Loren EatonShort Answer
Once you’ve reported your debit card lost or stolen, you cannot uncancel or reactivate a canceled card. At some banks, you may be able to put a temporary hold on your account if you believe you’ve lost your debit card. That way, if you find it, you can remove the hold and continue using the same card. For more details, see below.
Can You Uncancel a Debit Card?
After you report a debit card lost or stolen, you cannot “uncancel” or reactivate the card. Instead, if you believe you misplaced your card, many banks and credit card issuers can put a short-term freeze or temporary block on your account. That way, if you find it, you can resume using the same card.
We reached out to Chase, Bank of America, and USAA to find out if it’s possible to uncancel a debit card; all of the banks we contacted said this is not possible. We also reviewed several online reports by consumers, including inquiries about PayPal and Discover cards; none of the accounts reported being able to reactivate a canceled card.
A USAA customer service representative said that while you can’t uncancel a debit card, you can reverse a short-term freeze. The representative suggested cardholders first try this approach before reporting a card lost or stolen. Many other banks also offer this option.
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