Travelling abroad and notifying your bank - don't do it!!!!

[Lulley766]

I called Bank of America this morning to tell them that I would be travelling in Europe next week and that the activity on the card would be mine. Well, after a good 12 security questions, she tells me I gave her the wrong information on a couple and now my card has a fraud alert on it!!!!! I had to go to the actual branch to prove my identity, which is hardly less than convenient for me at the moment. I get there and the BoA systems are down...for over 2 hours today. It seems that BoA has my birthday wrong on the system, which explains part of the problem - not my fault though. So I will be spending Monday morning, the day before I leave trying to get this fixed.

 

So, a word of warning to anyone trying to do the right thing. You may want to reconsider unless you have four or five hours to spend and unlimited patience to be put on hold for 20+ minutes at a stretch. Not the way to do business Bank of America.

[wrp96]

Honestly, you should be glad you caught this now. Would you rather have found this out when you were out of the country with no access to a phone (or at very high rates) and your card is declined with no other method to pay?

[Lulley766]

Had I not called I would not have had a problem, I'm betting. I've wasted 4 hours today to solve what was never a problem to start with, so I'm not going to agree with you. Sorry.

[6rugrats]

Had I not called I would not have had a problem, I'm betting. I've wasted 4 hours today to solve what was never a problem to start with, so I'm not going to agree with you. Sorry.

 

It was a problem because your DOB was wrong in BofA's system. I agree, that while this is frustrating, it's better to get it corrected before you leave. You would be more frustrated in another country having your charge declined because a freeze has been placed on it.

 

Hope you can get this cleared up quickly. Good luck.

[happy cruzer]

Aren't credit cards supposed to be convenient?

 

I think many of the companies now have policies that are convenient for protecting themselves. If they deny the use of your card by yourself, that would not be convenient. We had a card for many years and never had a problem with it, but out of the blue I recieved a call trying to verify charges to the card. They were indeed my charges. However, my mother's maiden name would not verify for security purposes. I know my mother's maiden name, by the time the call center rep finally realized that my account was very old and actually the mother's maiden name was missing because there never had been a need for security measures, they were embarassed and I was extremely angry. They came very close to losing a long time customer.

 

So thank OP for trying to warn others that problems may occur.

[ab0si]

Firstly: Banks do put hold on credit cards when the charges make the automatic security/fraud systems go BONG!. Overseas charges can do this. Back in the days when I travelled overseas for business, I saw this happen to travel companions several times. No fun.

 

Secondly, BOA is far from my favorite financial institution, but exactly what did you want them to do? There was a data entry error (obviously a bad thing, but this happens even at good companies) ... given that BOA had your birthday as X and you told them Y, should they just ignore this?

 

Thirdly, why didn't you know that BOA had bad information? I check the data financial institutions have on me (to make sure someone hasn't changed it to access my accounts). I suggest you do so also.

[cruisemom42]

Many years ago while traveling in England I had a debit card "eaten" due to the fact that I hadn't notified the bank of my travel. Believe me, that is FAR less pleasant than what you describe, which although a hassle, is something you can deal with now on your own turf and with excellent chance of getting it resolved promptly.

 

Unfortunately that was NOT the case with me, as this occurred on Sunday afternoon in a foreign country with no explanation whatsoever....:cool:

[Jade13]

I called Bank of America this morning to tell them that I would be travelling in Europe next week and that the activity on the card would be mine. Well, after a good 12 security questions, she tells me I gave her the wrong information on a couple and now my card has a fraud alert on it!!!!! I had to go to the actual branch to prove my identity, which is hardly less than convenient for me at the moment. I get there and the BoA systems are down...for over 2 hours today. It seems that BoA has my birthday wrong on the system, which explains part of the problem - not my fault though. So I will be spending Monday morning, the day before I leave trying to get this fixed.

 

So, a word of warning to anyone trying to do the right thing. You may want to reconsider unless you have four or five hours to spend and unlimited patience to be put on hold for 20+ minutes at a stretch. Not the way to do business Bank of America.

