Losing a debit card can be annoying, but the question often arises whether it should be reported as lost. There are consequences to this decision the card holder should understand.
If a debit card is reported as lost, it will be cancelled, just as if it were stolen. This means that if the card is later found, it will be useless and the card holder must wait until the replacement card arrives by post. There will also be a new PIN number, issued and sent separately.

For card holders who have arranged regular payments, perhaps to cover monthly bills, on the debit card (rather than through the underlying bank account), these payments will no longer be valid. These regular payments must be rescheduled through the new debit card, once it’s received.

If this process seems too cumbersome and it’s likely the debit card has only been misplaced rather than stolen, it’s possible to put a temporary block on the card, and in many cases this is preferable. Any regular payments that fall during this time slot will not be made, but if the debit card is found then it remains valid. Even if the card has been stolen rather than lost, the thief won’t be able to use the card while the block is on.

Once the card is found, the temporary block can usually be lifted by phoning up the credit card provider using the normal helpline number. If the card isn’t found and a new one must be requested, a temporary block will lengthen the time before a new debit card arrives, as the new card won’t be ordered until the existing one is cancelled.

Finally, if the card holder doesn’t report the missing card and fraudulent transactions are made with it after some time has passed, they won’t be covered by a zero liability guarantee. Normally, the zero liability guarantee prevents unauthorised transactions being charged to the card holder, but only if the loss has been reported within a certain period of time.