What do you guys do with expired debit or credit cards? safe dispose method?

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NglButiLoveTechnolog

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#319211 3-Apr-2025 00:58

Hey all so I've basically accumulated a collection of expired credit and debit cards over the years, and I'm not sure how to properly dispose of them. Is there a safe and secure way to get rid of these cards to ensure my personal information and money is protected?

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#3359969 3-Apr-2025 04:29

Cut them in half and put the halves into two separate rubbish bins so that they’ll ne’er meet again.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3359973 3-Apr-2025 06:25

I put them through the shredder, like any other sensitive document. Most have an area marked in the centre of this purpose (where the switch is).

scuwp

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#3359980 3-Apr-2025 07:40

I chop them into tiny little pieces with scissors.

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Senecio

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#3359995 3-Apr-2025 08:56

Cut them into multiple pieces making sure that one cut goes through the middle of the chip and then dispose of in normal refuse.

neb

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#3360003 3-Apr-2025 09:27

Mail them to Auckland Transport the next time they ask for submissions on something. They'll disappear without a trace, never to be seen again.

mrgsm021

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#3360057 3-Apr-2025 10:06

I put it through a paper shredder

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ANglEAUT

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#3360069 3-Apr-2025 10:29

Personal paper shredder or secure document destruction bin in the office. Our state they accept CC.

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Wheelbarrow01

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#3360259 3-Apr-2025 16:48

I used to cut them into quarters (including across the chip) and dispose of them in separate bins around the house (which are emptied into the wheelie bin at different times) - this ensures none of the pieces end up together.

However I recently bought a shredder which comprehensively deals to them, but I still dispose of the fragments in two separate lots just to be sure.

loceff13

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#3360264 3-Apr-2025 17:40

If they are expired what can they be used for when recovered by someone else?

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3360265 3-Apr-2025 17:46

loceff13:

If they are expired what can they be used for when recovered by someone else?

Online purchases. The card number and name don't change. The new expiry date can be guessed and that leaves a single 3-digit number as the only missing piece of the puzzle.

loceff13

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#3360266 3-Apr-2025 17:51

SirHumphreyAppleby:

loceff13:

If they are expired what can they be used for when recovered by someone else?

Online purchases. The card number and name don't change. The new expiry date can be guessed and that leaves a single 3-digit number as the only missing piece of the puzzle.

Does that not set off alarm bells at the persons bank when potentially a few hundred CVV/CVC atempts are made incorrectly?

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neb

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#3360289 3-Apr-2025 19:00

loceff13:

Does that not set off alarm bells at the persons bank when potentially a few hundred CVV/CVC atempts are made incorrectly?

It'd only be a handful, and nope. The CVV's... they're more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules.

SepticSceptic

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#3360336 3-Apr-2025 22:19

My young grandkids use them to play "shop"

Plastic money is so last century. ..

k1w1k1d

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#3360340 3-Apr-2025 22:29

I find that not all online sales require the CVV.

Handsomedan

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#3360519 4-Apr-2025 09:50

I've worked in the Cards and Payment space for the better part of the last 30 years.

The best thing to do is to cut them in half and put the two halves in separate receptacles.

In saying that, once cut in half, a card is 100% unusable. Also if it's expired, the card is no longer valid in a card present situation and in a card not present environment (i.e. online) the new expiry date and CVV are not going to line up, so again it's useless.

For extra safety, you could use a document destruction bin at an office, a shredder or cut into multiple pieces, but ultimately an expired card that has had a replacement card issued is largely useless, so cut it in half and throw it away.

Alternatively, you can return them to the issuer for potential recycling (after cutting in half).

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