If you’ve ever found yourself without your credit but unsure whether you left it another coat, dropped it on the sidewalk, or had it stolen from your wallet, you’ve really only had one safe option: cancel the card ASAP to prevent anyone else from using it. But Discover is reportedly going to offer its Discover It card customers the option of temporarily shutting the card off without cancellation.

Credit.com reports that Discover cardholders who aren’t sure about the fate of their missing card can “freeze” the account through Discover.com, the company’s mobile app, or by calling Discover.

Until the freeze is lifted, the card can not be used to make purchases, get a cash advance, or transfer balances. However, any automatically scheduled payments you have tied to that card will continue. That way you won’t have to go scrambling to switch over those payments to another card.

If your card is stolen, the law limits your liability on fraudulent transactions to a total of $50, and most credit card issuers will not hold customers liable for any of these bogus purchases. But losing a card can be a real hassle as you have to contact the card issuer, review transactions to identify any fraudulent ones, and wait — often several days — for a new card.

As Credit.com’s Jason Steele points out, a freeze could also be used by a cardholder who wants to take away their ability to make new purchases for a while without actually canceling the card. It could also be used by the primary account holder to temporarily stop an authorized cardholder from making any new purchases.

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