So I'm trying to increase my Capital One debit card spent limit (don't worry, I'm not being scammed, I'm paying for a car I ordered and debit card has less fees than other payment methods). Apparently the only way to do this is to call Capital One (I've also looked to see if there's a local branch, and depsite being in one of the largest cities in the US, there isn't one within hundreds of miles).

When calling the number directly on their website, and told the automated assitant I wanted to increase my limit, it asked me to verify myself but providing my social security or debit card number. I felt a lot more comfortable giving my debit card number so I chose that route. Then it asked for my ATM pin. This seemed suspicious to me. I couldn't find anything about it online so I asked chat-GPT (I know, AI isn't super reliable but I had no luck checking anywhere else), and it confirmed my fear:

No, sharing your debit card number and PIN over the phone is not safe. Banks should never ask for your PIN, as it’s confidential and should only be used at secure points of access (like ATMs or point-of-sale terminals).

Generally, if you need to verify your identity, banks may ask for security questions or other identifiers, but not your PIN. If you called the bank directly using the official phone number on their website or your statement, they might request only the last four digits of your card for verification purposes. For safety, you could ask them if there’s an alternative method to verify your identity without sharing your PIN, or visit a branch in person if needed.

So now I'm not sure what to do. I don't have a local branch, and the alternative seems to be handing information over the phone that banks have been explicitly telling me never to do.

UPDATE: Also just googled the question again, and the top link said:

A bank will never ask for your ATM PIN by phone, text, or any other method. If someone asks for your PIN, it's a red flag and you should:

- Report it to your bank immediately

- Hang up if you receive a call asking for a code or password

FINAL UPDATE:

Ended up calling them back after verifying the phone number was definitely them before calling back again. Entered my debit card number and pin, and spoke to a gentleman who increased my spending limit in a matter of minutes. I attempted the transaction again about 10 minutes after the call and it went through. So, in all, this must be their policy - but it's a very very bad one. I don't know who they consulted with that told them that's a secure way to verify customers but it's so incredibly insecure. Having to work with these companies that are living in the past, handing sensitive information over insecure telephone lines in the year 2024 is insane to me. Websites are so incredibly secure by comparison, it's not even a close match. I'm somehow able to wire $100,000 between bank accounts through the website, but god-forbid I want to make a small temporary spend increase to one account.

went to pay my bill today and capital one no longer accepts debit cards to pay credit card balance. I spoke to customer service who confirmed this.