Card blocked when travelling

bobblebob

Recently went to Vietnam via Dubai airport. In Dubai airport i bought something on my card, it went through fine. Subsequent transactions were blocked, and i received a text from Halifax asking them to confirm its me making the purchase. I did then all good.

I did worry travelling Vietnam for 3 week i would have the same problem, especially when a text is £1 per message to confirm the transaction is me. However despite multiple transactions daily it was never blocked.

Im not complaining of the security feature, its good. Just not sure why 1 transaction in Dubai is blocked, but dozens in Vietnam never were

HampshireH

Did you notify your bank you were travelling before you went?

If it's not normal banking behavior for you then they were probably ensuring your card /account wasn't being used  by someone else

bobblebob

HampshireH said:

Did you notify your bank you were travelling before you went?

If it's not normal banking behavior for you then they were probably ensuring your card /account wasn't being used  by someone else

Nah havent done for years. Last time i tried they said you dont need to anymore

sausage_time

RBS are my only card issuer that still asks to be notified.  You can do this in the app (separately for debit and credit cards which is a minor irritation).

Most of my cards now use their apps to confirm suspect transactions.  Assuming you have a roaming plan for data (or eSIM) that may be cheaper than text messages while roaming.

bobblebob

sausage_time said:

RBS are my only card issuer that still asks to be notified.  You can do this in the app (separately for debit and credit cards which is a minor irritation).

Most of my cards now use their apps to confirm suspect transactions.  Assuming you have a roaming plan for data (or eSIM) that may be cheaper than text messages while roaming.

Yea Halifax still use SMS for stuff like this, which seems strange considering SMS isnt secure

grumpy_codger

bobblebob said:

..Just not sure why 1 transaction in Dubai is blocked, but dozens in Vietnam never were

Dubai frequently pops up as a place of fraudulent transactions.

born_again

If your phone has e-sim option. Then look at one of the many apps, that allow you to select a country to use it in, saving costs on roaming charges. 

sausage_time

eSIMs are great for mobile data (3G/4G/5G) but they may come with their own number for calls and texts. So maybe not practical for transaction verification?

bobblebob

I did use an esim but it was data only which was fine for me. I dunno what Halifax dont do all verification via the app (they do for online transactions). Its easier as more chance of having data/wifi abroad than a phone signal