Traveling and bank debit card freeze

[mikEXpat]

My bank offers an app where I can turn my debit card on and off as needed.  I'm sure this isn't unique to bank in West Texas.

How many times do you use your debit card on the road in different states? Have you heard of anyone having trouble using their debit card with your bank. What bank is it?

Thanks for your incite,
Mike

 

[mikEXpat]

I always have and always will very strongly recommend against using debit cards for daily transactions 

Thanks for such an informative reply. It concerns me because, as I mentioned in previous reply, I am going to have to use debit cards only on the road. I have no idea how to get a credit card with my poor rating (out of the country for so long.) I'm hoping I can get a credit card but don't know. I will have my Japanese credit cards for an emergency, but that's all.

Thanks again.

 

[mikEXpat]

How strange, I have Bank of America and a few years back I called them at the beginning of summer travel to tell them and they said I only needed to do it if I traveled out of country.

This summer I bought gas in

1)  WA
2)  OR
3)  NV
4)  CA
5)  AZ
6)  UT
7)  CO
8)  NM
9) ID

I guess 9 states isn't enough to kick off the alarms.

Bob. Do you mind me asking if you have something like a gold or platinum account? Maybe Nomadic Fanatic has a new account without much history. Maybe that makes a difference. I'd like to compare the scenarios by asking NF the same question.

 

[akrvbob]

I just have a plain Jane debit card, I don't on a credit card.

 

[blars]

American Express just gave me $150 for getting (and using) a new "Blue Cash Everyday" card. 1% to 3% back on purchases. Free 2-day shipping from newegg, staples, and a bunch of companies I never plan on doing business with. My credit rating is good, surprising to me after accepting a "reduced settlement" not that long ago.

 

[Dandelion_Puff]

Thanks for such an informative reply. It concerns me because, as I mentioned in previous reply, I am going to have to use debit cards only on the road. I have no idea how to get a credit card with my poor rating (out of the country for so long.) I'm hoping I can get a credit card but don't know. I will have my Japanese credit cards for an emergency, but that's all.

Thanks again.

An option with this is to use your main debit card to get pre-paid Visa debit cards. You can load them with however much money you want and reload them from your bank account as necessary, but if the card is compromised or frozen, you will still have access to your primary bank account. The cards are fully backed by Visa, so you'll get the money back once the account is straightened out too.

I'm glad some people here have had good luck with using debit cards daily, but I know too many people who've been locked out of their bank accounts for weeks when the debit card information was stolen. Of course they eventually get the money back and regain access, but it causes very serious issues in the mean time and really just seems like an unnecessary risk.

 

[MrNoodly]

An option with this is to use your main debit card to get pre-paid Visa debit cards.

Or you can put the bulk of your money in an interest-paying account that isn't accessible with your debit card (has its own ATM card), then transfer money to checking as needed.

 

[USExplorer]

I rarely use my debit card when I travel. The more you use it, the more likely your information will be siphoned off along the way. On one cross-country trip I used it to pay for gas, and I didn't have any problems, but I call to check my account balance regularly.

A frozen or inaccessible card should never leave you stranded. Keep some cash stashed away.

 

[Milk Hauler]

US bank did this to me as well
Lessoned learned on not keeping cash. This is why its important to have cash. What if there was some grid-down kind of scenario where no ones cards worked for a while? How will you get gas, or even food to feed yourself? If the banks computers are down or if there is a regional power outage-hacking attemp, you will need cash. Also don't forget about physical gold bullion. It may a little voilitile on price, but you can bury it in the ground. Cash will eventually rot.

There are 100 different places you can hide cash in an rv or van. Fail to prep, and prep to fail.

Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Years ago, I saw a transcript of a 911 call.  There was a widespread power outage and this woman was driving around in a car full of screaming kids, almost out of gas, had no cash, no food in her house, she had been living day to day on ATM withdrawals, and now nothing was working, and she was demanding that 911 tell her where she could go and what to do.

 

[Oopslala]

I always call ahead and inform them where I'll be (the state and neighboring states) and to expect transactions around the area. Anytime I'm on the move I inform them the destination and again neighboring states. Only time I've ever had a problem was when I went from Michigan to Florida and never told them, ended up borrowing from friends for a week.

 

[wagoneer]

I always i mean always have at least 1500 buck cash, i buy and sell on the road it's almost always paid for everything including food and fuel, a few years back I bought 5 stetson cowboy hats for 25 dollars coming home from the RTR sold the first 3 for 75-80 dollars.

 

[Vanada]

Traveling around the world I would take out as much cash as I thought I'd need for a country or was possible in a single transaction. It's the sort of thing that would set off alarm bells with the bank, but my reasoning was based on a percentage charge which capped off at a certain monetary value for a transaction, so it was just the cheapest way to do it. Worst case scenario I'd change any leftover cash for the local currency at the next destination, sometimes at the border in fun black market style transactions with some dude.

Aaaanyway, my bank (in the UK where we don't pay for accounts) allowed one to log travel plans through online banking which would reduce the chance of automated security measures going in place. I'd try to do that regularly but a card would still get blocked every now and then. I kept three accounts and a credit card, that's four cards not all in one location in my luggage / wallet so in the event of theft, loss, a card block etc. I wasn't totally screwed. If a card got blocked it was a simple case of calling a specific department of the bank, answering a few questions regarding transactions and they'd unblock it effective pretty much immediately. Sometimes I'd have problems with the ATM's in the area and call them just in case to find out if there were any blocks. Got pretty used to it, annoying sometimes but I saw it as a necessary part of travel and I'd rather they had my back than drop all security measures.

I had times when I couldn't withdraw cash for some reason so having another currency to change helped. Same applies at home I guess, always keep some cash for when things go screwy.

 

[MrNoodly]

I always i mean always have at least 1500 buck cash...

I'll mug you the next time I see you.

 

[wagoneer]

I actually owe you for a solar lantern you gave me many years back