ATM-cum-debit card blocked due to incorrect PIN entries? How to unblock it (2024)

Updated May 29, 2019 | 07:35IST | ET Now Digital

A person willingly requests a bank to block the ATM-cum-debit card if the debit card is lost, stolen or misplaced.

A customer can visit the bank branch to place a request for new PIN generation. &nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspBCCL

New Delhi: There are several instances when an ATM-cum-debit card gets blocked following which the cardholder is not able to withdraw money from ATMs. Payments via Point of Sale (PoS) devices, online merchants, balance transfers from card to card and all other card-related transactions get stopped by the card-issuing bank if the ATM-cum-debit card is blocked. However, a person can withdraw money from the bank branch, transfer money with transaction modes such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), etc.

A person willingly requests a bank to block the ATM-cum-debit card if the debit card is lost, stolen or misplaced. Sometimes, the ATM-cum-debit card gets blocked automatically due to wrong entries of four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN). There are different prescribed rules for various banks with regard to the automatic blockage of ATM-cum-debit card due to multiple wrong entries of PIN.

Typically, most of the scheduled commercial banks have set a threshold of 3 attempts, which implies, the ATM-cum-debit card will get blocked if an incorrect PIN is entered three times.

The blocked ATM-cum-debit card can be unblocked by several means. Some banks offer the card unblocking facility via mobile application, customer care number, and SMS facilities. If none of these facilities is made available by the bank, then a customer is mandated to visit the bank branch to personally place a request for card unblocking.

However, some banks block the ATM-cum-debit card for only 24 hours in case the debit card is blocked due to incorrect entries of PIN. While some banks block the ATM-cum-debit card for a longer duration in case of incorrect PIN.

A customer can visit the bank branch to place a request for new PIN generation if the user has forgotten the debit card PIN and is not able to recollect the right PIN after several attempts. The bank may either block the ATM-cum-debit card temporarily until the new PIN is generated.