mint fraud check results in declined transaction

brokenwings

Hi all

i have just been on an overseas business trip.
While away i attempted to use my mint mastercard which i new had a lot of credit left on it - but the transaction was declined

now that i am home i found voice mail from mint asking me to call them - which i did - and i have found out that the transaction was declined as part of a fraud check. as i had use my card in two countries in two days they suspected fraud.

now i admit that if i had lost my card i would be very grateful for their eagerness and prompt action - BUT fact is that it caused me a lot of embarassement AND meant i came home without an object i wanted to purchse for someone else for Christmas - the transaction was ( would have been ) approx £116

my question is this
is this normal proceedure? could the issuers not somehow instead of declining say to the store to ask the customer to call and verify or something?

Bossyboots

Yes it is normal procedure. When we went to Scotland in September I notified my card issuer of where we were going to avoid this happening.

When I had a problem earlier in the year in Argos, I had my card stopped and when I got home there were to urgent messages to telephone the card issuer. They told me that Argos should have telephoned them for authorisation when security checks would have been done. However, something went wrong because they got authorisation in the normal way and I made the purchase. They were going to look into how this had happened because the card should not have worked.

brokenwings

thanks bossyboots

since i got this card four years ago i have been everywhere from japan to canada to kenya to israel

i just find it odd that it happened now

oh well

thanks anyway

canny_yorkshireman_2

brokenwings wrote:

Hi all

i have just been on an overseas business trip.
While away i attempted to use my mint mastercard which i new had a lot of credit left on it - but the transaction was declined

now that i am home i found voice mail from mint asking me to call them - which i did - and i have found out that the transaction was declined as part of a fraud check. as i had use my card in two countries in two days they suspected fraud.

now i admit that if i had lost my card i would be very grateful for their eagerness and prompt action - BUT fact is that it caused me a lot of embarassement AND meant i came home without an object i wanted to purchse for someone else for Christmas - the transaction was ( would have been ) approx £116

my question is this
is this normal proceedure? could the issuers not somehow instead of declining say to the store to ask the customer to call and verify or something?

I think this is standard practice with most visa companies it also happened to me earlier this year as I used my card in two different countries and was declined it is very frustrating and the company uses the fraud arguement to justify the decline.I know we all like protection but with chip and pin being fairly secure cannot see why they are still so vigilant when it is legitimate use

Bossyboots

I think the problem was the use across two countries so quickly, raising a suspicion of the card being cloned. It may be that mint have tightened up their procedures and this time it picked it up.

In my case, the kiosk in Argos wasn't working properly and my transaction wouldn't go through. However, it was showing up at my card provider as attempted purchases so their system threw up an alert as it was a reasonably large amount in quick succession.

homersimpson_3

it's a bit late now but in future if card declined why don't you just ring credit card company from other country and ask them to authoise card. explain what you want to buy, from what shop (or whatever) and go back to shop and buy it. it's a pain and embarrasing but at least that way you'll get the pressie you want. do credit card have freephone number you can phone from abroad?

brokenwings

you know why i am peed off homer? i was in the usa and they asked for photo id anyway ( the particular state i was in demands this )

so they had my passport in their hands!

there is no way it could have been fraudulent use


anyway too late
i have saved £116 or something : )

im sure my sister will like her £10 boots gift token almost as much LOL+


( there is a free phone from overseas but as far as i am aware its for lost cards - will check that out tomorrow - thanks for the suggestion )

Rafter

Because chip and pin will be fairly universal in the UK from February next year, fraudsters are looking at other methods.

Even without the pin they can clone the card or send it overseas where Pin is not used (for example the USA).

If you are travelling, particularly outside the EU it is a good idea to call your bank and tell them. Particularly if you plan to make some major purchases.

Otherwise their computer will query an unusual transaction (ie not your local petrol station) and potentially block your card until you call your bank and get it unfrozen.

Good idea to give your bank a mobile number too.

R.

PS - You would be better off with a Nationwide card for overseas use than Mint - you will save almost 3% on the exchange rate.