HOW TO KEEP YOUR CREDIT CARDS SAFE?

CREDIT CARDS – HOW TO KEEP YOUR CREDIT CARDS SAFE AND SECURED?

Plastic is such an integral part of the everyday life of most Americans today that you would hardly be able to find an American whose wallet does not contain at least one form of plastic be it in the form of debit cards or credit cards.

Since it is part of your life way in and way out it becomes imperative that it is hardly safe and could be subject to theft or fraud at any point in time.

The effects that a credit card theft or fraud could create for you could prove to be devastating and much more dangerous than identity fraud.

It is important that you do not panic if at all you happen to lose your credit card. In addition to the presence of mind that would come in handy during a crisis of most types it is also necessary to follow some other pointers as well so as to ensure that you do not do any further damage owing to the loss of your credit card.

Following are certain mandatory things to be followed if or when you misplace your credit card.

1. Keep your credit card information handy.


It is important that you keep your credit card information handy including your credit card number and other pertinent details.

Also keep the address and e mail ids of your credit card provider at hand always.

Do remember to feed the help line of your credit card provider in your mobile phone because the first thing to do when you realize that your credit card is missing from your kitty is to intimate your provider of its loss so that they can block any further transactions thereby alleviating any further damage.

2. Know the Credit Card call details.


The rule states that credit card losses should be reported within 24 hours. It is important that your credit card provider be intimated of your credit card losses as soon as possible.

Though the credit card provider is supposed to make good the losses suffered from credit card theft they will try every trick in the book to make sure that they need to pay as less of it as possible to you.

Hence make sure that you keep the details of the telephone call you made reporting the loss of your credit card including the time of the call and the name of the customer service representative of the credit card company.

Also keep a record of the details of the conversation that you had with the credit card provider.

3. Write a letter for Credit Card follow up.

It is not always necessary that you get to speak to the right person when you report the theft online.

So the next important task to be undertaken is to write a formal letter to the credit card issuer reporting the theft. While you report the theft also find out who such a letter would need to be addressed to.

Make sure that you include details like the credit card number, the type of credit card, your full name contact address, telephone number and date of expiry of your credit card.

Also include the details of the call you made to the credit card issuer including the duration of the call, the time of the call and also the name of the executive you spoke to as also the pertinent details of your conversation.

4. Keep a credit card for emergency purposes

Don’t be of the impression that you will get a replacement for your lost credit card almost as soon as it is lost.

You may need to wait for sometime before the new credit card is delivered at your doorstep.

If you are the type who relies heavily on credit cards for your routine expenses then it is important that you find another alternative for paying for your day to day expenses till the time you get your replacement credit card.

For that it is best that you have a credit card that will serve for emergency purposes only.

This credit card should be kept in a safe place in such a way that it is safe from loss or theft and should have a balance that enables you to have as much credit as you may want at your disposal when faced with crisis.

5. Dispose off old credit cards.

This is an age where people possess multiple credit cards.

There may even be cases where you would not have used a credit card for quite some time and would have left it lying around. In such a case by the time you are aware of a theft or a fraud it might be too late.

Hence for safety reasons it is best that you cancel out credit cards that you are not using regularly.

If you have not used a credit card for some time make sure that you cancel it as soon as possible.

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Posted by Miles on Jan 5 2011. Filed under 0% Apr credit Cards, Featured News, Specials • Credit Card . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.