In brief

• PKO Bank Polski has added a feature that sends a push notification in the IKO app and an SMS when a card is temporarily blocked over an unusual transaction.
• Customers can confirm a transaction or permanently block the card and order a new one directly in the app.
• The feature covers individual customers with debit and credit cards.

Faster response to suspicious card activity

PKO Bank Polski has introduced a new safeguard for individual customers holding debit and credit cards. If the bank's security system judges a card payment or cash withdrawal to be unusual, it temporarily blocks the card (Nowe zabezpieczenie w PKO BP. Powiadomienie i SMS dla klientów – Benchmark.pl). The customer is then notified through two channels at once: a push message in the IKO mobile app and a text message.

The bank says the change is meant to speed up reactions to suspicious situations and give users more control over their cards. Within the IKO app, customers can decide what to do next with a temporarily blocked card, without waiting for a phone call to the bank.

Changes to the verification process

Until now, checking a flagged transaction could require contacting the bank by phone (PKO BP z ważną zmianą w aplikacji. Koniec z uciążliwą weryfikacją – gsmManiaK.pl). The new option lets customers confirm or reject the transaction directly in the app. If the customer does not recognise the payment, they can block the card permanently and order a replacement. After a permanent block, the customer can also obtain a digital version of the new card and pay with a phone in the meantime.

If the customer does not respond in the app, the bank may verify the transaction by phone. The bank has not indicated any other card types covered by the feature, so the scope is limited to the debit and credit cards described above.

What customers should know

The feature is already available, according to reports from the past few days. Customers who receive an alert about a card transaction they do not recognise should act in the app as soon as possible, since a temporary block is the first step in the process.