Card Stop: what the block covers and what it does not

What does Card Stop do, and what does it not do?

Card Stop blocks, and that is all. A call to 078 170 170 cuts the card, the PIN and, where relevant, the payment app. Nothing more.

According to the official Card Stop page, consulted on 3 October 2026, the service covers debit, credit and prepaid cards, electronic meal vouchers, Bancontact Pay, Google Pay and Apple Pay. It runs around the clock, in French, Dutch and English. Febelfin, the Belgian banking federation, counted 824,127 calls in 2021: 67% for a lost card, 25% for internet fraud, 8% for a theft.

The list of what it does not do is the more useful one. It does not refund. It does not judge whether the holder was negligent. It does not contact the merchant. It does not unblock.

In the files I handled, the same confusion came back in almost every dispute: the holder had called Card Stop and believed the matter was closed. It was not. The block opened the file, it did not close it.

Does Card Stop refund a fraudulent charge?

No. The refund is an obligation of the issuer, not of the blocking service.

The regime comes from Book VII of the Code of Economic Law (Livre VII du Code de droit économique), the Belgian statute that transposes the European payment services directive, PSD2. Wikifin, the information site of the FSMA (the Belgian financial regulator), page updated on 31 August 2026, sums it up in two lines. Once the card is reported, you bear no cost of fraudulent use. Before the report you bear EUR 50 at most, unless you were grossly negligent or acted fraudulently, which the issuer has to establish.

The detail of the exceptions, the burden of proof and the thirteen-month window is in the article on a lost or stolen card. One point only here: the timestamp of the call is the document that separates what you pay from what the issuer pays.

Can a card be unblocked after Card Stop?

No. A Card Stop block is permanent, and the card is replaced.

KBC says so plainly on its lost, stolen or retained card page, consulted on 3 October 2026: the permanent block goes through Card Stop, while KBC Mobile also lets you block the card temporarily and reactivate it afterwards. The difference matters. A holder who cannot find a card on a Sunday evening is not in the same position as one whose wallet has just been stolen.

The issuer looks first at the order of your actions. A temporary block followed by a Card Stop call the next day leaves a clear trace. A direct Card Stop call for a card that turns up in a coat pocket costs you a new card and sometimes a fee.

Does Card Stop block a neobank card?

Not always. Cards issued by institutions that do not take part in the service are outside its scope.

Test-Achats states, in its article on Fraudstop consulted on 3 October 2026, that fintechs such as Revolut, N26 and Nickel do not take part. Their customers follow the provider's own procedure. Revolut, for instance, speaks of freezing the card from the app, a step that can be undone by unfreezing, and mentions an automated phone line for blocking, according to its help page consulted on 3 October 2026.

The reflex of "I call the Belgian number" therefore fails for a card of that kind. The recourse in a dispute with a neobank is covered in the article on fraud and disputes with a neobank.

The 078 170 170 line now serves as a single entry point against bank fraud. Test-Achats points out its limit: one number does not replace the police, the telecom operator or the online platform involved.

Do you still need to tell the issuer after Card Stop?

Yes, and in writing. Card Stop gives you a file number, which proves the report, but disputing the charges is done with the issuer.

Procedures vary. Belfius sends you to Card Stop for a lost or stolen card and announces that a replacement card is sent automatically. For fraud outside office hours, its emergency contact page, consulted on 3 October 2026, gives a dedicated line. KBC specifies that replacement credit cards arrive by post. At Beobank and Argenta the replacement costs differ: EUR 10 on one side, nothing on the other.

Three documents are enough to open a clean file: the Card Stop file number, the time of the call and, for a theft, the police report number. In the files I handled, those were the first three lines of the record, before any analysis of the transactions.

Can Card Stop write to you before you call it?

Yes. When Worldline's monitoring detects that a merchant's database has been compromised, a letter goes out to the holders concerned.

The Card Stop template letter, dated 2021, states that the card stays active as long as the holder does nothing. If the holder blocks it, the card is permanently blocked and a new one arrives within five working days. The letter also recommends rereading the transaction history. Such a letter is not a fraud, but it is worth checking: go through your issuer's app or website, never through a link received in a message.

How much does replacing a blocked card cost?

It depends on the issuer: EUR 10 at Beobank for the Visa Classic, nothing at Argenta, and a price list to read elsewhere.

A replacement almost always follows a block. Beobank charges EUR 10 to replace a credit card, except at expiry renewal. Argenta, on its credit card page consulted on 3 October 2026, lists replacement after loss or theft as free. The fee is in the issuer's price list: that is where it gets checked.

Before judging that fee, keep in mind the three figures that weigh over twelve months.

Rate recorded from the issuer on 3 October 2026, retail price list in force on 1 October 2026. Over twelve months that is EUR 5 of annual fee, against EUR 10 for a single replacement, twice as much.

The ranking of Belgian credit cards gives these amounts card by card, the comparison tool places them side by side, and the choosing a card page sorts by situation.

What can you do if the issuer refuses to refund after the block?

Write to the issuer's complaints department, keep a dated copy, then take it to Ombudsfin if the reply does not satisfy you.

Ombudsfin, the Belgian ombudsman for financial disputes, is free. Going to the justice of the peace or the court of first instance remains the last level. No paid intermediary has any competence here. For a legitimate payment disputed with a merchant, it is another procedure, the chargeback.

Sources. Card Stop, scope of the block: cardstop.be, consulted on 3 October 2026. Number 078 170 170, 2021 call statistics: Febelfin. The EUR 50 excess and gross negligence: Wikifin (FSMA), updated on 31 August 2026. Limits of Fraudstop and fintechs outside the scheme: Test-Achats, consulted on 3 October 2026. Refund obligation: FPS Economy, Book VII of the Code of Economic Law. Temporary and permanent block: KBC, consulted on 3 October 2026. Emergency contact: Belfius, consulted on 3 October 2026. Beobank rates: retail price list in force on 1 October 2026. Argenta replacement: credit card page, consulted on 3 October 2026. No link in this article is remunerated.