Nothing quite compares with the stress of losing your wallet – not to mention everything inside, including your cash, driver’s licence and bankcards.
When you’ve retraced your footsteps, searched high and low and come up short, here’s what you need to do next.
Reporting a lost card
If your card is lost or stolen, you need to tell your bank straight away. Your bank should have a phone number that you can call from anywhere in the world, 24 hours per day. Alternatively, most banks allow you to cancel cards through their banking apps.
You will have the option of cancelling your card and ordering a replacement. It can take a few days for the replacement card to arrive in the mail, so it’s a good idea to visit your bank and take out some cash to cover this period.
Once a card is reported missing, all cardholders will receive a replacement card. If you find the original card later, you should destroy it.
Note: failure to follow these steps may make you liable for any unauthorised transactions.
What if you’ve just misplaced your card?
For most people, cancelling a lost card is an inconvenient but essential process. Commonwealth Bank customers, however, have the option of placing a temporary lock on their card. This can be done from within the NetBank or the CommBank app. When you’ve found it again, you can just remove the lock. In the event you don’t find your card, you can then follow the steps to cancel it.
Emergency replacement cards
If you’ve overseas and your card is lost or stolen, you must call your bank to report and cancel it. Your bank will then put you in contact with your credit card company, who can issue you an emergency replacement card.
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