If you lose your phone, you should protect your digital wallet while trying to locate it. Smartphones can store not only credit and debit cards but also plane tickets, memberships, gift cards, IDs and even car keys. The longer it takes to recover the device, the greater the security risk.

Engadget reported on Aug. 31 that iPhones can be located using Find My, while Android devices can be tracked through Device Hub. Users should first check places where they may have simply left it behind, such as a cafe or an airport. If the phone cannot be found quickly, remotely locking it should come first.

An iPhone can activate Lost Mode through Find My on another Apple device or on the web. This locks the iPhone with a passcode and suspends payment cards and passes used in Apple Pay. If the device is recovered, it can be used again after identity verification. If needed, users can separately remove the payment card function for that device on the Apple account webpage or ask the card issuer directly to suspend the card.

On Android, users can access Device Hub on another device or on the web and lock the lost device. A locked device cannot be used for in-store payments, and it can also display contact information or a request-for-return message on the screen. If recovering the device is difficult, users can delete payment information such as credit and debit cards through a remote reset. They should consider that after a reset, they cannot continue tracking the location through Device Hub.

Digital car keys also require caution. Google says that for supported vehicles, locking a device through Device Hub can temporarily suspend the car key, and a remote reset can delete the connected key. Some mobile IDs and various passes also use different remote deletion methods depending on the service.

If a phone is lost, it is safer to respond in the order of location tracking, remote locking, checking the digital wallet and account, contacting the card issuer if needed to suspend cards, and finally a remote reset. A reset can wipe data but may also affect location tracking, so users should choose it after considering the possibility of recovering the device.