Deactivate Lost Credit Cards Immediately

As soon as you realize that your credit card has been lost, stolen or misplaced, call up your bank’s call centre immediately to deactivate the card. You must do this even before attempting to retrieve the lost card. This is to protect yourself against the fraudulent use of your credit card. Often, banks offer little or no protection when a credit card is stolen, and any purchases that are made from the customer’s lost credit card by someone else are to be borne by the customer itself. Once you deactivate your card, you can breathe easy as you have protected yourself against any attempted misuse off your card. There have been instances in the past where people overlook the importance of quickly reporting the theft, and have ended up borrowing debts like loans, personal loans etc to repay the debt on their credit card.

These days, banks are also teaming up with leading insurance houses to offer a protection cover against stolen credit cards. By paying a minimal premium amount every month, you can safeguard yourself from any form of malpractice that takes place when your card is lost or misplaced. However, in any scenario, this is possible only when you report such an event to the bank’s helpline at the earliest. While these insurance policies are usually not promoted or marketed by the banks themselves, we can acquire further information on any such policy by speaking to the bank’s representative on the same. Also, since banks are familiar with the spending pattern of their customers, if they notice any abnormal behavior in purchase, then the bank’s representative calls and verifies the same with the customer. If the customer denies making any such purchases, then the bank immediately registers a case of stolen credit card. However, the bank still does not take any responsibility for such a transaction as it is the duty of the customer to manage their cards in a safe manner, and report any wrongdoing immediately to the bank’s helpline. These days, banks also offer mobile and SMS alerts whenever any purchase more than Rs. 2,000 is done. This helps customers keep a track of all their purchases and expenditure.

Some banks offer some flexibility to their customers by protecting them against all fraudulent transactions for a maximum period of 24 hours. This means that when any fraudulent transactions take place within such a stipulated period, the bank bears all such liability. However, if the customer still fails to report of any such wrongdoing within such a period, then all such expenses will be borne by the customer. Some banks also offer insurance covers to customers against such fraudulent transactions at no extra cost. However, customers are required to register an FIR against such frauds as soon as they realize that they lost their card. Once your claim receives its due validation, then you will be compensated for all such fraudulent transactions.

When reporting about the loss of credit card to your bank, in order to be on the safer side, you must submit a written complaint in writing or register your complaint via a telephone conversation. Once this has been done, you will not bear any extra cost on all such fraudulent transactions. Thus in order to protect yourself against all such fraudulent practices, ensure that you store your credit card safely. Once you notice that your credit card is missing, before even trying to locate it, report it to your bank’s 24-hour helpline. This will help protect you against all fraudulent transactions that take place with your lost credit card. As the concept of insurance covers for lost credit cards isn’t quite popular in India, remember that all liability from such transactions should be shouldered by you. If your bank does offer an insurance cover for lost credit cards, then opt for it as you will receive protection against minimal charges.