Telling your bank/credit card co. that your are travelling abroad...

poppy_f1

i've never told any of my CC provider that im abroad and will be using the card and never been blocked or had any problems

Bob_the_Saver

Amex blocked my British Airways card when I spent £30 on
a flight with a British Airways codeshare partner,
they said it looked suspicious - How?

Doshwaster

poppy_f1 wrote: »

i've never told any of my CC provider that im abroad and will be using the card and never been blocked or had any problems

The only time I've had a card blocked in 10 years of regular travelling was when I withdrew some money at Heathrow then about 8 hours later tried to do the same in the arrivals hall at JFK. The bank said it was suspicious that the card was used in 2 countries in the same day - what two ATMs in airports which are 8 hours apart by plane? And not any two airports but those on busiest intercontinental route in the world?!

It's also worth checking what the telephone opening hours are for your bank - don't assume it's 24 hours a day.

ferf1223

interesting...we have a debit card with Santander and have never, ever, ever told them we are going to be abroad using the card and have never had it blocked - including a little over a week ago.

Never had anything blocked by Nationwide or MetroBank either...or Post Office (CC).

meer53

peachyprice wrote: »

Having had a card blocked by Barclays whilst travelling in Switzerland and having to wait several days for it to be unblocked, I always tell my bank now.

There's usually a trigger amount, so if you're using several different cards it's quite likely you've never reached that amount on any one card, therefore haven't had any blocked.

Why did you have to wait several days for it to be unblocked ? Usually a phone call is all thats needed to unblock it, or an email.

It's not just the amount that triggers the check, it could be any one of a number of reasons. Even a single very small transaction can cause a card to be blocked. As the OP has discovered.

Gloomendoom

This is one reason Barclaycard like to know...

Card protection when you're abroad

You've probably heard of referrals, the anti-fraud measure for debit and credit cards. The retailer is asked to check with the card company before the transacton is completed.

Unfortunately this security procedure has caused problems for some customers trying to use their credit card abroad, when foreign retailers assumed "referred" means "blocked or declined", and refuse to accept the card. If your grasp of the local language isn't up to scratch, you can imagine how complicated this can get.

We've found a way of countering this problem without compromising your security.

SaveTheEuro

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Amex blocked my British Airways card when I spent £30 on
a flight with a British Airways codeshare partner,
they said it looked suspicious - How?

Bizarre.

Apparently, a purchase for a small sum can trigger an alert. Criminals with stolen cards have been known to make a minor purchase first to check if the cards are still operative.

Mr_Wang

I'm with Natwest, they block my card about every 2 weeks or so whilst I'm away (outside Europe)
I inform them I'm leaving, purchase most of the travel etc on the card and still it gets blocked.

However, if they have your phone number what happens is you get an automated call, input a number and then verify the transactions and the card is then unblocked. As annoying as it is, I think I'd rather that extra element of security when travelling.

Bob_the_Saver

The other little trick they pull to try and p*ss you off is give you a non-geographical number to phone to unblock your card that you can't call from abroad. SO, you have to go to an internet cafe and use Skype and then they can't understand why you can't read out loud every number and detail on your card.

Having had numerous cards blocked over the years I am pleased to say neither our Metro Bank cards or our Fairfx cards have ever been blocked anywhere - progress and common sense.

Mr_Wang

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

The other little trick they pull to try and p*ss you off is give you a non-geographical number to phone to unblock your card that you can't call from abroad. SO, you have to go to an internet cafe and use Skype and then they can't understand why you can't read out loud every number and detail on your card.

Having had numerous cards blocked over the years I am pleased to say neither our Metro Bank cards or our Fairfx cards have ever been blocked anywhere - progress and common sense.

I hear you re Fair FX, but then I rarely have more than about £1000 on it at any one time. In my Natwest current account I have substantially more and so the extra protection is reassuring.

I personally have been scammed about 5 or 6 times whilst away. Every single time it's been using an ATM that has completed the transaction and then not dished out any money.
All but one I have received the money back through my bank about 30 days later.

One of these was at Kathmandu airport, on arrival, before you get your visa. I phoned the bank and it is flagged as being a scam and regularly scams travellers.