When to Freeze Your Credit Card
If you are one of the many consumers who are experiencing financial hardship at this time, then the last thing you would want is a hacker having access to your money. This is why to protect yourself, you should put your credit card on freeze (if you aren’t going to apply for a new card or loan anytime soon). Credit freezes come at zero cost and take very little time to set up.
This is a very smart way to protect yourself from someone trying to access your credit report in an unauthorized way. When you go ahead and freeze your credit, fraudsters are not able to open new accounts in your name even if they have all of your personal information. No third party will be able to access your credit when it is frozen.
Freezing Credit
According to Pete Droske who is a financial advisor, freezing credit is the most secure thing you can do to protect your credit. He recommends that an individual keeps it frozen until they need to use it.
Let’s face it, you always know when you are actually going to apply for a mortgage, auto loan, or something else. Thus, keep your credit frozen until you need it. Now, it should be mentioned here that individuals can still access their credit reports when frozen, but they will not be able to apply for any new credit.
Credit Report
Additionally, you need to keep in mind that this does apply to a bank that you already have existing relationships with. For instance, if you currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Freedom® and ask for a credit limit increase, then Chase can still look at your credit report in order to decide whether they want to approve it or not. Apart from that, it is important to remember that we live in a world wherein fraudsters prowl everywhere, and data breaches are rampant. Thus, it is definitely a good call on your end to freeze your credit.
If you are an individual who has less than stellar credit, then you might not be so worried about a hacker using your credit, because it would be very difficult to obtain loan approvals. Even so, you may still want to give a thought about freezing it.
Frozen Credit
Now, having your credit frozen helps in many other ways as well. For instance, when you are offered extensions of credit that do not have favorable terms or you are inclined to make impulse purchases, frozen credit can be of great advantage. Imagine your credit being easily accessible to you in these scenarios. You would definitely end up making a bad decision. Lastly, remember that you can always thaw your credit and complete the application. But because of the fact that you are going the extra mile in order to do that, you will rethink the terms along with the purchase itself.
This brings us to the end of our discussion on when to freeze your credit card. Now, let us know some of your thoughts on the topic.
