10 Credit Card Safety Tips

Ultimately keeping you credit card safe is you responsibility. Indeed, in a worst case scenario, if it can be proven you may have been negligent in keeping your credit card safe, you may find yourself liable for the cost of all transactions made fraudulent on your account should you lose the card. To help you avoid this, here are 10 simple credit card safety tips:

1. Do not give your account number over the phone unless you have initiated the call. And if you have dialed a wrong number, do not give it out at all.
2. Get a card that has added security features, like a photo ID or smart chip
3. Never write your account number or PIN on the outside of an envelope or postcard. Moreover, never keep a record of your PIN with your card, this is only asking for trouble!
4. Draw a line through blank spaces on charge slips above the total to prevent any changes
5. Do not sign a blank charge slip unless absolutely necessary.
6. Save your receipts!
7. Always check receipts against your monthly statements. However, do not keep your credit cards and credit card purchase receipts in the same place – because if you have lost your card, or if it is stolen, then you will have lost the receipts as well. Now there is no way for you to vouch which transactions were yours and which where not – or, there is no way to tell which was the last genuine transaction you made.
8. Make a list of card numbers, expiration dates, and the toll-free numbers of your credit card companies. Keep this record in a safe place, separate from where you keep your cards. Use this information if you ever have to report your cards lost or stolen.
9. Carry only the cards you need, especially when traveling. While it is always advisable that you have more than 1 credit card, in case it gets lost, you should never have more credit cards than you actually need to use. The principal reason why this is the case is because it becomes harder to keep a track of which cards you have and where you have kept them with the more cards you have.
10. Never lend your card to anyone, and do not leave cards or receipts lying around your room, no matter where you live.