Whole Document Navigator (Click Here)    ---------------------------------- Top of Document Overview Costs of Credit Credit Card Safety Credit Card Safety Record For Your Protection What to Do If You Lose a Card For More Information Footnotes Disclaimer Copyright Infomation

Credit Card Safety¹

Josephine Turner²

Overview

Credit cards are used to buy goods and services today with tomorrow's money. You can also use your credit cards to get cash.

Having and using credit cards can help you because:

• You do not have to carry cash.

• It is easier to pay one bill than to write a check for each item you buy.

• It is easier to keep track of where your money goes.

• You can still buy things you need, even when you don't have money.

• You may have early notice of sales.

• It is often easier to return items

Credit cards can hurt you because:

• They make it easy to overspend.

• You may pay more for goods and services.

• Using credit cards may keep you from shopping around.

• Using credit cards means you agree to the credit terms.

Costs of Credit

There are different types of credit cards, and they may have different costs.

• Travel and entertainment cards have yearly membership fees. In addition, you must pay all bills in full when billed.

• Department store cards usually do not have a yearly fee, but they have finance charges.

• Bank cards usually have a yearly fee and finance charges.

Credit Card Safety

Use your credit cards carefully to reduce the risk of losing them.

• Keep your credit cards with you.

• Carry your credit cards so you know where they are located. This way you will know if they are all there.

• Don't carry credit cards loose.

• Carry only those cards you think you will need when you travel. It is easier to lose them on a trip than at home. Put cards you do not plan to use in a safe deposit box or other safe place while you are gone.

• Keep a list of the names and account numbers of your credit cards in a safe place.

• When you get a new card in the mail, check the envelope with care. If you think the envelope was opened, let the creditor know. Ask the creditor to cancel the card and issue you a new one.

Credit Card Safety Record

A credit card safety record provides the information needed if your card is lost or stolen. Keep this record in a safe place with other important information.

Put the following information on the record:

• name of the card.

• name of each person in your family who has a card.

• account number.

• telephone number and address to report a lost or stolen cards.

• date the card expires. If you dont get a new card within a week of this date call your credit card company.

For Your Protection

When using a credit card:

• DON'T give your credit card number over the phone unless you initiated the call.

• Avoid losing track of your credit card.

• Always check to make sure you receive your card back after you use it for a purchase.

• When you make certain types of purchases, your receipt will have the total entered by machine as well as written. The machine-coded number is often in the upper right corner. Make sure it matches the number written in the total slot.

• Never sign a receipt with blank spaces in it.

• Always check your receipt before signing it.

• Make sure the clear, correct total is on the receipt.

• Request your carbons, if any, or watch while the salesperson tears them in small pieces.

• Cut up cards you no longer use into little pieces.

• Never throw a credit card away or mail it back to the company in one piece. If you mail a credit card back to the company, cut it up and keep one piece with numbers. This makes it impossible for someone to steal your number.

• Keep all the charge slips and check them against your bill.

• If you find a mistake on your bill, write the company.

What to Do If You Lose a Card

Report the loss at once using your Safety Record. See last page of this publication for Credit Card Safety Record sheet.

• Telephone the credit card company and give your name, address, and account number.

• Make a note of the date and time you called and the person you talked with. Ask for mailing address.

• Follow up with a letter giving the same information as above. Send it registered mail, return receipt requested. This provides a dated, signature record that your letter arrived.

• Keep the telephone bill, showing the long distance call to the company, if any. This will also provides proof of the date and time you called.

• When the company gets the information that your card was lost, you are no longer responsible for any unauthorized charges made on the card.

• Keep all the information in your home business file.

For More Information

Contact your county Extension office . Look in your telephone directory under your county's name to find the number.

Credit Card Safety Record. Keep this information in a safe place in case you ever need to report lost or stolen credit cards.

Card Name	Name of Card User	Account #	Expiration Date	Phone # to Report Missing Card	Address to Report Missing Card

---

Footnotes

1. This document is FCS5209, one of a series of the Family, Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date July 24, 2001. Reviewed: December 19, 2005. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Josephine Turner, Ph.D., CFP, professor, Family and Consumer Econiomics, Dept of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611

---

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.

---

Copyright Information

This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.