With the ever-present danger of credit card fraud, many banks now allow customers to put a temporary block on their cards via internet banking or the mobile banking app. By only activating the card when necessary, the โattack surfaceโ for would-be fraudsters is reduced.
While this is generally regarded as good security hygiene, thereโs one bank which may penalise you for doing soโฆ
Standard Chartered considers voluntary blocks to be suspensions
To qualify for a credit card welcome offer, or for bonus points on cards, Standard Chartered requires that your card must be valid at the time of fulfilment. This means it must not be suspended, cancelled or terminated.
For example, hereโs how this clause is stated in the T&Cs for the StanChart Journey Cardโs welcome offer.
2e. your Journey Card must, within six (6) months of account approval date, be valid (i.e. your Journey Card account must not be suspended, cancelled and/or terminated), in good standing, and conducted in a proper and satisfactory manner as determined by the Bank in its sole and absolute discretion
This requirement, in and of itself, is nothing unusualโ you can find similar language from Citibank, DBS, UOB and other banks. Itโs a reasonable rule, intended to screen out delinquent customers.
What is unusual is that Standard Chartered considers voluntary card blocking to be tantamount to a suspension! Over the past few months, Iโve received several reports from readers that putting a voluntary block on your Standard Chartered card will prevent you from receiving:
- Welcome offers (e.g. StanChart Journey Cardโs 45,000 miles welcome offer)
- Bonus points (e.g. StanChart Visa Infiniteโs step-up earn rates)
Customers who reached out to the bank for clarification received the following responses.
| Please be informed that based on updates from respective department, your credit card was blocked hence not eligible for credit card acquisition reward points (Nov24). We hope your query has been clarified. |
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As per Clause 2(e) of the Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card 45K Miles Promotion Terms and Conditions; to qualify for this Promotion and receive the Welcome Gift and Acquisition Gift, your Journey Card must, within six (6) months of account approval date, be valid (i.e. your Journey Card account must not be suspended, cancelled and/or terminated), in good standing, and conducted in a proper and satisfactory manner as determined by the Bank in its sole and absolute discretion. Regrettably, your card was imposed with a temporary block within six (6) months of account approval date. Hence, we regret to inform you that your card is not eligible for the Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card 45K Miles Promotion. |
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As per Point 13.1 and 13.2 of our T&Cs, the credit card must be in good standing and not suspended, terminated or closed to be eligible for reward points. In your case, your credit card was ineligible for reward points crediting as it was temporarily blocked. |
This is just absurd, if you ask me. Clearly, this rule was written with delinquent customers in mindโ the bank wants to avoid a situation where a cardholder charges the minimum spend, gets the welcome gift, then defaults on payment.
And you know what? Iโm on board with that. I believe thatโs a perfectly reasonable clause, but a voluntary block is a very different scenario. Itโs bad enough with the StanChart Journey Card; I canโt imagine missing out on the 100,000 miles sign-up bonus with the StanChart Beyond Card because of something as asinine as this!
Now, I believe this is one of those โincompetence not maliceโ situations, because in all likelihood, Standard Charteredโs systems simply arenโt sophisticated enough to tell the difference between a voluntary block and a suspension. Still, thatโs no excuse, and customers are right to feel mad about it.
If youโve been affected, I donโt think itโs the sort of thing you should take lying down. I would definitely raise an appeal with the bank, document all communications, and get FIDReC assistance if necessary. For what itโs worth, there is a data point in the MileChat that getting oneโs RM involved can lead to a favourable outcome, though I realise that wonโt be an option for everyone.
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Story update: A Standard Chartered spokesperson has provided the following response. โTo safeguard our clientsโ accounts, credit cards that are blocked or temporarily locked are not recognised as valid (i.e. suspended) โ during which, customers will not be able to earn campaign-related rewards or cashback. As an added precaution, we encourage clients to set up transaction alerts to be notified on any account updates, and report a suspicious activity at soonest. We will continuously take on feedback as we review our terms and conditions to enhance the way we serve our clientsโ |
Conclusion
Some Standard Chartered customers have reported that placing a temporary block on their cardโoften done as a precaution against fraudโ has led to them being disqualified from receiving welcome offers and bonus points.
While itโs understandable that the bank would withhold bonuses from customers who fail to pay their bills, a voluntary block for security reasons is an entirely different matter.
Iโve reached out to Standard Chartered for a comment on this, and will update this post if/when I receive a reply.
Do update if stand chart replies!
MAS complains is the only thing that helps. Instantly elevates it far over CSO level on the bank side, and they really want to avoid to get MAS to โruleโ on anything so theyโre a lot more reasonable.
i got the same bs reason when i signed up for smart credit card in 2024, and not being eligible for the promo as i have blocked the card from frauds.
glad that this news has came out to warn potential users of their practice
Oh no, wonder if other banks would start to follow suit
In this day and age when fraud seems so common and banks are trying to introduce ways to manage this cancer, you certainly would not expect other banks to follow. Consider another equivalent scenario. Consider the new lock feature to protect against scams. So I lock the $150k balance is my One Account. Does this now mean I donโt qualify for interest on the money?
I have already applied for tax facility and has been charged . Not sure why SC is doing this. I asked customer service, confirmed that no welcome bonus if card suspended
Trying to check if I can cancel my card now
Standard chartered standards have dropped drastically. No hotline for calling of customer service, requests for credit card annual fees waiver just receives a flat โno and there is nothing else we can doโ sort of response. Have since cancelled all SCBโs cards.
Yes, likewise for me. I am so pissed with SCโs refusal to waive the annual fee even when the card is cancelled. So now, i have cancelled all my 4 cards and accounts with SCB!
another day, another non-standard process coming from the bank with โstandardโ in its name.
This is ridiculous. The card is valid & not suspended or cancelled. Just a temp block to reduce risk of fraudulent charges.
Locking the card in the SC app will also cause the card to โdisappearโ under the list of cards. If you try to go back to settings to unblock it, it will give you an error. The only way to unlock is to do it through their website. Terrible UX
on another note, if it is truly based on technicalityโฆ there is a difference between Card Lock vs Card Suspension
According to online search from various sources..
Card Lock is triggered by card holder
Card Suspension is triggered by admin
There is no mention of any penalty that comes with Card Lock
Aaron,
I have had the misfortune of almost missing out on my additional bonus points on the 27th of the month for the UOB Ladyโs Solitaire card as I temp blocked the card due to reaching the $2k cap.
Had to contact UOB to reinstate the bonus points.
Are you sure it is an SCB issue? This sounds like a story with โUOBโ written all over it !!! SCB is not a typo?
I was supposed to be eligible for the $1,000 reward (PlayStation for first registration + Nintendo). However, Standard Chartered rejected my claim, stating I wasnโt eligible because I didnโt activate my credit card via SMS. I had activated it through internet banking, just like I do with all my other banks, and I met the spending requirements. Nowhere in the T&Cs did it specify that activation had to be done via SMS โ it simply said the card had to be activated. I even reported this to MAS, who advised tagging their head of customer service. Still, the decision standsโฆ Read more ยป
Take note SCB has another special clause -> โMissing the deadline for physical card activation will result in forfeiture of the Gift Reward, even if it is a result of loss of card or non-receipt of physical credit cards, or any other reasonsโ I applied a card from SCB, but the card has not arrived within 2 weeks, so i called to feedback on this issue, the officer told me card might be lost already, so issueing another new card to me. i received the first terminated card at 4th week after cardโs approval date. That cause me failed toโฆ Read more ยป
I got exactly this last year as well
Only SCB behaves this way. No other banks will do such thing. I donโt know why SCB is different.