Australians are expected to cancel almost a million credit cards during the silly season.

Men are the worst culprits for losing their cards on a night out, while women are more likely to lose their cards while shopping, Commonwealth Bank research shows.

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The bank estimates almost one million credit cards will be reported lost or stolen over the festive season, with 61 per cent of those cancelled after being misplaced.

That’s more than half a million cards needlessly cancelled around Christmas and New Year.

“It’s the time of year when we all like to let our hair down and enjoy the sales and festivities, and perhaps unsurprisingly, many of us are likely to misplace our card at some point,” Commonwealth Bank consumer finance manager Angus Sullivan said.

Mr Sullivan said customers would waste around 400,000 hours updating the details of cancelled credit cards, but he did not put a figure on the cost to the bank.

To combat the problem Commonwealth Bank has developed an app feature which allows customers to put a temporary lock on a misplaced credit card while they look for it.

While 37 per cent of people misplaced their credit cards in bars or restaurants, the most common place to lose track of the plastic was in the home.

A total of 61 per cent of people misplaced their card at home.

The survey of more than 1200 Australians did not examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and misplacing credit cards.

It also found Australians are expected to put an extra $1000 on their credit cards over the festive holiday season.