As the purchasing card program has grown, so has the problem of lost and stolen cards.

Since 2005, more than 2,100 cards have been reported to Bank of America as lost or stolen. The annual number has more than doubled from the 2005 level to 921 lost or stolen during the first 11 months of this year.

Georgia Tech, the card program's largest user, reported 294 cards stolen or lost since 2005, an average of more than one card every four days.

More than 150 state and local employees have reported p-cards lost or stolen multiple times.

Georgia Tech chemistry professor Arthur Ragauskas reported six cards lost or stolen on the same day, according to the records. Ragauskas referred questions to his supervisor, who was on vacation.

Some employees who use the cards have multiple cards because they are billed under separate funding sources.

Losses from lost or stolen cards are covered by insurance. Each card carries liability insurance of $100,000, said Orson Morgan, the p-card manager at Bank of America.

— Andrea Jones and Megan Clarke