Nationwide credit/debit cards

[anthony2k7]

Anyone had any problems with them being blocked abroad? I've seen on the nationwide site it says you dont need to inform them you're going abroad but with all the reports on Watchdog recently about other banks cards being blocked I'm a little worried to go out there depending on my nationwide cards only for them to be blocked!?

 

[foxylady]

I always ring the CC company to let them know that I will in Florida and the dates. They have always noted it on the file and I have never had a problems with the card being blicked.

Touch wood & fingers crossed!!

 

[wayneg]

Used mine(credit card) for a lot of trips now, spent £1,000's on it no problems at all but I always have 4 credit cards and 2 debit cards with me. If its your only card might be best to inform them.

 

[darthtatty]

a lot of credit card companies do that these days.
its to stop fraud.
I intend to ring up my companies before i go, better to be safe than sorry

 

[princessfee]

I spent a year working in Florida, and then in 2006 6 months there, and I had no problem with Nationwide (I had problems with my mastercard but that wasn't with Nationwide). Maybe if you feel unsure you could contact them to let them know when you're going away, but I have had no trouble at all with it!

 

[wayneg]

Welcome princessfee

 

[Goofyish]

I think the problem identified on Watchdog was where the card companies rely on a computer to identify unusual transactions

In a few cases the people got their cards stopped even after informing the card company they were going abroad.

I tend to inform my credit card company when I go abroad - mainly becasue my card was skimmed a while ago and I had a number of dodgy purchases made in Italy appear on me statement!

 

[wicket2005]

I always ring my credit card companies up and inform them of the holiday. I also make sure I carry different credit cards to my husband so that if we lose one set we have another set we can use if we have to cancel (like to be prepared I do )

Also make a note of emergency credit card contact numbers so if they are stolen you can cancel them straightaway.

With travellors' cheques when you get them in American Express they are insured so if they are lost/stolen you should get a replacement within 24 hours.

If you spend under $20 in Disney, I found, you don't even need to sign a receipt when using your credit card!

 

[wayneg]

If you spend under $20 in Disney, I found, you don't even need to sign a receipt when using your credit card!

They increased it to $50 last August, I was talking to a cast member about it. Don't know if they have kept it at $50 or reduced it again. Its also same in BK at MCO, not signed there for years. I know its to keep lines moving but I would rather sign or enter PIN.

 

[wicket2005]

Thanks Wayneg, didn't know that. I don't know why they do it, seems to promote credit card fraud.

 

[mattnkatsmum]

Mine got blocked last trip after we spent a fortune Christmas shopping. Apparently I had 'exceeded the suspicious transaction' limit.

I ended up phoning the emergency number on the back of my card to sort it out.

 

[TraceyL]

I had a card (Egg) cancelled whilst in WDW even though I had informed them I was going to be abroad. When we rang them to try to sort it out they promptly cancelled DH's card too & promised to send replacements in 7-10 working days - to our UK address

Had our Nationwide card temporarily blocked as we had exceeded the 'acceptable' number of transactions in one day T'was fine the next day though.
They (Nationwide) told me it wasn't necessary to inform them as they had no way of telling the computer that we were going to be out of the country

 

[Lizzybear]

I phoned beforehand as did my bf but whether it made a difference i'm not sure. I use mine for online purchases (many from the US) so I guess US dollar purchases wouldn't look too suspicious/unusual on my card

 

[anthony2k7]

Had our Nationwide card temporarily blocked as we had exceeded the 'acceptable' number of transactions in one day T'was fine the next day though.

any idea what the 'acceptable' number is??!

 

[wayneg]

any idea what the 'acceptable' number is??!

10 a day was posted on a forum recently, don't know if thats correct.

 

[martinrmn]

As a matter of course I ring the credit card companies and let them know when we are abroad. I also take more than 1 card, just in case.

 

[Hilary]

They (Nationwide) told me it wasn't necessary to inform them as they had no way of telling the computer that we were going to be out of the country

This makes sense. For a card to be stopped, there has to be an automatic trigger at the point of a transaction being processed - no time for any human intervention. Presumably a human reading the 'note on the file' would only happen once you phone to query the stop. If the card has already been cancelled, this might not help get a replacement up and running in time to help you before you get home anyway.

We have sometimes advised our cc company(ies) in the past if we're going to be using our card abroad, but haven't done this recently. We've had several problems here with cards being cloned / stopped but, fortunately, not yet on holiday! I wonder, with the increase in global transactions with internet purchases, etc., if cc companies are taking less notice of foreign transactions than they used to?

We always spread a few cards between me and DH so that, hopefully, if we have any problems with one, we should have another card as back-up (fingers crossed!)

 

[JANNYANS]

Nationwide told us they wanted to know if we were going abroad and using our CC.We did that and after it was cloned in a restaurant in Washington they let the sterling transactions go through even though we said only $ ones would be used. .When we rang them to say there were fraudulent transactions they told us we could carry on using the card for a couple of days if we wanted too but then so could the fraudsters!.
We have now been without our CC from them for nearly 3 weeks they don't seem that worried about getting a new one to us .
No one was interested in the fact we knew where the goods were being delivered -we had an e mail thanking us for our purchases - as we -the card holders -wouldn't be held responsible and the stores -Tesco & Currys -would pay for the goods.So much for not helping the criminals.

 

[juliebro]

We've rung in the past to tell CC companies that we were going abroad and they've told us it makes no difference, as the cards could still be stolen and used while we are abroad anyway. We've had transactions stopped in both New York and Florida and had to speak to the CC company, answering security questions (which took ages), before they would approve the transactions.