MSE News: Should you call your bank before going abroad?

boots_babe

Roger1 wrote: »

First time I've heard that! I make a point of NOT buying anything at the airport and have not had cards blocked. Even if I did, I'd use a different card.

Should I buy something on the way to Glasgow, just in case?

Yes it does seem strange. When travelling abroad I will take:

1. My preferred cash withdrawal card
2. A backup cash withdrawal card
3. My preferred spending card
4. My backup spending card
5. Usually I also leave my 'normal' UK credit card in too, as an extra backup.

Plus, my husband will have the above also.

So if we were to extrapolate the advice from Nationwide we'd be having to make about 10 purchases at the airport!!

boots_babe

This is strange. I've just googled for the online Nationwide notification page that a couple of people mentioned; I found this:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/support-articles/how-to/tell-us-youre-going-on-holiday

So out of curiosity I've just followed the instructions and logged into my account, but within the 'Account services' section, I don't actually have any option for 'Travel notifications'.

No idea why my account would be different though

Roger1

boots_babe wrote: »

So out of curiosity I've just followed the instructions and logged into my account, but within the 'Account services' section, I don't actually have any option for 'Travel notifications'.

Once you've got to the Other Account Services page, you should have other options - Account services/Tax & interest/Report a problem/Nationwide Digital Wallet, each with a number of links.

Under Account Services, the 4th link is 'Tell us you're going abroad'. Click on that to add the info.

At least that's what I get with a FlexPlus account. The webpage you found mentioned 'Travel notifications' which isn't there. I suppose they updated some pages, not others.

nwc389

I think that it can be quite random , I never tell my bank (Halifax) or cc (barclaycard) and have had no problems in drawing cash - usually just a small amount at the end of a holiday if we have run short or paying with the cc for hotels or meals.

However as I did work for a high street bank that always gave you extra I noticed a few things ......

My transactions with the bank card were always med sunshine holiday destinations anything a bit more 'exotic' would probably cause problems if you didn't register it.
Barclaycard have been fine on the med & north america/canada for me.
The bank I worked for had a notoriously temperamental computer system after it merged with another bank so frankly it would not surprise me if cards were blocked even if you informed them .
My method is buy currency before I go , take a basic cashcard with some money in for emergencies and a credit card from a different provider .
One other thing please be careful about ATM use abroad as I did come across customers whose cards were cloned after using them in an ATM abroad - that is why I keep a 'spare' basic bank account and take this one with me .

Wammer

boots_babe wrote: »

I don't understand why in the article Nationwide is listed as one of the ones you SHOULD call.

Every time we go away, I always call my banks just in case. Every time, Nationwide always tell me I don't need to tell them - I don't even get as far as telling them where I'm travelling, or dates.

They always say instead, to use the card for a transaction at the airport before leaving, as that way they'll know that I've travelled abroad.

So I'm not sure the article is quite up to date?

(I should add that I've rung them about 3 times a year for at least the last 2 to 3 years, and this has always been Nationwide's response).

Nationwide used to state that you didn't need to inform them. That changed about 4 years ago. My card was blocked abroad and when I called them I was told I hadn't informed them. Their website at the time was still showing that you didn't need to tell them.

It's very handy to be able to do it online with Nationwide.

minislim

when i went to america a few years back i checked everywhere on santanders website if i needed to let them know.

it didnt state i did anywhere. it just told me my visa could be used all over the world.

then when it got blocked when i first tried using it there it caused me loads of grief.
even when i contacted them ££££ and explained the situation they wouldnt unlock my card as i was ringing from a foreign country.

luckily my partners card with another bank worked and we managed.

once back i complained to santander and after a few emails i actually got a sorry in the form of a £200 good will gesture.

from then on i religiously ring up my bank even if they dont need to know.

Puffin74

You used to be able to let Barclays know you were going aboard via their online banking app - you just needed to register which cards you were going to use - but the problem we had was that you could only register the one country for one time period - not much use for us as we were on the French/Spanish border!

jackieblack

minislim wrote: »

when i went to america a few years back i checked everywhere on santanders website if i needed to let them know.

it didnt state i did anywhere. it just told me my visa could be used all over the world.

then when it got blocked when i first tried using it there it caused me loads of grief.
even when i contacted them ££££ and explained the situation they wouldnt unlock my card as i was ringing from a foreign country.

luckily my partners card with another bank worked and we managed.

once back i complained to santander and after a few emails i actually got a sorry in the form of a £200 good will gesture.

from then on i religiously ring up my bank even if they dont need to know.

Our Santander Zero is the only card we've ever had a problem with while we were abroad - twice (two separate trips), despite always advising them (and the others) every time we go

aileth

I always notify my bank (First Direct) by e-message whenever going abroad. They always say they've made a note on my account, but can't guarantee anything. I've never had any transaction blocked ever.

In fact, the only time they've ever blocked a transaction and instantly called me was when I'd bought a Boots meal deal and apparently this was 'out of character spending', regardless of the fact I had bought a meal deal on my card at the same time for two weeks previously. C'est la vie!

meer53

Letting your bank know you're going abroad doesn't prevent cards being blocked. It just allows them to make an educated decision about unusual spending if they can't get hold of you.

Common sense really, if they didn't leave the security in place it would leave customers wide open to fraud.