cards, which lets customers use debit and ATM cards almost as soon as they’ve got their hands on it.
Soft PIN, which replaces printed ‘PIN- Mailers’, can be generated by the customers themselves through any of the Bank’s 1500-plus ATMs across the country, thus avoiding the hassles involved in sending and receiving of physical PIN Mailers.
The process for generating Soft PIN is simple and convenient. Upon receiving a debit card, the customer shall initiate an SMS for setting a new PIN, in response to which they will receive a One Time Password [OTP] with 3 hours validity.
They can then visit any Federal Bank ATM within the stipulated 3 hours, along with the debit card, and set the PIN using the OTP. In the case of Soft Pin there is no waiting time for the customer to receive the PIN which otherwise comes through post / courier.
“This is more secured as there is no chance of losing it in transit. It also promotes paperless banking and hence an environment friendly initiative,” it said.
Normally, there is a delay of around 1 week between when the card is mailed and when the PIN number is mailed, causing inconvenience to users.
As an additional service, the Bank has enabled the facility to activate debit cards through any of its ATMs.
“With this, customers can now generate Debit Card PIN, reset Debit Card PIN and activate Debit Cards using the Bank’s ATMs. The facility to reset Debit Card PIN and activate debit cards through Internet Banking (FedNet) and Mobile Banking (FedMobile) channels is in the offing, and will be launched very soon.”