If you discover that your credit card is missing, then it may have been lost or even stolen, and there are a number of steps you will need to take immediately if it cannot be found.
The first thing you will need to do is call the UAE bank that issued the credit card to you and report that the card has been lost or stolen.
When you want to contact the bank that issued you a credit card under normal circumstances, it is usual to look at the back of the card for the phone number, but this will, of course, not be possible if you cannot find the card.
However, contact details can also be found on your credit card statements or on the website of the bank in question.
Once those details have been obtained, the loss of the credit card should be reported either by visiting a local branch, via the app, or by using the website.
If you are certain that the card has not merely been lost but actually stolen, then it is a good idea to call the helpline as this is the fastest method of notifying the UAE bank of the theft.
You will need to verify your identity in order to have the credit card account frozen or closed, so account details will have to be supplied along with your name and address and details of the last transaction that was made with the card.
Those details are then reviewed by the UAE bank and the account is frozen once verification is complete.
If the credit card is reported as being lost or stolen before it is misused by others, then the owner will not be held accountable for any transactions carried out with the missing card.
The quicker you take action to report the missing credit card, the safer you will be.
Once the card has been disabled, you need to let the entities responsible for scheduling your monthly auto-debits know.
Any payments that they attempt to make will obviously not be a success and you will be able to avoid the inconvenience and additional fees by letting them know in advance.
If you are convinced that the credit card has been stolen and you have informed your bank, then the next thing you need to do is file a report with your local UAE police.
Many cardholders fail to take this step, but filing a police report is very important as it means that the police will be able to gather information and be able to recognise similar patterns of activity and maybe even catch the thief responsible.
In the event that you report your credit card as being lost and have put in an application for a new one only to then actually find it again, you can just contact your UAE bank in order to have it reactivated.
There are no charges for reactivating a credit card that has been lost and then rediscovered.
