Freeze or close a card

When you would do this

Freeze when a card might be compromised, when a cardholder is away, or when you want spending to stop while you investigate.

Close when a card is finished with for good: the person has left, the subscription has ended, the project is over.

Which to choose

Freeze is reversible. The card stops working immediately and payments are declined. You can unfreeze it later and it works again.

Closing is permanent. It cannot be undone. The card cannot be reopened and you will need to issue a new one.

If you are unsure, freeze. You can always close a frozen card later. You cannot reopen a closed one.

Steps: freeze a card

1. Go to Operation › Cards and open the card.
2. Select Freeze.
3. Confirm. Payments are declined until you unfreeze it.

To reverse it, select Unfreeze and confirm.

Steps: close a card

1. Open the card.
2. Select Close card.
3. Read the confirmation. It tells you this cannot be undone.
4. Confirm Close permanently.

What to expect

A frozen card shows as Frozen and can be unfrozen at any time.

A closed card moves to the Closed section of the workspace. Its history stays visible: closing a card does not remove its transactions from your records or from the audit log.

Transactions authorised before you froze or closed the card can still settle afterwards. Freezing stops new authorisations, it does not unwind ones already made.

If a card is compromised

1. Freeze it immediately. Do this before investigating.
2. Review its recent transactions for anything you do not recognise. See "View card transactions".
3. Close it and issue a replacement rather than unfreezing it.
4. Consider whether the card details were exposed anywhere else, and check the audit log for when they were last revealed and by whom.
5. If you think the compromise is broader than one card, see "Respond to a suspected compromise".

Common problems and what they mean

A payment went through on a frozen card. It was authorised before the freeze and settled after it.

A recurring subscription keeps failing after you unfroze the card. Some merchants stop retrying after repeated declines. The cardholder needs to re-enter the card with the merchant.

You closed a card by mistake. It cannot be reopened. Issue a new one.

You cannot freeze or close. Open the card's detail view. Check your role permits card management.