 

I have great experiences with them and a branch both 5 minutes from my home and around the corner from my office. I have never been asked 12 security questions nor do I recall being asked a birth date. They have used a "security word", but normally I'm on the phone checking a balance plus pending charges and have asked if I needed to be transfered to security to tell where we are traveling. The last three trips (in a couple of months) whomever I have spoken with has told me they can make the notes on the countries we are visiting. Your situation sounds strange (did they ask for your SS number when your Birthdate did not match?), but don't you think it's to your advantage that BofA wants to make sure someone is not using your card? Putting the fraud alert on that fast is questionable and did you ask for a supervisor?

 

I would not have waited on the phone for more than 15 minutes or so.

[DocJohnB]

Had I not called I would not have had a problem, I'm betting. I've wasted 4 hours today to solve what was never a problem to start with, so I'm not going to agree with you. Sorry.

 

Will not justify BoA's actions, right or wrong.

 

But, don't believe for one second that you might have got "lucky". It happens consistently. I have had friends scrambling on cruises when their bank pulled access to their cards because they were overseas and had not notified them. This is one reason the "fraud sections" are in existence. To ensure the safety of your card.

 

As others have said better now than next week.

[Lulley766]

I can't fix what I didn't know was wrong. Why would you hold up an account on a question of a date of birth when I answered a good 10-12 other questions correctly? I guess those answers count for nothing. I got the impression that she was going to ask until she found something wrong. And if I go and fix the birthdate, I still won't know for 100% that every future security question will have an accurately posted answer on the part of BoA. In my mind, there is no excuse for putting someone so out of their way to correct their own error.

 

The whole purpose of this posting was to give people pause for thought before they do something like I did. Had I ever considered the hassle of calling, I would have created, I would not have done it. Each person can make the choice to proceed as they see fit.

 

And, as for being "grateful" that my time was wasted here in the States....Ummmm, no. It's kinda like being audited by the IRS - would you be grateful that they were checking your return just to make sure there was no errors?

[eandj]

We always notify the banks holding our charge and debit cards a couple weeks before leaving on any of our vacations. Planning ahead will save people from the inconvenince that the op mentions. I certainly wouldn't tell people NOT to report their travel plans. :(

My DH didn't report his debit card bank and while we were in Montreal, his card was turned down. We had mine to use, but he insited on clearing up the problem on his card. Took us over an hour to find the right bank that would help him out. And a long distance call to our local bank. We had the time and he had the desire. But I wouldn't want to be stuck on a weekend with no credit or debits cards.

[Spikesgirl]

We travel abroad frequently and would not consider not alerting our bank (yes, it's BoA) to the fact. Perhaps you should consider switching banks if they are going to present you with too many secure points to protect your account. I would, personally, prefer to wade through those questions than to let just anyone get into my accounts.

[concour]

Many times we have to talk to the credit card company when attempting to make purchases when over seas. The odds that you would have had problems on the cruise is very high. Like other posters have said when you are out of the country it is almost impossible to get it fixed. We always bring a second card that we leave in the safe incase something strange happens.

 

We don't let them know when we are out of country. I would prefer them ask the questions at the time of purchase in case we loose the card.

[startraveler]

I wouldn't paint all banks with the same brush.

 

I have Commerce (soon to be TD North, not the "other" Commerce), and all I have to do is call them, give them my card number, tell them where I'm going, and for how long and it's done. Never had a problem, at least with that.

 

The only problem is that there's another card linked to that account, which has never been used since we got the acct a few months ago. One day we went to use the other card and it didn't work (here in the States.) We called, and apparently, if you don't use your debit card they just cancel the thing. So we had to get another card. Good thing we found out now and not next month when we're on a western Caribbean cruise. Maybe we'll have the gratuities and onboard purchases linked to that card.

[kitty9]

I take four to five cruises a year and inform the credit card companies, B of A included, that I'm leaving, and I've never had a problem. They've never asked security questions other than my address, the last four numbers of my SS number, and my mother's maiden name.

 

Believe me, I'd rather let them know that I was leaving rather than have what happened to me a couple of times before I knew about the notification thing. I had my card halted while on a Celebrity cruise because I didn't inform them I was leaving and they thought my card was stolen. Do you know how much it costs to sit on the phone and wait for one of their reps to straighten things out? It was a $300 phone bill. A second time I was in Portugal and trying to pay for my hotel room and again the charge was refused because of the unusual activity. I don't usually carry too many cards with me, but thank heaven I had another one that went through.

 

Believe me, you'll have far worse problems if their computers throw your charges out as frauds if you don't inform them you're leaving.

