Advising bank of out of country transactions.

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

We have traveled with an Amex card.  But we have encountered places in Europe and Asia that did not accept them. 

 

We travel  with Amex, MC, and Visa cards.

Yeah, lots of places in Europe don't take Amex. Mainly because they charge a higher % of the transaction as their fee for processing. 

 

In the olden days (30+ years ago) when we traveled in Europe we made sure that both the DW and I had our ATM Cards (for local $$) on different networks. Back then there were 2 major networks (Cirrus and ??) that would be associated with the major national banks. One time we were in France and one of the them would not work, as it turned out to be a communication issue across the pond, so we just walked down the streets in Paris until we found a bank on the other network so that we could get some Francs out. 

 

A lot of times if your CC transactions get denied and your card has no record, it means that the 3rd party processor used by the merchant was unable to get a positive response to its request. At authorization that does not get a positive response is shown as denied at your, whether it was actually denied by the CC issuer or the fact that no positive response is received. 

[mayleeman]

Synchrony Bank has told us we did not need to advise, and then turned down our card when we were getting gas on our way from SC to Port Everglades.

 

On aother trip from central SC to the beach (155 miles), we got turned down by another card even though they claimed when we called that they never question transactions in the same state.

 

Alternate cards are a must!

[canderson]

Beware the Pemex pirates in Mexico.  Your card may work everywhere else you go there, but the attendants at a Pemex would much rather deal in cash where there's at least a chance they can short change you.  They'll put in a gringo's card, claim "error del sistema", and ask you for cash, which you'd better have handy or things get even more interesting!

 

[Shadow9612]

9 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Personally, I’d forgo the debit card and use a credit card.

Agreed.  I never use a debit card while travelling.  It's much easier to dispute a transaction on a credit card than dealing with money missing from your bank account. 

[iancal]

6 hours ago, canderson said:

Beware the Pemex pirates in Mexico.  Your card may work everywhere else you go there, but the attendants at a Pemex would much rather deal in cash where there's at least a chance they can short change you.  They'll put in a gringo's card, claim "error del sistema", and ask you for cash, which you'd better have handy or things get even more interesting!

 

Agree about Pemex.

 

You need cash for gas in many filling stations in Italy.  Other than the Autostadas, the stations are often unmanned.  You feed your cash in, select the grade, and pump your gas to that amount.  No such thing as fill ‘er up.
 

 

 First time for us we had to ask a local to show us the

ropes.

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by iancal

[Oceansaway17]

anyone who has a Costco City card, use it because they DO NOT charge fees for international charges.

I have a wells Fargo and they do. It is small but it adds up

 

Just offering up some additional advice.  

Any YES tell you credit card company where you are going as if you only have one card and it is not accepted, there goes the souvenirs.   Also find out if  a PIN number is needed for some places in Europe like vending machines for tickets and some quick take out places.  

get PIN number for your credit card before you go.  and while you are at it, see if the limit amount can be raised too so you can spend and spend.  ha ha

  toodles

[LGW59]

29 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

anyone who has a Costco City card, use it because they DO NOT charge fees for international charges.

I have a wells Fargo and they do. It is small but it adds up

 

Just offering up some additional advice.  

Any YES tell you credit card company where you are going as if you only have one card and it is not accepted, there goes the souvenirs.   Also find out if  a PIN number is needed for some places in Europe like vending machines for tickets and some quick take out places.  

get PIN number for your credit card before you go.  and while you are at it, see if the limit amount can be raised too so you can spend and spend.  ha ha

  toodles

I bank with Schwab, they do not charge any ATM fees.  I can go to any ATM in US or anywhere in the world, each month those fees are credited back to my account.  I ALWAYS call my bank and CC providers to advise when I travel, whether they tell me I need to or not.  Just another piece of mind step for me and I have never had an issue.

[vswan]

My sister used to live in MN and work in Atlanta. (When Northwest was sold to Delta she had  just several years until retirement). She lived in Atlanta during the week and every couple of months her debit and CC would shut off and not work. She called both numerous times and explained the situation, they turned back on and then on schedule would cut off again.

 

I had called prior to a vacation to let my debit card know when and where I was going. Called my home phone to ask if I had made the charge. Thank goodness my husband wasn't with me and took the call. They did say that I should use an ATM that requited a PIN number. This has taught me to always call and give itinerary and to take more than one card along.

[Jim_Iain]

I also have alerts set up on my credit cards for anything over $5.00 and any international charge.  It helped me stop 3 fraud attempts this year alone.    One was an IPad in Yugoslavia.    

 

I have also  gotten a text message a couple times while traveling saying a charge of $xxx.xx was made from XXXX.    If this is valid type yes if not type no. 

[TeeRick]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I also have alerts set up on my credit cards for anything over $5.00 and any international charge.  It helped me stop 3 fraud attempts this year alone.    One was an IPad in Yugoslavia.    

 

I have also  gotten a text message a couple times while traveling saying a charge of $xxx.xx was made from XXXX.    If this is valid type yes if not type no. 

Anything over $5?  So every time you buy a cup of Starbucks?🙂

[sanger727]

44 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Anything over $5?  So every time you buy a cup of Starbucks?🙂

 

Yeah, that sounds like it would get annoying quickly if you use the card a lot. I've been really impressed with my PNC card. They have a good algorithm to look for fraud. They don't do it all the time but time to time when they see charges that seem outside the norm they call me to confirm. Usually when I pre-book something international from home (so they see Cincinnati and Italy in the same day). But I've had fraud on that card once for a bunch of lyft rides and they caught that. 

