Freezing or Locking Credit Cards

[JSUB]

I've only locked credit cards when one of us misplaced or lost a wallet. I just froze all 3 reporting agencies for the first time yesterday after getting notification of a data breach. I don't anticipate applying for any new credit cards for the next year so that won't be a hassle. I believe companies can still do a SP on a frozen account but if they can't I won't be requesting CLI so frequently it'll be hassle.

[Anonymous]

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@JSUB wrote:

I believe companies can still do a SP on a frozen account but if they can't I won't be requesting CLI so frequently it'll be hassle.

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Yes, in general a creditor with an existing relationship can access the frozen file.  However, some issuers insist on the file being unfrozen, even if the request is a SP

[Windchill92]

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@Aim_High wrote:

The first time I went to use a locked card and forgot to unlock it since I'm not in that habit, it confused me at first when the charge was denied!  Then I smiled because I remembered and it made me feel good that the lock was working. 

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Been here before lol. Because of this I keep all unlocked and have alerts for any transaction at or above $0.01 if possible. I've got a habit to always check my phone after making a transaction and expecting to see what's on the receipt.

I guess if if you were really paranoid about having to dispute a charge or were in an unsafe area, then having a cycle of unlock/transact/lock could be beneficial...but mostly psychologically...

[crystal626]

I also froze a bunch of my cards after that breach. It wasn't that I was worried about them being able to be compromised because of the breach but rather because I realized that these crimes are on an uptick and I see people having issues disputing fraud on a regular basis. It just sounds like too much of a hassle. 

I have noticed that some lenders allow you to freeze your physical card and keep your mobile wallet card working. I would be interested in such a list so that I can just add the cards to my phone and keep the physical ones locked. PayPal Cashback, for example, lets me lock the physical card but still use it for PayPal transactions. Bank of America has a lock section that shows my mobile wallet cards seperately from my physical card so maybe they would let me do it too (but I use the card for online transactions so that's not very useful).

It's annoying that we have to go through this all the time. My reports have been frozen since the Equifax breach though.

[Anonymous]

"AMEX said they would freeze my card for seven days, but then the card would unfreeze automatically!"

Strange... I got my daughter an AU on my EDP card about 5 years ago, just in case of emergency, froze it, and it's been that way ever since. They even just sent a renewal card. Maybe what you described is only for the primary card holder?

[Aim_High]

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@Anonymous wrote:

"AMEX said they would freeze my card for seven days, but then the card would unfreeze automatically!"

Strange... I got my daughter an AU on my EDP card about 5 years ago, just in case of emergency, froze it, and it's been that way ever since. They even just sent a renewal card. Maybe what you described is only for the primary card holder?

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I just double-checked, @Anonymous , and perhaps there are different settings for AU versus primary.  I froze my card via the mobile app and was told via pop-up about the 7 day limit.  I didn't see it on mobile app, but the desktop website would allow me to freeze AU cards, and my DW is AU on my Marriott card.  I could also set a spending limit on AU cards.  When I froze DW's card, I did not get the same message so perhaps they allow a permanent freeze on those cards.   The website also shows my card frozen until ... (date) at the home page for that card.   (For her convenience, I did not freeze DW's card initially and I unfroze it again after testing it.) 

[crystal626]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

"AMEX said they would freeze my card for seven days, but then the card would unfreeze automatically!"

Strange... I got my daughter an AU on my EDP card about 5 years ago, just in case of emergency, froze it, and it's been that way ever since. They even just sent a renewal card. Maybe what you described is only for the primary card holder?

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I just double-checked, @Anonymous , and perhaps there are different settings for AU versus primary.  I froze my card via the mobile app and was told via pop-up about the 7 day limit.  I didn't see it on mobile app, but the desktop website would allow me to freeze AU cards, and my DW is AU on my Marriott card.  I could also set a spending limit on AU cards.  When I froze DW's card, I did not get the same message so perhaps they allow a permanent freeze on those cards.   The website also shows my card frozen until ... (date) at the home page for that card.   (For her convenience, I did not freeze DW's card initially and I unfroze it again after testing it.) 

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It makes sense to not have a time limit on AU cards since you might not want AUs to always be able to use them but I wish AMEX didn't have the limit at all.