Remembering you left your credit card behind at the airport
Imagine sitting on an airplane at 35,000 feet and 2 hours left of your 5 hour flight. You suddenly realize you left your credit card at a store back at the airport. You start to panic. You think ‘I need to call your credit card company, but I don’t have any cellular service in the air. You panic more, anxiety sets in. You start to think someone has already used your credit card by simply tapping at restaurants and vendors at the airport, no PIN needed. How much money have they charged up? Your blood pressure rises further, you start breathing heavily and you can’t concentrate. You wish you could log in to your online banking to check if there been any fraudulent charges, but you can’t since you have no WIFI. You feel completely lost and helpless and you have another 2 hours left.
You finally land and turn on your phone and open your mobile banking app to check for any fraudulent charges. You always use Faceid as your method of logon, and for some reason this time it’s not working. You can’t login and you need to enter your password, but you don’t know your password since you always relay of Faceid. The plane is taxing to the gate and you feel more helpless while your brain is searching for other ideas and options.
How could this situation have gone better? Obviously if you didn’t forget your credit card in the first place it would have been ideal. If you never take your card out of your wallet for purchases is one way to ensure you don’t leave it behind. Use contactless payments whenever possible using your mobile phone or better yet your wearable technology such as an Apple Watch. If you don’t already do this but have the luxury means to, start getting into the habit of using these contactless payment methods. But we are human and the truth is many of us loss or misplace credit cards. Once we realize we lost or misplaced any bank cards it’s important to contact your bank immediately. Some ways that would have helped to elevate some anxiety in this situation:
Travel with more than 1 credit card.
Most commercial flights have wifi or texting pay of service. Use your other credit card to purchase an online/texting plan while in flight. Contact a trusted friend or family member to contact the bank on your behalf. Avoid using an airlines public WIFI to login into your online banking, and for that matter, avoid using public WIFI’s for any conducting any banking.
Have a picture of your bank cards on your mobile phone, front and back. The back contains the bank’s phone number in case lost or stolen. Use various filing methods so that you can easily find these pictures rather than scrolling through all your photos. Consider using the File app on the iPhone.
Use a reputable Password Manager software to store your passwords for easy access when the convenience of Faceid logons fails.
Familiarize yourself with your banks online banking self service features. Often you can disable your bank/credit card yourself.
Set low daily/weekly spending limits on your card.
Contact your bank. Even if you have disabled your card using the bank’s online app, you must contact your bank to report lost or missing cards.
Discuss with your bank any fraudulent charges that were charged using the tap feature between the time you lost your card and time you contacted the bank.
Good luck and remember you are the one responsible for your credit/debit card safekeeping. The fine print in the bank’s disclosures upon issuing your card states that it is ultimately your responsibility to protect your cards. You may be held accountable for any unauthorized charges if the card is lost or stolen. Keep your cards safe!