Protecting Your Credit Cards

Protecting Your Credit Cards

The best protections against card fraud are to know where your cards are at all times and to keep them secure. For ATM card protection, it's important to keep your Personal Identification Number (PIN) a secret. Don't use your address, birthdate, phone or social security number. Memorize the number. Statistics show that in one-third of ATM card frauds, cardholders wrote their PINS on their ATM cards or on slips of paper kept with their cards.

The following suggestions may help you protect your credit and ATM card accounts.

For Credit Cards:

• Be cautious about disclosing your account number over the phone unless you know you are dealing with a reputable company.

• Never put your account number on the outside of an envelope or on a postcard.

• Draw a line through blank spaces on charge slips above the total so the amount cannot be changed.

• Don't sign a blank charge slip.

• Tear up carbons and save your receipts to check against your monthly billing statements.

• Open billing statements promptly and compare them with your receipts. Report mistakes or discrepancies as soon as possible to the special address listed on your statement for "billing inquiries." Under the FCBA, the card issuer must investigate billing errors reported to them within 60 days of the date your statement was mailed to you.

• Keep a record — in a safe place separate from your cards — of your account numbers, expiration dates, and the telephone numbers of each card issuer so you can report a loss quickly.

• Carry only those cards that you anticipate you'll need.

For ATM cards:

• Don't carry your PIN in your wallet or purse or write it on your ATM card.

• Never write your PIN on the outside of a deposit slip, an envelope, or on a postcard.

• Take your ATM receipt after completing a transaction.

• Reconcile all ATM receipts with bank statements as soon as possible.

Buying a Registration Service

For an annual fee of $10 to $35, companies will notify the issuers of your credit and ATM accounts if your card is lost or stolen. This service allows you to make only one phone call to report all card losses rather than calling individual issuers. Most services also will request replacement cards on your behalf.

Purchasing a card registration service may be convenient, but it's not required. The FCBA and the EFTA give you the right to contact your card issuers directly in the event of a loss or suspected unauthorized use.

If you decide to buy a registration service, compare offers. Carefully read the contract to determine the company's obligations and your liability. For example, will the company reimburse you if it fails to notify card issuers promptly once you've called in the loss to the service? If not, you could be liable for unauthorized charges.