Lost and stolen cards

For many users, there is real concern about the possibility of losing their card. They need to know the limit of their liability and what to do to obtain a replacement.

Rationale

A replacement for a lost or stolen card is likely to require several days to produce. The replacement card is a cost to the service provider and may be passed on to the user. It is important that customer facing operators or customer care representatives are trained to help users understand the implications of a lost card.

Service providers should be aware that it is possible older users may have misplaced their card rather than it being lost and that it can be useful to allow a short space of time before existing cards are fully blocked and replacements issued.

Directions and Techniques

Provide a single telephone number that the user can ring in the event of losing their card or it becoming unusable for any reason. There should be a simple, fast system for providing a replacement card with the same configuration as on the previous card and, if possible, it should also contain the same amount of credit as before the loss.

How you could check for this

Run a testing programme with representatives from the actual target user groups.

During testing, the following key checks should be made:

• Allow time to find a misplaced card;
• Provide direct phone access.