Emergency Visa card replacement: Your complete guide

Key highlights

Misplacing or having your credit, debit or prepaid card stolen can be overwhelming. It brings security concerns and unwanted inconvenience if you rely on your cards to navigate your daily life, as many people do.

Your first priority is to lock your card to prevent fraudulent use. Your next questions are: “How do I get a replacement, and how quickly can I get it?”

Emergency Visa card replacement is an essential service that allows cardholders to rapidly obtain a new card if their original is lost, stolen or damaged. This service is vital as it provides security and reassurance, enabling consumers to continue their transactions without major disruptions. In today’s digital payment landscape, having access to your funds is critical, especially in unexpected situations.

Common scenarios for emergency card replacement include losing your credit,  debit or prepaid card while traveling or having it stolen, which can complicate access to your funds. Additionally, a damaged card that you can’t use for transactions requires prompt replacement to avoid financial inconvenience. Each of these situations can lead to significant stress, making timely replacement services essential.

The Visa customer support team is ready to assist you 24/7, whether you’re at home or across the globe. The team is here to help you regain your financial peace of mind with a seamless card replacement process.

Understanding emergency Visa card replacement

You count on your credit card provider to deliver for you when you need it most — in the event of an emergency. Visa research found that 63%¹ of survey respondents said they would likely use emergency services in a lost/stolen card scenario.²
63 % of survey respondents said they’d use emergency card replacement services

74 % of U.S. travelers already use digital wallets

Expanded options for replacing your card

Traditionally, emergency card replacement required a card provider to create and send a physical credit, debit or prepaid card. Today, however, a growing number of consumers embrace digital payment methods. For example, digital wallets have become an essential part of the travel experience for many, with 74% of U.S. travelers now using them, according to Visa research.³

Committed to keeping pace with customer expectations, Visa offers cardholders both options:

  • Rapid physical card replacement across 197 countries and territories⁴, with cards typically arriving within 1-3 days after approval.
  • Digital card replacement, which arrives in minutes. Digitally issued replacement cards can be sent to a cardholder’s eligible digital wallet, with no app or download required.

 

The Visa difference

With a robust distribution network, established partnerships and rapid card production and delivery across four continents, Visa Global Customer Assistance Services is designed to provide responsive and efficient support to cardholders when they need it most. And Visa is equipped to support customers globally at scale — annually managing over three million multilingual interactions.⁷

When you travel with your Visa card, you can go with confidence — because Visa is with you every step of the way.

  1. Percent Implicit Association (IAT exercise) Base: Total (n=635); 18–34-year-olds (n=305); 35+ year olds (n=330). Stats are as of September 2023.
  2. Visa. March 2023. Visa US Consumer Cross Border Travel Sentiment & Payment Behavior.
  3. Visa. 2023. Visa Global Travel Intentions Study 2023.
  4. Data as of April 2025.
  5. Visa will contact the financial institution that issued your card (the issuer) for approval.
  6. Results may vary.
  7. Visa. June 26, 2024. Visa Brings Travelers Peace of Mind with New Digital Card Replacement. Retrieved from https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.20721.html