Why would you cancel a bank account over a lost wallet?

reply to your edit: (btw, you can click on the timestamp of a comment and reply directly, always) … That's not how it works. If you loose a card, you let the bank deactivate the specific card. The account itself is not permanently compromised by a card. Someone else knowing your "banking info" (= account number) doesn't mean much and is not a reason to close an account.

Option 1: Open up my phone, type a few numbers, and 3 short messages.

Option 2: Work out where my nearest police station is, and what time it's open, go to it, wait, fill out whatever crap they make me fill out.

Option 3: Work out where the nearest branch is to me, what time its open, go along, queue up, explain the situation, hope they can do something.

A bank card has the sort code and account number of the account on. Those let you transfer money into the account. They don't let you take over the account. They're like an area code and phone number, which don't let you take over someone's house.

A lot of HN regulars come from America, where knowing the equivalent information does often make it possible to steal money from someone's bank account and where you can only make payments like this using third-party companies or paper checks. I think a lot of the misunderstandings in the comments might stem from people not realising that UK banking is different.

> because they have access to that bank account now. Pretty simple

Have you ever considered that most countries don't have banking systems as ass-backwards as the US does?

Anyone you've ever written a check to has access to your bank account info.