Big parking lot, 7am, nobody else there, and there's a shiny red rectangle on the ground. Hey, I'm curious enough to have a look... it's a Visa credit card.

A quick look at the name (and some stereotyping) indicates the owner is probably "not from around here." The next natural thought is to take it to a branch of the issuing bank. Well, we used to have a branch here, not a half-mile or so from the spot of the find. But thanks to bank buyouts and consolidations, that branch is no more.

A quick Google search on the name and the town reveals zilch. Not even linked in or Facebook show up in a search for that name.

I'm assuming (hoping?) the owner has contacted his bank already.

Question:
How's best to attempt getting the card back to its owner?

Choices:
Mail it to the nearest branch of the issuing bank.
Take it to a nearby bank that's also an issuer of Visa cards.
Take it to the police department.
Shred it and carry on.
Some better choice?

 

Is there a customer service number on the back of the card? An 800 number maybe?

Maybe call the number on the back of the card and let them know you found the card. Maybe they can contact the owner? The owner of the card may have already canceled it if they know it's gone.

Shred it and move on.

If I had lost or misplaced my card, and someone somehow manages to get it back to me, I'm still locking the card down and ordering a new one asap anyways.
You never know if someone has already taken pics of the card front and back before it was dumped in the parking lot.

Not to be snide about your legitimate questions, but what do you believe a police department or bank would or could do with a credit card that someone turned in?

When I was an emergency services dispatcher and a complete wallet was turned in and I had the opportunity, I’d make an effort to determine who the owner was and try to contact them some way. I doubt that’s very common, though, and it didn’t always result in its being returned to the owner.

If I lost just a credit card the only thing I’d do is immediately contact the issuer, have it canceled, and be sent a replacement. I wouldn’t spend a minute trying to determine if it had been found and turned in someplace.

Probably shred it and move on. Unless you want to call the 800 number on the back of the card and find out what they recommend. If the cardholder has reported it, then it's deactivated. But if it's a card that's not used often they may not have noticed it missing.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
Shred it and move on.

If I had lost or misplaced my card, and someone somehow manages to get it back to me, I'm still locking the card down and ordering a new one asap anyways.
You never know if someone has already taken pics of the card front and back before it was dumped in the parking lot.

^^^This.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Not to be snide about your legitimate questions, but what do you believe a police department or bank would or could do with a credit card that someone turned in?

I didn't see that as snide at all... I just figure they might have better resources for finding the owner than I do.

Looks like the quick answer is "shred it and don't fret it."

Now I'm curious whether anyone has ever contacted a customer service number about a found card. When I've had to report a hacked card of my own, I've had to provide my name, card number, and other identifying information, often to some sort of A.I. entity that may or may not understand what I'm saying even before ultimately getting transferred to a human being who then asks for the same information.

When you've called about finding someone else's card, how did that go?

Shredding the card or calling the customer service number on the back seems like the two most logical courses of action.

when I was in the gro biz, we would end up with a stack of cards at the customer service desk,

if someone can looking, show ID, get it back,
after a week or 10 days, drop it in the shredder and move on,

I am gonna vote to shred it and move on. They have probably already cancelled it and requested a new one.

Call the customer service number on the card, tell them you found it, and the owner needs it cancelled before you give it to the illegals on the street corner, a la Bobby Axelrod in Billions.

Shred it and move on.

I'd shred it, that's what I've done in the past.

if it was your card that was lost, what would like some unknown person who found it to do with it?

Who’s parking lot are you in? Can you turn it in to the store the parking lot belongs to?

Yeah just shred it and move on, the chances to get it to the owner are unlikely and they unfortunately will have to go through the process of getting another card but at least it can't be used by an undeserved.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Who’s parking lot are you in? Can you turn it in to the store the parking lot belongs to?

I'd turn it in to the store/place the parking lot belongs to.

It depends on your town. This is a small and friendly town. It is quite possible the owner has no idea he/she dropped a single card.

People here will post on a town facebook page with the person's name and what was found. Very frequently the owner is located quickly.

In the past I've called the local bank and they told me to shred the card and they would send a new one to the owner. If it were me I would be bummed because it could be a major hassle to have a card turned off if I did not know. Auto pay, travel, etc.

But this is a small town. If it were a big city I would be more inclined to just call the bank and let them do their thing.