

If, for example, you’ve got an authorized user on your account that’s a child of yours, you can deactivate their individual card if you find that they’re overspending or spending irresponsibly. Your account in general can still be used for online purchases.ĭepending on the situation you find yourself in, it might make more sense to simply deactivate a card. Deactivating a card deactivates that one card and prevents you from purchasing items in-store at a POS terminal. When you freeze an account, all cards on that account will be frozen and your account cannot be used for cash advances, balance transfers, or new purchases anywhere online, in-store, or otherwise. It’s important to note that these are two different things. Oftentimes, you might encounter sections on a credit card company’s website that talk about freezing an account linked to a credit card or perhaps they give you the option to deactivate the card. However, this doesn’t prevent other transactions from occurring, such as recurring bills you’ve set up on the account, returns, credits, disputes, monthly fees, interest, and related fees. When you freeze your account, you’re simply telling the card issuer to avoid authorizing any new transactions.

However, that depends on the credit card company and their policy regarding lost and stolen cards. Usually, it’s a quicker and easier way to ensure that nobody can use your card as opposed to reporting it lost or stolen. What does that mean? It means they’ll put a hold on all of your cards so that nobody can make new purchases. If you’ve lost your cards or have had them stolen out of your purse or wallet, it’s a good idea to contact your credit card company and ask them to freeze your card. The most common reason to freeze a credit card is due to a lost or stolen card. What Happens When You Freeze a Credit Card? Does this hurt your credit score? Can it affect your chances of taking out another credit card with the same company? When you freeze it, you’re preventing any new charges from being authorized, which is good, obviously.
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However, others remain confused about how to freeze a credit card specifically, why you would want to in the first place, and how to go about doing it.įreezing a credit card usually happens after a fraud attack or after you’ve lost a card. Research published by American Express shows at least one in five Americans has frozen their credit due to financial issues or concerns.
