The elderly and people with dementia will fall through the cracks when signatures are banned for credit and debit card purchases in less than two months, advocates have warned.
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Customers will need to use a personal identification number instead of a signature to authorise transactions from August 1.
While the big four banks have said they planned to offer signature-preferred cards on request, a lack of clarity about what will be available and the likelihood some will have to change banks has prompted concern among aged-care organisations.
They said there was uncertainty about the criteria different banks would use in issuing the cards and that the industry had failed to promote the option as an alternative.
Alzheimer's Australia, which represents 330,000 people with dementia, said the changes would affect people who were already struggling to navigate complex banking systems and were unlikely to be able to remember a PIN.
''There are people, regardless of this optional solution, who are still going to be at a disadvantage,'' chief executive Glenn Rees said.
Council on the Ageing chief executive Ian Yates said he had received reports of bank staff telling elderly customers to write down and carry their PIN. He was concerned signature-preferred cards were not being offered by all banks and credit unions, making some people change providers.
''There is certainly anxiety about this,'' Mr Yates said.
Paul Mckillop, whose 86-year-old mother Joyce has Alzheimer's disease, said confusion about which banks offered cards that allowed signatures was devastating.
He said his mother used her credit card to pay for groceries and daily expenses but could not remember a PIN. ''These people can be thrown into panic and anxiety when they discover there's a disruption to the service,'' he said.
''Mum says to me 'how will I pay for food? How will I pay for the things I need?' She doesn't use cheques any more and it's too risky to carry cash.''
Mr Mckillop said he was told by four banks over the phone that ''something will be in place down the track''.
''But you have to press them really hard and if you walk into a branch none of them will tell you they're going to do anything at all,'' he said.
The collective of banks and card providers behind the move to PIN said the option had not been promoted because overseas banks that had moved to PIN-only authorisation were inundated with requests for signature-preferred cards from people who resisted change, but were capable of using a PIN.
