August 2016 Tip of the Month

Let’s face it, we’re humans and we lose things. We forget where we put something or just simply drop it. Our credit cards are no different. If you notice that you’ve lost your credit card you should notify your issuer and cancel it immediately. But what if you find someone else’s card? What should you do?
The first thing that would come to mind is to look at the name and see if you can track them down. Between social media and Google it shouldn’t be that hard right? Wrong. What if that person is not from where you are? What if they have a common name like Joe Smith? While it would be rewarding to return the card to their owner you are not a detective, don’t track them down.
So now you need to turn it over to someone. If you found the card in a store it is tempting to turn it over to a manager or employee. Don’t. Besides not knowing how honest that person is, it is not their job either to track down the card owner (however should you find a bank card in say, their bank’s parking lot this is the best option). How about the police or a security officer? Let’s face it, these days the police have better things to do than to track down a card’s owner. One caveat to this option is if you find a wallet you should turn it over to them.
By now you’re thinking it doesn’t pay to be a Good Samaritan. Here’s what you should do. On the back of the card is a 1-800 number for the card issuer. Call it and report the card lost. The issuer will probably tell you to destroy the card and they will handle contacting the owner. It’s that easy.