Check once a year how many phone cards and bank cards are in your name; cancel any you did not open yourself
NewGrade CMedium benefitMoneyFreeLittle timeNo willpower
People open phone cards with someone else’s ID and use them to scam; the person often never hears about it. There is now a free official check for how many phone cards are in your name, how many app accounts are tied to your mobile number, and which UnionPay cards you have. If a card you do not recognize shows up, ask the carrier or the bank to confirm it and cancel it.
- Cost
- No cost. Check phone cards in the MIIT WeChat account (工信微报) or the Alipay mini-program (一证通查); check bank cards in the Cloud QuickPass app (云闪付) under card lookup (一键查卡). Each form takes a few minutes, and the result arrives by text within 1 or 2 days. The hard part is that nobody reminds you; you have to remember to check once a year.
- Benefit
- The Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law (反电信网络诈骗法) states that telecom authorities must “provide a convenient channel for users to query phone-card information in their name.” The People’s Bank of China and other departments must “provide customers a convenient channel to query bank accounts and payment accounts in their name.” The nationwide mobile phone-card ID lookup (一证通查), guided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工信部), went live on 14 September 2021. With an ID card you can check how many phone cards are in your name and which carriers they belong to. It was launched because anti-fraud work found that some phone cards used in cases had been opened under someone else’s identity. The person did not know, and their personal credit could also be affected. The result is texted from 10699000 within 48 hours. If the count does not match, go to the carrier for the details; after you authorize it, they can verify, detach the number from your identity, shut it down, or close the account. In July 2022 they launched ID lookup 2.0 (一证通查). With your mobile number and the last 6 digits of your ID number, you can see how many internet accounts are linked to that number. At the time it covered Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, Kuaishou (快手), Douyin (抖音), JD, Meituan (美团), and others, and the result is only a count. On the bank-card side, China UnionPay opened Cloud QuickPass card lookup (一键查卡) to every province and city in mainland China on 29 June 2022. Pick the banks to check, pass identity verification, and submit. A report is generated within 24 hours; card details in the report are masked, and it is deleted automatically after 7 days (nationwide)
- Notes
- Card lookup (一键查卡) covers UnionPay cards only. UnionPay said at the time that cards with no mobile number on file at the bank, or with an expired ID, still cannot be found, and the issuing bank’s records control, so a card that does not show up is not proof you have none. Loans and credit cards opened in your name by someone else show on the credit report; see Section 8, item 9 (credit report). If lookup 2.0 shows a number linked to many accounts, unbind them before you change or stop the number; see item 12 (before you change your number or drop the old number). Lending or selling your own cards to someone else is a different matter; see Section 8, item 8 (do not hand over bank cards or phone cards). Rated C because the sources are official service descriptions, with no study of how much a check reduces losses. Benefit magnitude is set at medium by judgment. The beneficiary is you.
Sources · 4
- 全国人大常委会 (2022). 反电信网络诈骗法（第十条、第十六条）. spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202209/t20220902_575631.shtml
- 人民网 (2021). 工信部推出「一证通查」服务：可查询用户名下电话卡数量. 中国政府网转载，2021-09-15. app.www.gov.cn/govdata/gov/202109/15/475868/a…
- 新华社 (2022). 工信部推出「一证通查2.0」服务. 福建省工业和信息化厅转载，2022-07-22. gxt.fujian.gov.cn/zwgk/xw/jxyw/202207/t202207…
- 中国银联 (2022). 云闪付APP「一键查卡」功能面向境内所有省市开放. cn.unionpay.com/upowhtml/cn/templates/newInfo…