Komerční banka has responded to the needs of the clients who are increasingly using payment cards as the main instrument of their payments for goods and services. The current version of the Merlin insurance policy provides protection against the consequences of payment card abuse in the case of card loss or theft, even when the card is abused anywhere in the world. The policy also covers theft of the cash withdrawn using a card, and loss of personal documents and keys lost or stolen together with a card. Merlin can be taken out for all payment cards issued with one bank account and registered in the insured person's name.
The new version of the Merlin policy offers the following:
- Coverage of client participation up to 150 EUR in the case of card abuse by a third party, even recurrently during the course of a year, up to the limit (which is CZK 30,000 in the case of a payment made using the card, and CZK 15,000 in the case of cash withdrawal from an ATM or at a branch).
- Coverage of the risk of abuse of payment cards issued by a third-party bank - if the client loses, together with his insured KB card, also cards issued by other financial institutions based in the Czech Republic and these cards are not insured, he can claim indemnity up to 150 EUR under his Merlin policy. Merlin, offered by Komerční banka, is therefore the first insurance policy in the Czech market to cover this risk as well.
- Extension of the range of insured risks to include the cost of the replacement or repair of goods bought using a KB card, and in the case of theft of a mobile telephone the cost of a new handset together with the costs related to abuse of the stolen handset (calls and SMS / MMS sending within 48 hours from theft).
Merlin continues to cover the costs incurred due to loss of personal documents and keys.
"We want to offer the strongest possible feeling of certainty in the use of this modern payment instrument to clients who use payment cards. This applies to cash and non-cash operations, and also to additional potential risks that are indirectly associated with card use," says Radko Belada, head of retail banking at KB.
The range of insured risks has also been extended for the Profi Merlin product, which is intended for natural persons carrying on a business [self-employed persons] and for juristic persons:
- A higher limit in the case of card abuse by a third party (CZK 60,000 for payments, and CZK 20,000 for cash withdrawals from an ATM or at a branch);
- It continues to cover the cost of stop listing for juristic persons that do not have the status of a micro-enterprise (definition as per the new law on payments);
- Robbery or loss of cash (day's sales) being carried to be deposited at a KB branch (the limit is CZK 30,000);
- The range of insured risks has been extended similarly as with the Merlin product (cover for theft of a mobile telephone and cover for purchased goods); Profi Merlin newly covers also the risk of loss or theft of keys and personal documents.
Komerční banka is one of the best run universal banks in Central Europe. It provides comprehensive services to clients in the areas of retail, corporate, and investment banking. The Komerční banka Group's 8,890 employees serve 1,636,000 clients, who can use an extensive network of 397 points of sale throughout the country. Komerční banka currently operates 680 ATMs and more than 966,000 of its clients use one of direct banking channels.
Komerční banka is part of the Société Générale Group, one of the largest banking groups in the euro zone (in terms of market capitalisation), whose 163,000 employees serve more than 30 million individual clients worldwide.