Discover Launches On/Off Switch for Credit Cards

I think just about everyone has misplaced their credit card at one time or another, only to find it just minutes or hours later.

The problem is that you don’t want to keep that misplaced credit card active while it’s nowhere to be found.

For this reason, cardholders often call and close the card the moment they realize it’s missing to avoid any possible fraudulent activity.

Unfortunately, this means you’re without your credit card for as long as a week or so while the new card is produced and delivered.

Clearly this means the card issuer loses out on your business during that time, and could even lose you as a customer forever if you switch to another card in the interim.

But this is so 1980s…I mean, isn’t there a better way? After all, credit card issuers can remotely freeze our credit cards if they think fraudulent charges are being made, so why can’t we?

Just Freeze It

Fret no longer. Discover has launched a new credit card feature called “Freeze It” that allows cardholders to stop new purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers on all their credit cards with the touch of a button.

The company likens the new tool to an “on/off switch” that can be accessed via mobile device, online, or by calling Discover at 1-800-DISCOVER.

And just as easily as the card can be frozen, it can be unfrozen with a click as well. So if it turns out you left your credit card in your pant’s pocket, or worse, at the bar, you can reactivate the sucker once it has been found.

Note: If you have multiple Discover credit cards, this feature will freeze and unfreeze all of them at once because it’s an account level tool.

Assuming you freeze your Discover card, you will receive alerts if a transaction is declined. This way you can see if anyone is up to no good.

At the same time, the new feature is intelligent in that it allows recurring purchases to continue being billed so there are no issues with monthly bills tied to the card.

Additionally, payments, returns, credits, disputes, rewards, and redemptions can all be processed while the card is frozen.

Discover says it is the only major credit card issuer offering such a service for free on both mobile devices and online.

If you are unable to recover your lost or stolen credit card, you can order a replacement card by calling Discover.

For the record, the Freeze It feature does not apply to Discover business credit cards, but it is available for consumer cards like the popular Discover it card and the new Discover it Miles.

I have the Discover it card and the Discover app and was easily able to navigate to “Account” and then “Freeze Account” to disable my card in literally seconds.

This is a great feature that I hope other card issuers follow suit on. And it could also be helpful for parents if little Johnny goes on an unwanted spending spree…

Read more: What to do with unused credit cards.