A credit card question

I'm not sure not knowing your credit card number is a concern. Reporting a lost or stolen card should be no different than calling in to discuss your account and having the bank representative put you through a litany of questions to prove your identity, and proceeding from there.

Keep track of the last 4 digits of your cards (somewhere secure). If you need to deal with your bank, the last 4 digits (plus other identity verification) will be all they need.

Thanks, David. Wasn't sure about that.

I have, unfortunately, had lots of experience with lost credit cards. The agent has always been able to cancel the card based on just the last four digits, and I think on one occasion I didn't even have that. As already indicated, they'll ask for your security info.

It’s in the cc company’s best interest to make cancellations of stolen cards possible - otherwise they may be on the hook for paying the charges!!

The phone number for the company is in your online portal if you use that. If not, write down the customer service numbers. Once you get ahold of a person, they just need your personal info like address, soc number, phone number, etc to verify your identity and cancel.
Also, the last 4 digits at least is in probably in your online account access - sign in and somewhere on there will be “account xyzbank 1234”.

Following up on my comment and concurring with Mira's comment ^^^^^^, all the information you need is available to you on line to report your compromised card , absolutely no need to be writing down and worrying about securing even the last 4-digits - no criminal is going anywhere knowing the last 4-digits.

Again, whether you have the full array of your CC number, or just the last 4-digits, or nothing at all, absolutely nothing is going to happen until you clear all of the banks security questions when you call in.

I take photos of the front/back of my cards and store it on the camera roll of my smartphone and also my personal cloud account.

I seem to be in the minority, but I do keep a list of cards, and other information. I have it on my phone in a secure file, and usually I print it out as well, and keep someplace deep. It is somewhat cryptic for anyone looking at it, but enough to jog my memory.

"I have it on my phone in a secure file"

I hope the security is stronger than a "locked" .pdf file

Do you have a smart phone? I put all my credit cards in my iphone’s wallet so I have all the info.

I put all my credit cards in my iphone’s wallet so I have all the info.

Sidetracking just a wee bit ... our phones contain so much of our financial, travel, health, and other information on them. So much, we'd be truly inconvenienced--if not in some bit of danger--should that phone be lost, stolen, dropped overboard, or crushed under the wheels of a tram. This is why I travel with a small camera instead of whipping out my phone for photos.

I scan credit/debit cards, both sides, passport, drivers license, etc. and create a .pdf I then email the pdf to myself and keep it in an email folder in my email account. This way I can access it from any device, mine or a public computer if needed. I do the same with all copies of items I need for my trip, copies of tour tickets, important receipts needed, etc. Same with excel or word docs I may have created. I also put my passport information page on the same page as my drivers license. I always carry a paper copy. This way when my passport is in the safe in my hotel room, I have a copy to show anyone who needs to see it. Used the copy twice with no problems, both on a train during day trips.

bogiesan, I agree it would be an inconvenience to lost a phone, but all of my phone's data is stored in the cloud and easily accessible. I use a 6-number PIN so hacking it would be next to impossible; plus I can wipe my phone of all data remotely if necessary. And in the 23+ years I've owned a cell phone, I've never had one broken or lost.

Yes, there is always a first time but I think the risk is slight and not worth the inconvenience to me of using a separate camera. 😊

Like Mardee ^^^^^, I too will pass on carrying a small camera. To me, the iPhone is an incredible one size fits all piece of technology that I will continue to take full advantage of.

And if it breaks or goes astray, I will immediately return to my hotel where I will put the iPhone in Lost Mode, using my iPad. I will then go to an Apple Store or Apple Reseller and purchase a replacement iPhone.

For those worried about dropping their phones:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072595S4G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With this, I was able to hang outside the Swiss train windows and over the side of the boats worry free. 😊

I have my iPhone save my credit card info and I have the apps from each bank on my phone. I can put a hold on my card from the app on the phone without ever making a phone call.

Of course that doesn’t address losing my phone.

I scan credit/debit cards, both sides, passport, drivers license, etc. and create a .pdf I then email the pdf to myself and keep it in an email folder in my email account

I do this also with all my trip information but store it in a hotmail account I created just for this purpose. The reason being is that if I ever needed to use a public computer to access this info I worry the computer itself may be compromised. By using a separate account I'm not giving away my main email password and access to my account.

If there is a pin number or last 4 digits that I want to remember without it being too obvious, I put a phony phone contact in my contact list and make sure the last 4 numbers of the phone number listed is the actual pin or last 4 digits. I know its a phony contact, but no one else does.

Carol, what a great idea!! I’m always paranoid I’m going to forget my pin.

My card's PINs are in my contacts list with a random first name and a surname that matches the card: Carl Capital, Charlie Chase, etc.

I have always kept a copy of credit card numbers and phone numbers with me when travelling. Before the invention of smartphones, I used my venerable Palm PDA with the information stored in a password-encrypted wallet file. Now that I travel with an iPhone, I use a similar but more elaborate password-encrypted "wallet" file to store credit card information (and lots of other stuff).

I always like to have a backup for important information so in the past I've also taken a written copy of the credit card numbers and phone numbers, and stored this somewhere in my luggage or with my Itinerary. I use a simple substitution cypher to encrypt the numbers, using a 10 letter word with no repeating letters. Each letter is assigned a number from 0-9, and the credit card number is listed as letters, in four letter groups (most credit card numbers are 16 digits so that seems logical). Only a "key" is listed for the 10 letter word I choose, to give me a clue on what that word is. Something like "my favourite technical term" is not something that anyone else would know and it could represent any number of different words. An example of a phrase I might use is "Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing". I realize this system is elaborate and overly complicated and I may never need to use it, but I like having a bit of fun with it.

I don't like sending the information via Email or keeping it in the cloud as if my phone is lost or stolen, I probably won't have access to that, at least not right away. Even if I do have a laptop with me, I may not have access to Email until I can get to a WiFi access point, which could delay notifying the credit card company.