Steps That Should Be Immediately Taken If Credit Card Is Lost Or Stolen

Life has become very easy since the inception of credit cards in the market as we can carry out transactions anywhere and everywhere. The transactions are quick and safe and credit cardholders also get reward points and cashback while they make transactions using their credit card. But on the other hand, fraud related to credit cards has become very common nowadays. In times of economic crisis, these frauds go a step higher and credit cardholders have to be very cautious while using and carrying their credit cards around.

Not only just credit card fraud but losing a credit card by your own mistake or when a credit card gets stolen is also a great matter of concern. In these cases as well, credit cards can be used to perform various unwanted transactions and in the end, the owner of the credit card has to face various hardships. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss the various steps that you can undertake if your credit card is lost or stolen. Keep reading the article to know more about this in detail –

Steps To Be Immediately Taken After Loss Or Theft Of A Credit Card

Whenever a credit card is lost or stolen, there are certain steps that credit cardholders should immediately take so as to prevent themselves from any major losses –

Hotlist your Credit Card

The very first thing that should be done once you realize that your credit card has been lost or stolen, you should immediately get your credit card shortlisted. This can be done either by calling the credit card customer care number of your respective credit card issuer or by logging in to the net banking of your credit card account. Hotlisting of a credit card can be done both on a temporary and permanent basis. If you are of the belief that you will get your credit card back, then you should opt for a temporary hotlisting, otherwise, go for permanent hotlisting.

Avail the Zero Lost Card Liability Facility

Most banking institutions offer a zero lost card liability cover to credit cardholders in a situation where their credit cards are lost or stolen. This means that if any fraudulent activity takes place on the card of the credit card holder post he has reported about the loss to the bank, then such expenses would be covered by the bank. Generally, banks offer zero lost card liability cover of starting from Rs. 1 Lakh to up to Rs. 10 Lakhs.

File an FIR

A police complaint should be filed at the police station regarding the loss or theft of the credit card. This keeps you protected from any risk of being framed for unscrupulous activity which might take place through your card in the event of loss or theft of your credit card.

Go through your Credit Card Statement

As soon as your credit card statement comes after your credit card was lost or stolen, go through your credit card statement thoroughly and check for any transactions that were not carried out by you. If you find any such transaction in your credit card statement, you should report the same to the bank on an immediate basis.

Request for a new credit card

Because you were a prominent credit card user, you would always need to have a credit card in hand because now are used to take advantage and avail the benefits of a credit card. Therefore, if have lost your credit card and you have also got it hotlisted permanently, you should request a new credit card at the earliest.

Update Credit Card Details For Third Party Payments

You might have saved your old credit card details with various types of payments and subscriptions such as mobile and internet services, utility bill payments, OTT Platform payments, etc to enjoy uninterrupted services. Therefore, after you have your new credit card in hand, you should update your credit card details on all such platforms as well.

Things To Do To Prevent Loss Of Credit Card In Future

Now for once that you have experienced the loss of your credit card, therefore, you have to be very cautious with your next credit card. The points mentioned as under can be considered to prevent the loss or theft of your credit card in the future –

Avoid sharing your credit card details such as credit card number, CVV, and PIN with anyone.
Keep only those credit cards with you that you use. Avoid carrying all the unwanted credit cards to every place that you visit.
Keep your credit cards secured in some safe place and never leave your cards unattended.
If a credit card is no more in use, you should block your credit card, and should be destroyed in such a way that the credit card number is not legible by anybody. Credit cards should be preferably cut with scissors and then destroyed.

Bottom Line

Credit Cards can be lost or stolen if proper attention is not paid to their handling. You should always remain prepared to face such a situation. Necessary steps should be immediately taken once you realize that you have lost your credit card. Steps such as reporting the loss of a credit card, hotlisting your credit card, etc can be important for facing any further financial damage. Also, banks offer zero lost card liability on credit cards by which the financial losses that occur in the case of loss of theft of a credit card after you have reported the same to the bank are covered by the bank. And once you have faced such a situation, you should be very cautious for the next time while handling your credit cards.