Laser / Credit Card Poor Quality

johnny_adidas

Has anyone else been experiencing problems with poor quality chips on credit and laser cards? Mine are with Ulster Bank and I must have gone through about 6 in the last 6 months.
Always kept in a wallet and rarely near a phone. Never had this many problems with them in the past despite having it in my pocket most of the time.

It seems like the chip itself gets damaged by card readers very easily and scores appear in the first week or two of use. Off now to order a new card after my 2 week old card failed again today

Beefy78

Yeah I'm with Ulster Bank and have the same problem. I've got to the point where I just accept that one time in three the chip won't read. Can't be dealing with ordering new cards constantly.

P. Breathnach

I'm not with Ulster Bank, so I can't comment on their cards. But two thoughts come to mind:
- if you regularly use one particular ATM, the machine might have a fault;
- might you be causing the problem by using force inserting the card in the machine or taking it out?

Cabaal

with ulster and have it over a year, not a problem at all. Never had any problems with any other cards with any other banks in the past. Likely down to way its being stored

Beefy78

My card is in a card wallet. Kept away from anything that could cause interference. I've worked in cards for most of my life and know how to treat them. It's just poor quality. As the OP said, the chip appears damaged pretty much within days.

I have an AIB credit card and have never had any issues with that and the card is visibly holding up much better to any wear and tear.

johnny_adidas

I believed one machine caused a problem alright, stopped using that completely. Of course a random could be in there somewhere but not at this frequency.

As above I definitely havent been mistreating the card, havent had it long enough to do so. It definitely seems to be the batch in the last year or so though, the navy bankcards and black mastercards. Never had issues with cards before that.

pleasant Co.

My ulsterbank card is about a year old now, no issues to report

Dashano

I have gone through about 4 Ulsterbank cards in the last 2 years. It is not usually the chip that is the problem. It is the card itself cracking under the magnetic strip. Very bad quality.

johnny_adidas

pleasant Co. wrote: »

My ulsterbank card is about a year old now, no issues to report

Keep it safe so, you dont want one of the new ones

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'm with Ulster Bank and use the same card all the time. I use it a lot and in all the years I am using cards I have never had a problem at all. Latest one issued last December and working fine.