Causes
- The CARD Point has no GPS — it depends entirely on nearby phones relaying it — the card is a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon that broadcasts an anonymous identifier every few seconds. Any Android phone with the Find Hub network enabled that passes within Bluetooth range picks up that signal, encrypts a location estimate, and relays it to Google's servers. If no phone has been near the card, the last-known location simply stops moving. This is normal behavior, not a fault — Chipolo's own last-known-location guidance confirms a Point-model card updates only when a Find Hub device sees it.
- The wallet is in a quiet or low-traffic area — the Find Hub network is dense where Android users are dense. The same card that refreshes every few minutes downtown can sit silent for a day in a suburb, rural road, locked storage unit, parking garage, or basement. Owners who keep the card in a bag at home or an office drawer see the timestamp freeze until they carry the phone near it.
- An RFID-blocking wallet or card position is blocking the signal — the CARD Point is designed to sit flat inside a wallet, but RFID-blocking wallets use a metal mesh lining that also absorbs Bluetooth radio waves. A card buried in the middle of a thick bifold, behind metal mesh and other cards, broadcasts far less effectively — relays slow down and the location updates less often, even in busy areas.
- Location services or background access is off on your own phone — your phone only processes and displays relays if Location Services and the Find Hub app's background access are enabled. If you denied location permission to Find Hub, or the phone's battery optimizer kills the app in the background, your app shows a stale view even while the card is working fine and other phones are relaying it.
- The sealed battery is nearing end of life — the CARD Point runs on a sealed 2-year lithium-ion battery that can't be replaced. As the voltage drops near end of life, the broadcast range shortens first and relays slow down well before the card fully dies. A card that used to update regularly and now goes quiet for days, especially one showing a low battery alert in the app, is usually on its last months rather than broken.
How to Fix
- Walk toward the last-known location with your phone — you can't push the card to report from a distance, but once you're close enough for Bluetooth to reach it, your own phone becomes the relay and the location refreshes. Walk the perimeter of the last known spot (a building, a car, a desk) with the Find Hub app open — the update usually lands within a minute of getting in range.
- Move the card to the outermost wallet slot — slide the CARD Point to the outermost card slot or the cash slot, away from any RFID-blocking lining and away from other cards stacked on top of it. This is the single fastest fix when the wallet itself is the culprit, and it costs nothing. If the location starts updating again after the move, the signal was being smothered.
- Check Location Services and Find Hub background access on your phone — open Settings → Location and confirm Location Services is on, then check the Find Hub app's permissions: location should be Allowed all the time (not "while using"), and the app should be exempt from battery optimization. On many phones go to Settings → Apps → Find Hub → Battery and select Unrestricted. Also confirm Bluetooth is on — the phone can't relay or connect to the card with it off.
- Turn on Lost Mode to prioritize relaying — open the Find Hub app, tap the CARD Point, tap Mark as lost, optionally add a message and contact number, and confirm. Lost Mode doesn't change how often the card transmits, but it flags the card in the network so any passing Find Hub device prioritizes relaying it — Chipolo documents this as the way to get a stuck card updating again.
- Re-pair the card to clear a stale pairing — if the location stays frozen even when the phone is right next to the card, remove the CARD Point from the Find Hub app (tap the card → settings → Remove), then press the card's button and re-add it through the Fast Pair popup. A stale pairing occasionally blocks relays and a fresh pairing clears it.
- Judge the staleness before assuming failure — under 1 hour is completely normal even in dense cities; overnight gaps are normal in suburbs and for cards stored indoors; multi-day gaps can be normal in rural areas. If the card updates the moment you walk near it with your phone, it's working — the network around it was quiet. If it stays silent even when you're next to it and the app shows a low battery alert, the sealed battery is near end of life.
- Plan a renewal when the battery is the cause — the CARD Point's sealed battery can't be replaced at home. When the app shows the low battery warning or the card goes permanently quiet, use Chipolo's Renew and Recycle program: register the card at chipolo.net/renew after activation and Chipolo emails a 50% discount code for a replacement card when yours is about to run out, plus free recycling of the old one.