 

Oh and BTW, once when I was cruising with friends in Asia, they got a call that someone had "jacked" their credit card and was trying to charge a TV for more than $1500 using the card they said would be only used out of the country on their cruise. Thank heaven they did notify the bank of their travel

[Keith1010]

Always contact your credit card companies and your ATM card companies. Provide the information requested such as the dates of your travel and the countries you will visit. Also, be sure you have the correct telephone number to reach each one when you are outside the USA. Finally, make a copy of this information in case your wallet is stolen.

 

I have done this each time we go, never had a problem, and more importantly it ensured that my cards were not shut down when I used them for concern that the useage represented fraud.

 

Keith

[RLBlack]

We have B of A cards- have had fraudulent charges caught by them when over seas- - had them put hold when we have gone "out of country"- without notifying them- and have had them fly a card to us when one was stolen. We have had outstanding customer service from them. We always notify them when we are going to be out of the country, and have had great luck.

[uppitycats]

I personally am very glad that my credit card company and bank are vigilant. I just got a letter and new card from my credit card company last week, informing me that there was a security issue with a company I had done business with, and they (the credit card company) was issuing a new card. I did have to call and go through a 10 or so question security clearance..but MUCH better that it happened here at home, and not when I was out somewhere, trying to use the card.

 

Sounds like this was an issue with your specific local bank. That's too bad, but again, good that it's fixed NOW, and not when you're some place and really need the money!

[ehfl]

A. Why would you do such a thing to begin with?

B. Why would you answer the security questions wrong?

[KAWS]

Last vacation we notified our bank and they said, "thanks for letting us know and here's a phone number that you can use if you have ANY problems whatsoever using your card".

 

We had no problems, but it was a comfort to know that if we had, we'd be taken care of.

[greatam]

A. Why would you do such a thing to begin with?

 

VERY often, when you leave the USA and charges show up on your credit card, you card is put on hold and your charges DENIED.

 

Seems to happen to quite a few of my business associates. I ALWAYS call, even if I am just going someplace in the USA that I don't go frequently. No worse feeling than having the merchant or restaurant come back with the sheepish look on their faces and ask for another card- "we have a problem with your credit card. Do you have another one????"

 

IF you don't call, it is a MAJOR hassle to get the "fraud alert" removed when you are overseas. And it can get VERY expensive if you are paying for long distance, overseas calls. Thank goodness, Citibank and Amex both accept COLLECT calls from anyplace in the world (yes, even the boonies in Vietnam).

[Jade13]

I can't fix what I didn't know was wrong. Why would you hold up an account on a question of a date of birth when I answered a good 10-12 other questions correctly? I guess those answers count for nothing. I got the impression that she was going to ask until she found something wrong. And if I go and fix the birthdate, I

 

Lulley, may I ask what other questions she asked you? I agree 10-12 is excessive. Usually BofA asks me the city where I opened the account and then my zip code, plus my security "name". Mothers maiden name is also common. Did you get this person"ID"/number etc and ask for a supervisor? I am sure you will get this fixed tomorrow morning. My service with them has been nothing but first class, really. Just go immediately when they open so you don't have to wait any longer.

[Jade13]

A. Why would you do such a thing to begin with?

B. Why would you answer the security questions wrong?

 

OP stated that their birthdate was wrong in BofA's system, so they did not intentionally answer anything wrong.

[happy cruzer]

so the bank is protecting itself, not the card holder by denying charges. And everyone is happy having to call the bank to use their card during travel? I'm sorry I don't find that convenient. If fraud happens, the bank is at risk not the card holder, no matter what they "tell" you. Your rights are protected, they are supposed to protect themselves. And they do so by making you do an extra step to use your card. But it is a hopeless battle to try to make it change back to the service it used to. Enjoy all your travels and phone calls to cc's.

[love2vacation]

I still think it is a good idea to notify the bank and any CC companies that we might use on our trip. They have our travel dates on their system and can put any unusual post travel date charges on hold until they contact us to make sure they are legit.

 

Interesting side note- on our last trip my DH decided to put our on board charges on one of his little used CC (we usually use our bank VISA). The last night of the cruise we got a call from RC cust service and found out the CC company thought the charges where unusual for my husband and would not let them go through until they spoke to my husband. Needless to say it was annoying but at the same time very comforting!