If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to have lost your wallet, or heaven forbid have it stollen, you know how stressful the process of cancelling all your credit cards and reording new ones can be. Do yourself a favor and make a photocopy of the front and backs of all your vital cards in your wallet. The phone numbers on the back of your credit card informing you where to call in the event of an emergency do you little good without the card!
Follow these simple steps to help:
1. Empty the contents of your wallet and set aside important cards (license, credit cards, other forms of photo id)
2. Scan or photocopy the fronts and backs of the cards
3. Store a copy of the cards in a fireproof safe or in a safe deposit box. If you don’t have either of these, consider entrusing a family member who lives elsewhere to hold a copy for you.
4. When you receive an updated credit card make a copy of it right away. Don’t forgot to update your copies if your name has changed too.
Don’t forget about items like your passport too. While you likely do not carry it around on a regular basis, having a copy of it will be helpful in the event of loss as well.
Being prepared makes the process of recovery after an accident just a little bit easier.