Belgium's Card Stop hotline, which allows users to quickly block a missing or stolen bank card, is now a completely free service and has a new number: 078 170 170. Calls to the previous number cost €0.30 per minute – a situation described as “absurd” by Belgian Telecoms minister Petra De Sutter.

The new freephone service commenced on Monday (10 January) and the number is available 24 hours a day in Dutch, French and English. It can also be called from abroad by adding the +32 prefix to the number: +32 78 170 170.

A call to Card Stop will block your payment cards if they are lost or stolen. Similarly, you can call Card Stop and your bank if you have your card, but do not recognize some transactions on your account, or if you think you have given your PIN code etc to a potential fraudster. Since last month the Card Stop website has a new page listing all necessary contact information for all Belgian banks.

The banking sector is considering a possible extension to Card Stop services that can also block digital banking channels to your accounts (e.g. via banking apps). However, this is a complex area and further analysis is being undertaken.