How to update my accounts quickly with less tedium?

June 17, 2014 11:41 AM

Credit card stolen -- How to update my accounts quickly with less tedium?

The credit card that I use for all my online purchases and monthly payments was recently stolen by some jerk. The credit card fraud department has reversed all the bogus charges, canceled my old card and issued a replacement. Now I am faced with the tedious task of logging in online or calling my many accounts to update my payments. What I would love is to outsource this task, or at least somehow get paid for my time. In the past, I have used Fancy Hands for off-loading admin-heavy tasks. I think that Fancy Hands does not allow their helpers to do tasks using your credit card information though. I also know that I have a number of "ID Theft" protection services that I have been enrolled in. Skimming the fine print, I don't think that they will reimburse me for my time spent, but maybe some of them do?

Any suggestions on how to minimize the hassle and make this as smooth as possible, or at least get paid for my trouble?

posted by bmosher to Work & Money (1 answer total)

I'm not really sure why you need to update everything? For online shopping, you can update them when/if you need to buy something (it doesn't really make sense to dig through your email to update the Pottery Barn account you used once five years ago). You'll have to get a copy of your credit card statement for the last month or two and update everything that auto-pays, but unless your circumstances are unusual, I'd guess that'd be around half a dozen bills; a pain in the ass, sure, but I kind of suspect that hunting for a way to simplify could easily take more time than just sucking it up and doing it.
posted by kagredon at 9:47 PM on June 30, 2014