Ok, so it happened. First of all, there’s no need to panic, even though it’s very hard to avoid it. Instead, as soon as you notice that you lost your credit card, you should consider the steps presented below, in order to avoid any losses or reduce them to the minimum.
It’s important to mention that, thanks to technology, we can immediately take measures, therefore losing a credit card shouldn’t be considered a huge tragedy! Nevertheless, let’s see which measures one should take in such situations, shall we?
Retrace all your steps
The first thing you should do is to think about where you last used the card or accessed your wallet and go there. Maybe you simply forgot it and there’s a chance of finding it. Pay attention to the surroundings, as you might as well find it laying somewhere.
Deactivate your card
As mentioned above, make use of technology. Most likely, you have your card issuer’s app on your phone. Use it and lock deactivate your credit card once you notice it’s missing. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes and it allows you to avoid any authorized spending.
This is a very important step, considering that liability protections aren’t that strong on credit cards, compared to those on debit cards! And don’t forget that it should be done no more than 2 business days after reporting the loss.
Update information for all your automatic payments
Finally, after terminating your lost card, don’t forget about updating any scheduled bill payments, by adding the credentials of the new card, so you can avoid any late payment fees. This should be done as soon as you receive the new card.
These are just a few of the most important steps you should take in case of a lost credit card. Additionally, after an unfortunate moment like this, you can start leaving those credit cards you don’t usually use at home and carry just those which you really need. Also, if your smartphone has a wallet function and allows adding credit cards, so you can pay directly with it, go for it! By this, the risk of losing cards is reduced to 0, as you can stop carrying any cards at all.
