Protecting your account

If a fraudster does manage to steal money from your account, you’re automatically protected by our Online and Mobile Banking Guarantee. This means we’ll refund your account straightaway – as long as you haven’t acted fraudulently or without reasonable care (for example, you haven’t kept your PIN written down with your card, or told someone else what it is).

If we have reasonable grounds to think you’re not entitled to a refund, we might look into your claim first. We won’t give you a refund if we think you’ve acted fraudulently – in those cases, we may involve the police.

Our PINsentry gives you a strong layer of protection to add to your log-in details, and helps keep your accounts even safer.

It works by asking you to insert your Barclays debit card and PIN into a card reader that we send you. The reader generates a unique security code that you'll then need to type into Online Banking. And if you register for our mobile banking app, you can get the code on your smartphone using Mobile PINsentry. That way, you get the extra security when logging in without needing to carry your card reader around.

We’ve put three lines of defence in place to make it harder for fraudsters to get through.

• Data encryption – our Online Banking service is hosted on a secure, 128-bit encrypted server. This means that any information you send us is scrambled for your protection
• Timed log out – we’ll log you out if you don't use the service for 10 minutes. This gives you extra protection if you forget to log yourself out
• Deactivation of your log-in details – we'll automatically disable your access to Online Banking if 3 incorrect log-in attempts are made. This is to stop fraudsters making repeated attempts to get into your accounts

We’re always checking for any suspicious activity on your account, so you may get a text message or call from our automated system to confirm a recent transaction or a change of address.

Sometimes, we may delay or decline transactions that we think are unusual, or even block your account until we can confirm that you’re making the transaction. Keep your contact details up to date so we can get in contact quickly to keep any inconvenience to a minimum.

What should I expect if someone does call?

If we do call, we’ll never ask for your passcodes, passwords, PIN, card details, PINsentry codes or sensitive account information. If we send you a text message, we’ll only ask you to reply with a ‘Y’ or an ‘N’. (These text messages are free to reply to in the UK and will cost no more than a standard text from other countries).

If you get a call, voicemail or a text from someone claiming to be from our fraud team and you think it’s suspicious, call us back using the number on the back of your card. Always make sure the line is clear first, to ensure the fraudster isn’t still on the line. You can also verify the phone number using our telephone number checker.

As soon as you receive a Barclays Visa debit card, you’re automatically registered for Verified by Visa. It means we’ll occasionally ask you for some extra security info to verify your purchases when you check out online. This helps protect your card against being used by fraudsters to buy goods.