Chase isn’t just acting in shady ways toward their credit card customers. Their latest sneaky move is sending new debit cards that impose fees to their banking customers, hoping that customers will simply activate the new debit cards with no questions asked. Not so fast.

Robert’s fiancee received a new card in the mail from Chase, and had the presence of mind to call the bank and ask what was going on.

Yesterday, my fiancee received an envelope from Chase (her bank). Inside was a brand new debit card with a stick on it that says it is replacing her old card and to activate it immediately. The two cards looked almost identical. The only difference between her old card and the new one is that the new one had the phrase “leisure rewards” in small letters on it. My fiancee immediately called Chase to find out why she was sent a new card when her old one hadn’t expired yet. The Chase rep, who my fiancee says was kind of rude (and attempted to upsell her on a credit card while helping her out) told my fiancee that she did not have to activate the new card, it was optional. By activating the new card, my fiancee would be enrolled in a new debit points program where she would gain four points for ever dollar she spends (except that the program will not award points for any transaction that uses the PIN, effectively ruling out most uses of a debit card). On top of that, there is a 25 dollar a year fee for using the new card.

I just think its a bit shady for Chase to send (unsolicited) new cards out to people that look almost identical with instructions that they are to replace the old cards and activate immediately when these new cards only generate new fees for the card holder.

A $25 fee for a debit card? Nice one, Chase. Learn from this story, and read the fine print and/or question every new thing that your bank sends to you. Just because they send you a new debit card, that doesn’t mean you’re required to use it.

(Photo: hagner_james)

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