Credits cards - USA

[Voice of Reason]

I've got a Nationwide Visa debit card and it works throughout North and South America, even better, Nationwide don't charge commission!

Just got back myself - Nationwide Flexaccount Debit - the dogs. Don't even have to tell them.

Egg - bollox!

 

[surrey jim]

Oh, and all credit cards allow 'free use of cash machines' as they'll begin charging you interest from the very day you withdraw the cash. It's great business for them.

AMEX dont, withdrawing cash on cards is deemed as very high risk and as such you need to have ATM access enabled on credit cards (charge cards are slightly diffrent) I have spoken to someone before who was withdrawing cash on credit cards to pay the min due to enable further spend on credit cards

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Definitely let the bank know you're going there, mine don't lock mine anymore after having a shouting match at them from Slovakia, but they did - card suddenly being used 1000 miles away from 'home' flags it off.

Having once had a card account subjected to over 100 low value (about £10 a time) fraudulent ATM cash transactions in South Africa over the course of a single day, I'm quite happy that my bank won't allow foreign transactions unless I've told them I'm planning on making them.

I've never been within 3,000 miles of South Africa.




Back to the topic ... My Barclaycard Visa card worked fine in NYC.

 

[Cian]

Having once had a card account subjected to over 100 low value (about £10 a time) fraudulent ATM cash transactions in South Africa over the course of a single day, I'm quite happy that my bank won't allow foreign transactions unless I've told them I'm planning on making them.

That number of transactions should flag separate security systems.

Which my bank also had paranoid ones of - apparently 4 shops in 30 minutes on the same street is suspicious - when you shop like a bloke I'd have thought it was fairly normal in mid December to move that quickly between shops!

 

[Porky]

Visa is WIDELY used in North America. I think American Express is the dodgy one here.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

That number of transactions should flag separate security systems.

Which my bank also had paranoid ones of - apparently 4 shops in 30 minutes on the same street is suspicious - when you shop like a bloke I'd have thought it was fairly normal in mid December to move that quickly between shops!

Fortunately, I picked it up immediately by checking my account on-line.

The bank were superb. The card was cancelled immediately and a new one reached me within three days - which was handy, because it was the week before Christmas. All the dodgy transactions were cancelled and the money restored to my account.

 

[BensGrandad]

Going back many years I landed at Miami and went to use my Access Card (shows how long ago) at the car hire and was told it had been stopped in the UK. I left the money with my son and assumed that he hadnt paid the bill as requested so just ignored it and asked for card back, but when told you can't have it as it has been stopped and the person telling you is sitting there with a gun at his side you tend not to argue too much. Went to another car hire and mother paid on her card.

When we got home 3 weeks later I found that £4000 had been spent on it at that garage on petrol. I eventually got my money back from Access but it took about 6 - 8 months of haggling between my solicitor and the bank and cost me about £1500 in legal fees, which I could never claim back, not at that time, but may have been able had it happened recently as the laws have changed I believe.