You might want to continue reading to see all my tips below » Reading this post might seem like a waste of time because your ATM card is still intact and not lost. Do you know what you need to do when you eventually misplace your ATM card? Well, every smart NKH reader should know me that I’m a highly proactive individual and I give out tips that will help you stay proactive in dealing with things happening around the world of tech. Here’s a story for you: A friend misplaced her newly acquired ATM card in a public bus. I believe you know what comes with a new credit card (the card itself and the default 4 digit PIN). Long story short, the picker of this card was SLOW to withdraw the entire cash in her account. I used the word slow because, she(my friend) had enough time to block that ATM card before the deed was done (all her money was withdrawn). If you’ve never lost something before then there is no need to continue reading, however, if you have, this post will just show you things to do wehn your ATM card is stolen or missing. The scam rate in the country is not getting any low, you have to be extra careful when it comes to money related information. If you have misplaced your credit card, there are measures to take to stop any scammer from using your debit card and I’ll share them below.
Here Are Things To Do When Your ATM Card Is Stolen Or Missing in Nigeria.
1. Contact your bank immediately
The first thing my friend refused to do was to contact her bank right away. When you lose an ATM card, you have to immediately, get in touch with your bank as fast as possible to get your card blocked.
Banks in Nigeria have different platforms you can use to reach them (emails, phone numbers, Twitter handles, Facebook pages & more). This is available for all banks in Nigeria and I’ve taken my time to write a list of all bank’s contact details in Nigeria. Instead of visiting your bank branch, obviously, the fastest way to block ATM card is contacting the bank via their social media accounts. Though, some banking institution provides the option to block an ATM card via their internet banking platform. For instance, GTBank allows you to block ATM card directly by login into your internet banking » click on cards » then select ‘hotlist’ » select card » insert number, expiry etc, and reason to block card » after submitting, wait for your card to be blocked. You can check out this post to see how to block ATM cards in Nigeria.
2. Transfer funds right away
Do you have another bank account? Why not transfer the money from your bank (with missing ATM) to another bank account that you own? Even if you don’t have another bank you own, i assume you do have a trustable friend or family member right? Here’s the thing; simply move all you money out of the account with the missing ATM to your account or theirs. You can send back the money after you have settled your ATM palava! About transferring funds… Don’t waste your time going to your bank branch to get your funds transferred, you can use the bank USSD method of transfering money, this is faster and less stressful. This is just another preventive measure taken to ensure scammers don’t have any money available when it’s used, this is however considered when you couldn’t contact your bank fast to block ATM card. Left for me, I’ll do this first before blocking that ATM, I’m obviously going to apply to get another!
3. Apply for a new ATM card
Apply for a new card as fast as possible, since you know how important the ATM card is. When you contact the bank to block ATM card (lost card), make sure you also apply for a new ATM card to carry out easy banking transactions afterwards.
4. Unlink online banking information
Don’t forget to unlink your lost ATM card from all online payment system you’ve linked it with. For instance; I normally pay for premium mobile apps on my android with my linked ATM on Playstore, what I will simply do is, I will just go ahead and remove my missing ATM card details. This measure is important to ensure you have nothing to do with the old card while you await your new ATM. That’s all.. Do share with us any important post-tips for a missing credit card using the comment section. If you have read this, i think it’s important you share with friends, what happened to my friend could happen to you or someone close.
