CardLock® — A New DIY Fraud Prevention Service

People lock their homes and cars to keep them safe and secure from theft and harm. Now you can lock your Air Force FCU credit and debit cards for the same reasons. Introducing CardLock, an innovative concept that empowers you to participate in the security of your credit and debit card accounts. CardLock is an entirely new, proactive and practical approach to fraud and loss prevention.

All payment card transactions – whether initiated directly at a merchant location, over the phone, or via the Internet – go through an electronic process to determine whether or not they will be authorized or approved. CardLock enables you to directly control a special parameter in the authorization sequence that tells the process whether to block (or not block) the transaction from proceeding. When you lock your card with CardLock, any attempt to authorize a transaction on that card will be declined and no fraudulent charge will occur. In addition, you will get a call from the fraud department alerting you that a transaction has been attempted on your locked card.

Imagine the peace of mind you will experience when you apply an additional level of security to your cards. With a simple phone call to a secure, automated system or by visiting the CardLock website, you can block and unblock authorizations to your cards as you choose – anytime, from anywhere.*

How do cardholders sign up for the CardLock service?

Cardholders enroll in the CardLock service by phone or by visiting the CardLock web site.  Here’s the process for each enrollment channel:

Enrollment by Phone

1. Call 877-285-6251 (877-CULOCK1).
2. You will be prompted to press #, then to press 1 to enroll
3. Enter the 16-digit account number to enroll (you can add others later).
4. Enter a 4-digit security key code (you create it and use for future CardLock activity).
5. Confirm/enter phone number to associate with the account.
6. If needed, enter additional account numbers and/or phone numbers as prompted.

Enrollment by Web

1. Go to www.cucardlock.com.
2. Create an account by entering a username (a valid email address) and creating a password.
3. Enter a card number (others can be added later).
4. Create and enter a 4-digit keycode that will be used for future CardLock activity.
5. Enter the last 4 numbers of your SSN.
6. Click “enroll.”
7. You will then be prompted to sign in with your username and password.
8. Now you can lock your card, add more cards, and/or add phone numbers to your record.

Once an account number is enrolled, cardholders can lock or unlock the account at any time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by either phone or website regardless of how they enrolled.

How do cardholders lock or unlock their accounts?

Cardholders lock and unlock their accounts by phone or by visiting the CardLock web site.  Here’s the process for each channel:

Locking or Unlocking by Phone (assumes account and related phone number(s) are already registered)

1. Call 877-285-6251 (877-CULOCK1)
2. Select the option to lock or unlock an account.
3. Enter the 4-digit security key code when prompted; listen to current account status.
4. Select the option to change the lock status as desired.

Locking or Unlocking by Web (assumes user has previously enrolled and registered the account)

1. Go to www.cucardlock.com.
2. Enter username and a password.
3. A list of locked/unlocked accounts displays.
4. Select the account to lock or unlock; click the lock icon to the right of the number
5. Enter and confirm your 4-digit security key code.
6. Click “lock.”
7. The list will then display the updated card status.

* Transactions performed at locally owned Air Force FCU ATMs located in the greater San Antonio area will not be blocked, as our local ATMs do not run through the CardLock system. Automatic transactions that have been set up properly by the cardholder and a merchant to be recurring in nature, such as a fitness club membership, will not be declined, even if the cardholder has locked the account.