Issues related to a payment card expiring very soon

[stochastic]

Hey, Everyone. A friend of mine - and a fellow PM customer - has some questions about a situation where the card she's using to pay for her PM bill is expiring very soon.

My friend has been relying on the Visa Debit feature on her TD bank/ATM card to cover her PM charges; she's also set up for AutoPay.

Now, my friend's ATM card has the expiry date of 04/24. The bank has explained this means her card will stop working on April 30 at midnight (I'd thought it would be May 1 at midnight, but I guess I was wrong). My friend has already received her new ATM card, but has not activated it yet.

Also, PM has sent my friend the following text:

"The card registered for AutoPay on your account will expire at the end of the month. Please visit https://selfserve.publicmobile.ca to make an update to ensure uninterrupted service."

Importantly, PM is supposed be charging the current ("old") card on April 29 (at 2am, I think). Because of the circumstances I've described, my friend is concerned about the possiblity of an interruption of her PM service in a few days.

I figure the simplest way to prevent any service interruption in the above situation would involve my friend logging into her PM account and updating her ATM card's expiry date and 3-digit CVV code to those on her new - still inactive - card. Then she should, ASAP, activate her new card. As long as both these steps ate taken before midnight on April 29, my friend could be sure the PM charge will go through on April 29 (at 2am?).

The problem is that my friend can't remember (and can't find) the credentials for her PM account. Considering how little time is left (less than 24 hrs, probably) before PM attempts to charge her, I figure trying to contact a CS Agent in order for my friend to regain access to her PM account is not her best option. I hope that some of you guys can help us by answering questions we have regarding the situation I describe above.

A  bank agent informed my friend that when a customer's payment card - whether an ATM or a credit card - expires, in most instances, this is not an issue, so long as the card's number remains the same. Somehow, the company can keep charging the customer even if his/her card has expired, and thus its expiry date and CVV code have changed.

Question:

Does PM have the ability to keep charging a customer's card even if his/her card has expired and its CVV code has changed? (Of course, the customer needs to activate the new card for it to become usable.) Consequently, considering her card is expiring, does my friend really need to update the payment details in her PM account at all? (I assume the answer to the last question is "yes", but would like to know for sure.)

Thank you for any input you may have.

[stochastic]

@Dunkman

Your input is appreciated, Dunkman. I'll tell my friend to keep monitoring her bank account to catch the transaction. She definitely needs to get back into her account soon to update the payment details. She doesn't have the EverSafe ID yet. I think she knows the email address, but not the password for her PM account. For some reason she hasn't been able to use the forgot-password function on the login page of the site. She may need to contact a CS Agent after all.

[stochastic]

@Sansan

Thanks for the info and ideas, Sansan. The reminder about the the 90-day window is reassuring; and I don't think I've heard about the payment vouchers - a very helpful last-resort option. I'll let my friend know, and will direct her to this thread

[Dunkman · Accepted solution]

@stochastic 

If the due date is April 29, the payment might have went through early this morning already April 28.  Check her online banking to see whether the payment processed over night.  

If not, her present visa debit card should work this payment, but unlikely for next month (end of May). 

Did your friend sign up for Eversafe login before?  If she logged into her account within last one year, she would have needed to create an Eversafe login.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/ab/get-help/articles/eversafe-faqs

She can need to know the email address as the user id.  Password also.  If she forgot which email or password, there is a link for forgot email or password.  

Due to privacy issues, not sure customer service agent can help your friend via yourself.  She would need to contact customer service agent and then provide private account information to confirm account ownership.  Ie. PIN, last 4 digits of debit card, etc. 

As mentioned, your friend could purchase a payment voucher at in store vendors such as Shoppers, Shell, London drugs, etc.  Load up the funds by dialing 611 on the phone.  

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/payment-voucher

[Sansan]

@stochastic Hello, some companies have the ability to continue charging the expired card for awhile and it will transfer to the new one even though it has not been activated.  We don't know how PM charges.

Remember that you also have 90 days to pay before service interruption so this would be fine. There are also a lot of issues updating banking info anyway so it might work the first time.

Worst case scenario is to buy a voucher at a gas station and top up in the meantime. 

If the account information is forgotten, yes sending a message to CS agent to assist is good. There is also the forgotten password option to reset it.