Your Girocard (EC card) or credit card is gone? How to react correctly to avoid financial damage. Plus: exclude residual risk.
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Cash card stolen: You must do this immediately!
The first summer vacation after Corona is just around the corner. If your Girocard (formerly known as an EC card) or credit card is stolen while on vacation, or if these important cards are otherwise lost, then you must act quickly to avoid financial damage. Sibylle Miller-Trach, financial lawyer at the Bavarian consumer advice center, has put together tips on how to react after losing your Girocard or credit card.
Block card:
If lost or stolen, the card should be called immediately
116 116
be blocked. Anyone calling from abroad must dial the German area code 0049 or can dial the number
0049 30 4050 4050
use. To block the card, consumers need the IBAN number of their account or the card number of the credit card.
Watch out:
Despite the card being blocked, thieves can still make contactless payments with the stolen card for a few hours. You can read how this is possible and how you can prevent this residual risk in the article “Despite a card being blocked: thieves pay with a stolen card – how to prevent it.”
Write down the numbers beforehand:
It is helpful to create an emergency note with the phone numbers to block and the card number/IBAN and to keep it in a safe place. With the card blocked, third parties can no longer access the account.
To file charges:
If the card was stolen, consumers should also report it to the local police.
Message to Kuno:
Vacationers in Germany can also report the loss of their card to Kuno via the police. Kuno is a cooperation between the police and retailers to prevent card misuse. If a fraudster uses a card that has been reported to Kuno, the seller will be informed at the checkout that the card has been blocked. The criminal can then no longer pay in business with a card and signature (direct debit). You can also read more here in Despite card blocking: thieves pay with stolen cards – how to prevent that.”
Raise money from substitute sources:
If vacationers abroad really do not have enough cash and without payment cards, they have the option of using payment services such as Western Union, Azimo, Paypal or Money Gram. Relatives can send money through these service providers.
Apple Play or Google Pay as alternative payment options:
Unless you’ve also lost your smartphone, you may be able to pay using Apple Pay on an iPhone and Google Pay on an Android smartphone. To do this, however, you must set up these payment methods in good time before you leave for your vacation. The prerequisite is that your bank supports these payment methods. In addition, you can only actually pay with these payment methods at participating partner companies.