Edited August 12, 2021 by sanger727

[LouChamp]

These issues have been know for fifteen years. Amex is not welcomed in parts of Europe. Its amazing how many need their hands held. 

[Glendakayself]

We live in Texas and prepaid a stay in a Colorado resort. I was notified by the credit card company that they had noted we had an upcoming travel plans and needed to update and note on our account all dates and itinerary. 

 

On my list of things to do today... 

[LouChamp]

So i live in Honolulu. i advised my hawaii bank id be in new york where i also live.  i go to a restaurant in honolulu and they deny my card because they thought i was in New York lol

[diesel1973]

I used to notify CC when I traveled but they informed me that I didn't need to because of the chip card. I have a Visa and Discover card. Discover told me it would be accepted where ever a Diners Club card is accepted. That is not the case overseas. Don't have a debit card and won't because of easy access into your bank account! Am notified of any purchase over $300 on CC's.

[TeeRick]

32 minutes ago, diesel1973 said:

I used to notify CC when I traveled but they informed me that I didn't need to because of the chip card. I have a Visa and Discover card. Discover told me it would be accepted where ever a Diners Club card is accepted. That is not the case overseas. Don't have a debit card and won't because of easy access into your bank account! Am notified of any purchase over $300 on CC's.

A lot of posters are worried about this when they travel.  That is why to open a travel-only account with credit and debit cards.  If you turn off overdraft protection on the debit card and you have one that covers fraud then you will be pretty protected.

[Auntiemomo]

20 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

anyone who has a Costco City card, use it because they DO NOT charge fees for international charges.

I have a wells Fargo and they do. It is small but it adds up

 

Just offering up some additional advice.  

Any YES tell you credit card company where you are going as if you only have one card and it is not accepted, there goes the souvenirs.   Also find out if  a PIN number is needed for some places in Europe like vending machines for tickets and some quick take out places.  

get PIN number for your credit card before you go.  and while you are at it, see if the limit amount can be raised too so you can spend and spend.  ha ha

  toodles

Use a PIN with a credit card only in emergencies.  This will be considered a cash advance, and you will be charged interest from the day of the transaction.  I always use an ATM card with a pin and let my bank do the conversion.

[bEwAbG]

One I have never been able to figure out:  I have a credit card that gives points and you go to an associated website to spend them.  They also have a travel section where you can use points to book travel.  If you don't have enough points, you buy down the price and owe the difference in cash.  That card was rejected as payment for those costs as they deemed "travel" suspicious despite my having put plenty of travel costs on that account over the years with zero issues.  

[Jim_Iain]

Out of curiosity I  just checked my Chase Sapphire Card and found this under Travel Notification

 

[slhull54]

After returning from Edge, an ATM transaction was posted for Conshohocken Pa.  Just in case any one needs to let their bank know exactly what sate withdrawals might be made from

 

[D C]

Good luck. A call doesn't beat their algorithms.

 

Land trip to Europe. Called my credit card and they said "You don't need to tell us!! We expect you to use our card for travel".  Ok, fine, but I'm telling you now.   Fast forward to 9 days into an 11 day trip to the UK and France, my card doesn't work.  Call them up and they say "We noticed international charges and it got flagged..."   (facepalm)

 

Air/Road trip within the US.  Flew to Texas from MI.  Bought a truck, visited with friends for a few days and drove home.  Card doesn't work at a gas station in Indiana.  Literally the last charge to make on a several day trip.  "We suspected fraud on your account".  Really?  The plane ticket, spending in Texas, and dotted line of gas stations back home were all fine except for a Speedway in Indiana??

[sanger727]

On 8/12/2021 at 10:15 AM, diesel1973 said:

I used to notify CC when I traveled but they informed me that I didn't need to because of the chip card. I have a Visa and Discover card. Discover told me it would be accepted where ever a Diners Club card is accepted. That is not the case overseas. Don't have a debit card and won't because of easy access into your bank account! Am notified of any purchase over $300 on CC's.

 

Just curious how you get cash without a debit card? You have to go to the bank every time during regular hours and speak to a teller? While I am onboard with hesitating to us debit cards due to easy access to your account - I still have one and use it at my banks ATMs only to get cash. Only security leak could then be if a skimmer was on the ATM, but those are unusual. 

[bEwAbG]

10 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

Just curious how you get cash without a debit card? You have to go to the bank every time during regular hours and speak to a teller? While I am onboard with hesitating to us debit cards due to easy access to your account - I still have one and use it at my banks ATMs only to get cash. Only security leak could then be if a skimmer was on the ATM, but those are unusual. 

 

You can still get ATM cards that are only ATM-only cards at many banks. 

 

I have a debit card, but I use it only for ATM withdrawals, which is how a lot of people use them.

[D C]

7 hours ago, sanger727 said:

 

Just curious how you get cash without a debit card? You have to go to the bank every time during regular hours and speak to a teller? While I am onboard with hesitating to us debit cards due to easy access to your account - I still have one and use it at my banks ATMs only to get cash. Only security leak could then be if a skimmer was on the ATM, but those are unusual. 

Debit/ATM cards are the only way to get foreign cash imho.  Best, on the spot exchange rates.