Advising Halifax Clarity when travelling abroad

luci

jennifernil wrote: »

When we rang them about the trip we are about to take, they asked if we had any other plans to travel within the next 12 months, so it sounds like they can now take notification for more than one trip.

You are correct. The card that can only take one set of instructions is the Post Office.

chattychappy

With due respect to other posters, this is the most sensible advice:

hunsbury0 wrote: »

also take backup cards eg post office type etc.

as the following is absolutely true:

Ben8282 wrote: »

Security blocks of this kind do, unfortunately, happen quite often and not only with Halifax. Letting them know in advance that you will be travellling abroad can help but is not a gurantee that no security block will be put on.

except "can help" might be too generous! I spend months overseas, mostly Asia and Europe but sometimes North America. Despite the usual line given by CCs:

jen245 wrote: »

the person I spoke to told me that I'd need to ring them before I go abroad, I would have done anyway, as I learnt the hard way with Santander!

I have found it makes little or no difference if you call in advance and I have long since stopped bothering. I can go for months, spending in different countries without a hitch. Then a card gets blocked. Call them up (sometimes they will say I should have told them) - tell them where I am, get it unblocked only to get the card blocked again a couple of transactions later. Sometimes they will say something about not knowing where I was ("but I called a couple of days ago when you blocked it last time") or unusual spending pattern ("but it's the same hotel that I always stay in").

OK I don't have Clarity. But I've used the other loading-free cards: Santander Zero, Post Office, Nationwide Select as well as the odd loaded card - eg Barclaycard, Natwest.

Local difficulties can also stop a card working even when it isn't blocked.

The only thing I can say is that phoning them in advance doesn't seem to increase the chance of a block so you might as well do it.

So just to repeat:

hunsbury0 wrote: »

also take backup cards eg post office type etc.

Don't expect cards to work overseas as in the UK. Then you might be pleasantly surprised when you have a trouble free trip! Keep things in proportion - if your card gets blocked and you have a loaded card (eg Barclaycard) then do the maths. If a phone call costs £10, then you can spend £363 on a 2.75% loaded card before the loading costs more than the phone call!

Roger1

Interesting to note that a respected Deliciously Dedicated Diehard MoneySaving Devotee can have the occasional problem!

IIRC the leaflet accompanying the Clarity card recommends phoning them when going abroad. I can't check mine as it's been recycled.

I had an different experience yesterday in Hamburg. Germans generally are less interested in using credit cards than Americans, Brits and French. I advised Halifax Clarity MC and Nationwide Visa of my trip to Germany. Shopping in a major discount store, I was perturbed when the saleslady said they didn't take credit cards, just local debit cards. But she said they did take American Express cards. This was an unusual reversal of card acceptance.

I normally never use my AmEx outside the UK for personal spend because they add on virtually 3% for the 'service'. Anyway, I did and it worked, even though I hadn't called them about my absence.

Oo er, perhaps AmEx is the way to go? (Only half serious ...)

meer53

If a customer asks if we can prevent blocks on cards whilst travelling, our answer is always no. If correct procedures are followed when the card is first blocked then the block can be removed and there isnt usually an issue after that (unless you're spending large sums or at dodgy retailers !)

If you think about it, allowing the criteria for security checks to be manipulated in this way leaves the card open to fraud. It is useful for banks to know if you're travelling and where to, as if the card is blocked in a particular country and they attempt to call you, if they can't get hold of you, a decision can be made as to whether to remove the block or not. I think thats the real reason why CC issuers like to know where you are. As others have discovered, letting them know you're away doesn't always stop the checks anyway.

wopdiddly

I got ripped off by a tailor in Thailand, paid using my RBS credit card but as I couldn't prove I didn't receive the goods they refused to pay up. I so wish the end of Fight Club would happen for real lol.

chattychappy

meer53 wrote: »

It is useful for banks to know if you're travelling and where to, as if the card is blocked in a particular country and they attempt to call you, if they can't get hold of you, a decision can be made as to whether to remove the block or not.

That makes sense. I've had the following sequence of events:

1) card blocked
2) I call up - card gets unblocked
3) Card gets blocked again.
4) I don't call up.
5) Card starts working again.

So perhaps in the absence of contact, somebody looked back and saw a note as to the previous conversation. Most of the time though there doesn't seem to be manual intervention.

Imust say, the systems don't seem that intelligent. There is one shop I go to on a regular basis. My Santander card is almost guaranteed to be blocked after spending there. After unblocking, I can return to the same shop a few days later and it gets blocked again. Meanwhile the PO card is no problem. But the PO card tends to get blocked more in other places.

meer53

The parameters for security checks by the card issuers are changed constantly. If there has been a lot of fraud at a particular retailer, this can be added to the system to trigger checks at this shop on a more frequent basis. Maybe thats whats happened to you Chatty ?

chattychappy

Well... could be. But then I'd expect my other cards to be prone to being blocked there too. The phone operators usually say it's my unsual spending pattern - but the system seems incapable at considering particular merchants, only being in a different country.

Personally I just think the IT systems are a little screwed - presumably different CCs receive different amounts of information into their fraud prevention systems.

But I'm relaxed about this. I don't think anyone has a right to take credit at a particular time. So when I offer a card, the CC is always within its rights to decline for whatever reason.

I'm in the UK now and my Tesco credit card got declined yesterday in Sainsbury (!!) - just £12 on the usual chip'n'pin. 30 minutes later I bought a flight ticket at a travel agent for £1200, again chip'n'pin. No problem. I rang Tesco out of curiosity. They confirmed it was declined but seemed unsure as to why. They said the account was in order and it shouldn't happen again. So it can happen in the UK too!

lisyloo

Interesting to note that a respected Deliciously Dedicated Diehard MoneySaving Devotee can have the occasional problem!

We are only human :-)
I also paid heed to some comments I believe I read on here about it not being necessary or not always working.
Despite that I now think it's worth making a cheap call in the UK even though it doesn't come with a guarantee.

I also got caught out on a dynamic currency conversion, my explanation is that I was extremely relaxed having just had a two week holiday a Thai massage and a nap, and the print you aren't meant to see is deliberately small, which just goes to show even triple D's can't drop their guard for a minute.

I did however think of something else this morning which is turn your mobile on.

I did get an automated call from Halifax on my mobile.
In this case I believe there was no coverage at the airport (our driver who was trying to help us out didn't have any), but you may save yourself an expensive phone call to the call center (which was 13 minutes) by having your phone on and answering the automated security calls.

chattychappy

I won't take these calls when in Asia on a UK phone. If the fraud has happened, then it's probably too late and the card's already been blocked by the time they call and I'm happy to have the card blocked. I'll call back on a cheap phone at a time to suit me.

I've offered to give my foreign mobile numbers to providers, but generally their systems can't cope. The automated systems are long winded so I'm just not prepared to deal with them at £1.30 a minute or whatever (and during the night!) on those terms. It's a pity, but the level of crying wolf is getting ridiculous.

I'm removing my UK mobile number from their systems, replacing it with a skype-in number (looks like a London landline). Then I pick up it up overseas without paying a huge price.