How to maximize your credit card's security

Sign up for account alerts. We actively monitor for fraud and can send automatic security alerts to you via text³ or email messages if we detect suspicious or irregular activity—or if important account and personal information changes on our system. You may subscribe to the following available account alerts:

Lock your card. Whether you want extra protection from unauthorized use—or if you accidentally misplaced your Fidelity^® Rewards Visa Signature^® Card, you can place a temporary "block" on it by "locking" your card using the Fidelity mobile app or website.

Locking your card will prevent any purchase transactions. It will also block any online or mobile purchases that use your card as the payment option, including digital wallet purchases. Regular automatic transactions (such as automatic bill payments), returns, and credit adjustments will still be allowed. You can lock and unlock your card as often as you need, at no cost.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to protect yourself from identity theft and fraud is to use strong passwords and change them frequently.

Here are a few tips to create stronger passwords:

• Combine no fewer than 8 letters, numbers, and symbols.
• Create a unique user ID and password for online banking that you don't use anywhere else.
• Don't carry passwords in your wallet or purse.
• Make your password easy to remember but hard to guess by using symbols and numbers in place of letters (for example, PetRover becomes P3+R0v3r).
• Don't use a password that is often found on lists of commonly used passwords.

Smartphones are increasingly being used to house all sorts of personal information, so it’s important to make your phone as secure as possible.

Here are a few things you can do:

• Protect access to your smartphone or device by using a password or biometric lock such as a fingerprint or facial recognition.
• Always lock your phone when not in use.
• Set your phone to automatically lock after being idle for a set amount of time.
• Set your phone to require a longer password than the default four-digit unlock code (if this option is available).
• For even stronger security, set your phone to erase all data after 10 bad password attempts.
• Report a lost or stolen phone as soon as possible following the recommended steps of your mobile service provider.

NOTE: Unlike the risk associated with the loss or theft of a physical wallet or card, a mobile device and digital wallet protect your Fidelity^® Rewards Visa Signature^® Card with multiple layers of protection. A person would need to guess or "break" your found or stolen device's password, as well as any access passwords, PINs, or biometric IDs (e.g., fingerprints, facial recognition, etc.) you've set to protect your card. If you ultimately replace your device, you will need to re-add your Fidelity^® Rewards Visa Signature^® Card to the digital wallet on your new device.

Here are a few things to remember when checking your email and text messages:

• If something looks suspicious, it probably is. Before reacting to an email or text, examine its contents and question the validity of it.
• Never click on links in either emails or texts, unless it's a communication you were expecting to receive.
• If you have a question about an email you received, contact us directly.
• Never share personal information, such as your Social Security numbers, login information, or account numbers.
• Remember that Fidelity or Elan will never send you an email requesting sensitive personal information. If you receive a suspicious email that references Fidelity or your credit card, please forward the email immediately to elanfraud@elanfs.com.