Actualis



March 2012
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Uh… What did I have in my wallet?

It’s a question that most of us don’t give much thought to in our daily lives, but it’s the first thing we ask ourselves if our pocketbooks suddenly come up missing.

For many of us, our wallets are a microcosm of our lives: Along with money and credit cards can be found everything from sales slips to coupons, mementoes, all mixed in with vital personal information. Exactly the kinds of things you don’t want to have falling into the wrong hands. Granted, we might not talking about long-term financial security issues here – but sometimes, such small problems can end up being a real threat to your short-term financial stability. So it is better to avoid them in the first place!

Just the essentials
By taking a careful periodic inventory of your billfold, you should be able to minimize the damage if it comes up missing. Let’s start with the basics:

  • Houseclean your wallet regularly. You don’t need that old business card from some place that you’ve never been to, or never intend to go back to. Likewise for all of your sales slips, expired coupons and other junk. Just keep the minimum that you need to do your daily business;
  • Prioritize. If you aren’t using an item today but it’s still important, find a safe place to store it away at home. Items in this category include such things as your Social Insurance Number (SIN) card, your birth certificate or cheques. You rarely need these items, but they are a potential gold mine for identity theft.

Once you’ve got your wallet pared down to the essentials, take a careful inventory of what you carry. Some experts suggest even scanning or photographing the contents of your wallet, to make it faster and easier to remember exactly what has come up missing. Store this away with a list of numbers to contact to cancel cards or order new ones.

Spares
One idea to help ease the pain of a stolen or missing wallet is to always keep a spare credit or debit card at home or, if you’re travelling, somewhere else on your body. This will enable you to still have access to money in that period between loss and replacement.

If your wallet does disappear, start cancelling cards as soon as possible. Most acts of identity theft and credit card fraud take place soon after they are stolen, as thieves try to act before the cards are deactivated. Time is of the essence, and also makes it more likely the thieves will be caught.

Less of a pain
By paying a little more attention to what’s in your wallet, you can make it a lot less appealing to thieves, and less traumatic should it come up missing. Not to mention a lot less bulky and uncomfortable in your pocket!



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