Parents of elementary and high school students in Belgrade can already apply for 20,000 dinars, which the City should pay them in September. Forms, in which parents should enter their current account number, have already been distributed. The only problem is that the City requires parents to submit photocopies of the front of their payment cards along with the form. “It is unnecessary and unsafe – the cards contain a lot of data, which the City does not need to pay money,” the bankers warn. Subsequently, the parents received an explanation from the city secretariat that – “instead of a photocopy of the card, a confirmation from the bank can also be used”.
“A photocopy of the front of the payment card must be submitted along with this form,” reads the student aid application form that was distributed to parents of Belgrade schools.
Namely, a photocopy of the card is required even though the parents will enter the number of the current account in the form itself for the payment of 20,000 dinars to the name of the so-called student aid for the purchase of textbooks for the next school year.
The bankers we talked to warn that sending a photocopy of the payment card is unnecessary and – unsafe.
“The bottom line is that it is necessary to educate all involved parties, because taking pictures of cards is definitely not the safest practice, nor is it necessary for the payment of funds to the account,” the bankers told the portal. N1.
Our interlocutors explain that payment cards in Serbia contain groups of data on the front and back.
“Each of those data groups has its own meaning, its purpose during payment, but at the same time it also represents the protection of the card on which it is located.” In order not to get into a situation where we give out more data than is necessary at a given moment (e.g. by taking a photo of our card and forwarding it via social networks, which is unfortunately a frequent case that opens up space for various frauds), it is important to familiarize ourselves with the purpose of the numbers which we see on our cards”, the bankers state.
Clarification of the City: A confirmation from the bank is also possible
During the day, some parents asked for an explanation as to why a photocopy of the card is necessary.
A clarification was received from the Secretariat for Education and Child Protection of the City of Belgrade stating that “if the parent does not want to attach a copy of the front page of the card – to submit a confirmation from the bank that clearly shows the name of the owner and the number of the current account”.
“Or, let him cover the card number and copy it like that,” they said from the secretariat.
The city asks for this information on a photocopy of the card or a confirmation from the bank (name and surname and current account number) for, as stated, checking the accuracy of data entry in the form.
“There were a lot of mistakes when entering the same data when aid was paid to high school students, and we didn’t have a copy of the front of the card.” There will be parents who do not want financial aid. It is their right, their choice, and they do not have to provide data,” the secretariat stated.
What’s on the front of the card
The first 16 numbers in groups of four digits located in the middle of the front of our card represent our card number and this number is only needed by us and only when we want to make a payment, usually via the Internet.
The following are 4 numbers separated by the “/” sign that indicate the expiration date of our card and also represent a group of data that is only needed by us and only when we want to make a payment, explain bankers from the sector that monitors payment security.
“Under that are our first and last name and our account number, that is, a group of data that is needed by whoever wants to pay money for us to our account, and we are free to forward that group of data to someone we think should pay us money” , our interlocutors point out.
What’s on the back of the card
There are 3 digits on the back of the card.
“It is the control number of our card and also something that only we and no one else need to know and only when we want to confirm our payment,” the bankers state.
The advice of the interlocutors of the N1 portal is to avoid taking photos of our payment cards, especially the front and back, and especially sending them via social networks or different Viber groups.
“If we want someone to pay us money, all they need is our first and last name and the account number from our payment card, not all the other information we have, which we inadvertently reveal when we take a photo of the complete card,” say the banks.
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Tags: city asks photo parents card application dinars safe Society
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