I Just Arrived In Barcelona And My Halifax Clarity Card is Blocked!!!!!

grumbler

GingerBob wrote: »

DUPLICATE POST - APOLOGIES

Do you not know that you can simply delete it?

GingerBob_3

grumbler wrote: »

Do you not know that you can simply delete it?

Thanks. Missed that one. Now deleted.

chattychappy

Candyapple wrote: »

but this is why you should never have just one card for use abroad.

Yep. In this case, the OP messed up over the address change. Backups are important because:

1) Fraud prevention systems can throw a wobbly and randomly block your card, whether or not you've told your bank in advance where you'll be.
2) Cards physically fail
3) Cards can be gobbled by machines or retained by merchants.
4) Cards can get lost/stolen.
5) Cards can expire if you're on a long trip.
6) Less of a problem these days, but occasionally if systems aren't talking to each other properly you might be restricted by locally applied credit limits.
7) You can forget your PIN (!) or nonchalantly type in the wrong PIN enough times to get your card locked.
8) Network failures can mean that certain cards just don't work. They might appear blocked, but in these situations your provider will typically have no record of the transaction having been attempted.
9) Rarely, some places might only accept Visa rather than Mastercard or viceversa. (No experience of this myself, but I've heard it said.)
10) Your account can be compromised and consequently your card gets blocked.

I've been afflicted by 1, 7 and 8 regularly.