Can Credit Cards Be Tracked?

When dealing with credit card security, it can be a scary thought that the card directly linked to your bank account could potentially be stolen and used for another person’s gain. However, credit card purchases today can be tracked upon purchases thanks to bank technology. Banks today can see where, when, and how much was charged on any purchase made by a credit card.

Unfortunately, credit cards are unable to be tracked until a purchase has been made with the card. If you made a purchase recently but forgot where you last shopped with your card, you can check your amount owed on a mobile app or call the bank directly and ask where the last purchase was made. If you're fortunate, you can just go back to the place where you lost your card and find it. However, sometimes you’ll have lost the card for good and someone else may take advantage of that. If you are able to catch that you lost your card before any purchases are made, you can freeze your card until you find it or you get a new one from your bank.

Thankfully, most credit cards offer Zero Fraud Liability when your card is compromised. With this feature, even if your card is compromised, you won’t be needing to pay a penny, even if being charged with $1,000 in purchases on your credit card. However, if for some reason you have a credit card that doesn’t offer the Zero Fraud Liability protection, then the maximum you will be needing to pay is $50.

There are other tools to help you track down your card though. In recent years, Visa has developed an app called Visa Mobile Location Confirmation that allows banks partnered with Visa credit cards to track your location through your phone, giving banks a heads up that you are physically in or not in the same location where your card is being used. While this requires cardholders to share their location with their bank at all times, it provides an added layer of protection to your account. Today, some credit cards even allow cardholders to freeze their accounts manually through their mobile apps. A few taps on your smartphone and you don’t need to worry about others making purchases on your account.

If you think you only misplaced one of your cards somewhere purchases have yet to be made, you can always tell your bank to temporarily freeze your credit card until you find yours  If however, you end up not finding your credit card, you can request for a free replacement credit card and a temporary online credit card until the new one arrives. This in effect would limit your risk and you wouldn’t need to worry about finding your credit card if you knew nobody could make any purchases on it.