Going abroad and informing bank

metrobus

Ive always got in touch with my credit/debit card provider to inform them i will be going abroad and the card would be used in xyz countries between given dates.

Ive just tried to do this with both Halifax and Nationwide and both have given an automated reply that there is no need to do this anymore,but will stop any suspicious activity.

Surely it would be better for them to know.

Ebe_Scrooge

Oooh, I've just checked, you're right.  I know I notified Halifax last time I went abroad (several years ago), and it seemed a very sensible idea.  Yes, you want them to block suspicious transactions in the normal course of things, but you don't want your card blocked when you're genuinely abroad on holiday.  How strange.  I wonder what the reason for that is?

eskbanker

Notifying banks of travel plans never actually guaranteed that cards wouldn't be blocked, so the increasing sophistication of anti-fraud algorithms (in a world where it's far more straightforward to make purchases from overseas merchants than before anyway) makes such notifications largely redundant....

[Deleted User]

They don't care, they will ping you if there is anything suspicious. The old days it was to unblock use of the card abroad, in the modern world they can't be regulating everyone and/or dealing with complaints from people who are stuck abroad and cannot use their cards.

I went to Spain a few years ago and had 1 text confirmation about an Uber journey but the rest all went through fine

metrobus

Well using my card in a country 5000 miles away that ive never been to before will look suspicious.
Makes no sense in not wanting (refusing) to be told prior to my triip

Carrot007

metrobus said:

Well using my card in a country 5000 miles away that ive never been to before will look suspicious.
Makes no sense in not wanting (refusing) to be told prior to my triip

But what do you expect them to do? Locations are not known for using a card (it could be registered to a head office in another country). Surely you don't what then to stop fraud tracking entirel;y which is all they could do (but would not even if you asked).

If the past a note would be put on file, but for the last 15 years or so this would never be read of make a difference so they are doing the right thing by telling you not to waste their time telling them. Before that transactions may have been manually checkled and there may have been some point to it. They certainly do not employ enough people to be doing that these days. They also expect you would be able to use the internet or ring them should the need arrise.

eskbanker

metrobus said:

Well using my card in a country 5000 miles away that ive never been to before will look suspicious.
Makes no sense in not wanting (refusing) to be told prior to my triip

But in itself it isn't suspicious to your card providers, even though it'll differ from your previous pattern of use - the point is that the banks have enough faith in their algorithms to no longer consider it appropriate for customers to effectively try to override these.  So, if you spend money on what might be considered typical in such a location, e.g. restaurant meals, etc, in a holiday resort, then that shouldn't attract any attention, whereas if you chose to try to buy into some obscure crypto while there, for example, then that would be seen as suspicious regardless of where you happened to be at the time.

Bear in mind that the card company is on the hook for unauthorised transactions, wherever you happen to be, so it is their call....

metrobus

carrot007, no llocations are not known for using a card,but if i inform them i will be in a specific country between specific dates in a couple of weeks i would have thought it less suspicious when these transactions take place,and hopefully less chance of it getting blocked.
Absolutely no reason why they cant file it on their system.Other banks are still requesting we inform them,so their must be some benefit.

eskbanker

metrobus said:

Absolutely no reason why they cant file it on their system.Other banks are still requesting we inform them,so their must be some benefit.

Halifax and Nationwide are effectively telling you that even if they made a manual note of your planned location, it wouldn't form any part of their automated transaction authorisation processes, and it would therefore be a waste of your time and theirs - the fact that other banks still choose to use notified location as part of their approval processes is essentially irrelevant....

born_again

Fraud systems work on known fraud patterns. Check ALL transactions. It's all automatic & a report is generated/message sent to customer.
If a customer had informed us that they were going to be in that country & a report was generated to check. You could make a decision to unblock the card without checking with customer. 
\but as they are now far more automated the days of someone checking and making a decision have long gone...

[Deleted User]

metrobus said:

Well using my card in a country 5000 miles away that ive never been to before will look suspicious.
Makes no sense in not wanting (refusing) to be told prior to my triip

It only makes no sense to you, their computer systems no doubt think it makes sense!

Suspicious - not so much, people travel all the time even compared to 10 years ago and the last thing the banks wants is bad publicity about someone "abandoned" in a foreign country as their card was blocked.