Hi, my ds-12 used both the clip and the lanyard. Last year, June 2002) we removed his charging, they did not clip. We asked at the lab registration and they clipped it for us. This year, (june 2003) when we removed the charging they did it automatically. We purchased the nice lanyard/card holder for him and it was promptly lost at the lab. Disney6 just answered how, they have to give them the cards in the lab without the holder.
He never lost his card. He said that he didn't want to wear it without the card in it. So he took it off and set it next to the computer he was using. They went to do an activity and when he returned it was gone. Maybe it should be suggested that they be allowed to turn it in with the lanyard.
Personally, the possibility of losing the card is why we have the charging taken off. It's not too big of a deal to replace it. Even with the charging on it, not too much can happen because you need to know what room to charge to. However, as someone posted earlier, their ds lost his and when they went to guest services they found out that someone charged $100 at the arcade. You don't need a room number to do this because its automated.