At long last, you have founded your own small business. You are selling vintage tees on Depop or doing some web design for your local customers. Everything is wonderful until you find out that your debit card is missing. That is the moment when panic starts because that card is your way to the money of your business.
Just breathe for a second. Everybody misses his or her card at least once, even those who have been in business for years. However, the speed of your actions will define whether this incident will just slow down your business operations or completely ruin everything. So, consider this situation like a fire drill.
First of all, you need to lock your card right away. There is no point in spending precious time trying to figure out where your card could be. Open your banking app right now and click “lock card” button. In case you are working with Chase, Wells Fargo, or fintechs such as Cash App, you will see the function on your dashboard. Locking your card will secure your money from getting drained by the fraudster immediately.
Having locked your card, you need to get in touch with your bank. Of course, that is really annoying and the hold music drives you crazy. Nevertheless, you need to do it. Talk to the bank representative about the situation and he or she will issue you a new card and close the compromised one forever. Ask the representative if there were any suspicious transactions on your card already.
Unfortunately, you have to resolve the issue related to the operational problems of running your business without a means of payment. Surely, you subscribe to Canva Pro, Shopify, Adobe Creative Cloud, or other platforms where you use this card. Log into every platform and change your payment method as soon as you receive the new card.
But you should also consider using virtual cards for the period of time till you get the new one. The services like Privacy.com or your bank will issue you a virtual card which will enable you to make purchases online. It will increase your security and prevent you from experiencing the whole situation again. Also, it will help you to separate your personal and business expenses which is a very valuable skill to develop.
Of course, the situation itself is really annoying. But it is also a valuable lesson in finances that many people have to learn the hard way. Fortunately, you learned it earlier and this knowledge will help you in the future.