Alex on Camel, Egypt
Butchers in Moshi, Tanzania
Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island
Summer Palace, China
Dorota on Brighton Beach

Suspended debit/credit card whilst travelling abroad?

Well firstly I can’t believe it has so very almost happened to me again. But this time good on Barclays to only suspend my card when I returned to the UK rather than when I would be in Brussels tomorrow!
I received a phone call today from Barclays fraud department explaining that my card had been suspended due to a spending pattern apparently matching fraudulent use. This is strange as the last time this happened I was in Shanghai and couldn’t use any of my cards and had to wait until the next day to get my card reauthorised. It was rather amusing when I spoke to the guy on the phone as he listed off my recent spending activity which consisted of purchases at 3 different airports within 3 different countries in the space of 12 hours, 12 flights booked and various payments to Expedia and some other online accommodation websites all in the space of a week. It’s quite obvious from looking at it why they thought it was suspicious.

Anyway I explained to the man on the phone that this is often happening to me and he informed me that when I know that I am going to be travelling to many different countries in a short space of time to let them know and they can stop this from happening. I told him of my future destinations for the next two months which consist of Poland again, USA, Netherlands and Brussels and to my satisfaction I’ve been informed that my card use will be fine. Horary to Barclays 🙂

I suggest that anyone who is travelling frequently to call your credit/debit card provider and let their fraud department know where you are travelling. You don’t want your card suspended whilst thousands of miles away from home.

Have you encountered your card being suspended whilst travelling away from home?

There Are 6 Responses So Far. »

  1. This is terrible, when suspend service fee. I was in the Czech Republic, Prague great city, but to dine in the restaurant, I tried to pay the card, it was locked. I was in shock the first time in such a situation. Well that was a cash. After that incident ALWAYS wearing a cash.

    P.S. with a map to understand, but one week only : (

  2. This is terrible, when suspend service fee. I was in the Czech Republic, Prague great city, but to dine in the restaurant, I tried to pay the card, it was locked. I was in shock the first time in such a situation. Well that was a cash. After that incident ALWAYS wearing a cash.

    P.S. with a map to understand, but one week only : (

  3. All banks are becoming hyper-sensitive to fraud. This happened to me in Germany when I tried to make two withdrawals within about half an hour at an airport. The second one was shut down and I had to phone to find out what was going on. They said it was “unusual” to withdraw again so quickly so they thought it was fraud. Flippin heck it’s my money!
    I wouldn’t bother but they were only small amounts

  4. All banks are becoming hyper-sensitive to fraud. This happened to me in Germany when I tried to make two withdrawals within about half an hour at an airport. The second one was shut down and I had to phone to find out what was going on. They said it was “unusual” to withdraw again so quickly so they thought it was fraud. Flippin heck it’s my money!
    I wouldn’t bother but they were only small amounts

  5. Oh my god, this happened to us about once a month as we traveled the world, and sadly although we did do what you suggest and tell the bank (Ours is LLoyds) where we will be and on what dates they still stopped us, we soon learnt the value of Skype as we had to phone the bank so often.
    I was recently back in the UK and after some three hours in the branch and with many phone calls to the fraud department I was promised it would not happen again. I was especially angry as we had our cards turned down trying to buy air tickets on line, luckily my account at Expedia worked but at a total cost of almost £500 more. Well after all the time in the bank within one week of being in Malaysia my card was stopped again. I give up, You can follow our journey here – http://www.worldtravelgapyear.com
    Thanks for the site

  6. Oh my god, this happened to us about once a month as we traveled the world, and sadly although we did do what you suggest and tell the bank (Ours is LLoyds) where we will be and on what dates they still stopped us, we soon learnt the value of Skype as we had to phone the bank so often.
    I was recently back in the UK and after some three hours in the branch and with many phone calls to the fraud department I was promised it would not happen again. I was especially angry as we had our cards turned down trying to buy air tickets on line, luckily my account at Expedia worked but at a total cost of almost £500 more. Well after all the time in the bank within one week of being in Malaysia my card was stopped again. I give up, You can follow our journey here – http://www.worldtravelgapyear.com
    Thanks for the site

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