Credit card security blockage abroad - due diligence failures - have you been caught out?

eskbanker

CliveOfIndia said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

lisyloo said:

Did you inform them in advance of where you were going.
I believe this can be done on-line.
It's not a guarantee but it should reduce the chances.
Did you do this?

Did you not have any alternative cards?

I don't think many banks still offer that website facility ?

Santander do as part of Card Services, however when I called them the other day to confirm that my wife's card was  flagged up for forthcoming travel abroad the young lady advised that notification was not strictly required.

Confusing !!!

I like to err on the side of caution and insert details online before departure.

Halifax Clarity always used to do this, many moons ago.  Go online, specify the country you're going to and the dates.  The last few times I've been abroad, when I went online it said "You no longer need to tell us you're going abroad".

No idea why - it always seemed an eminently sensible feature to me.  Reduces the chances of your card being blocked when you are on holiday, and increases the chances of them flagging up any suspicious transactions that happen abroad outside of the dates you specified.

I think this ties in with OP's apparent confusion - contemporary anti-fraud algorithms are driven by many parameters, and I don't believe that using a card outside the UK is seen as particularly relevant anymore, so there's no value in trying to maintain a record of where cardholders are travelling, especially if doing so conveys the (misleading) impression that they're less likely to have transactions declined.

lisyloo

CliveOfIndia said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

lisyloo said:

Did you inform them in advance of where you were going.
I believe this can be done on-line.
It's not a guarantee but it should reduce the chances.
Did you do this?

Did you not have any alternative cards?

I don't think many banks still offer that website facility ?

Santander do as part of Card Services, however when I called them the other day to confirm that my wife's card was  flagged up for forthcoming travel abroad the young lady advised that notification was not strictly required.

Confusing !!!

I like to err on the side of caution and insert details online before departure.

Halifax Clarity always used to do this, many moons ago.  Go online, specify the country you're going to and the dates.  The last few times I've been abroad, when I went online it said "You no longer need to tell us you're going abroad".

No idea why - it always seemed an eminently sensible feature to me.  Reduces the chances of your card being blocked when you are on holiday, and increases the chances of them flagging up any suspicious transactions that happen abroad outside of the dates you specified.

Ah sorry Im out of date on that then.

I don't believe any card has been promoted as perfect.
I also make sure I have 2 myself in addition to whatever my partner has. It's always been advised to carry several.

daveyjp

Had the same on a Princess cruise ship over ten years ago using a Santander Zero card which had been used in dozens of foreign destinations over the years, including whilst ashore on the cruise.

Came to pay a bill of about $300 and it wasn't approved.  Another card came to the rescue.

fuzzytambato

Posting to this exactly 1-year-old thread to say the same just happened to me in Thailand. Halifax Clarity card declined several times on several different occasions booking hotels. (Fortunately I had a backup card - thank you Santander for your zero transaction fees abroad!).

Received two alert texts while I was in Thailand saying please reply, but the texts were unable to be replied to, and I was stuck in the usual maddening hell hole between customer services, credit card services, and the fraud team. 

The fraud team confidently said there were no refused transactions on my account. I told them about the texts they sent me and they then said, ah yes, that was a refused transaction alert! That was why they locked my card, but the lock 'only stays on for a week and then drops off so your card will be fine again now'.

Anyway, I just wanted to vent. Always take a backup card folks!