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Before traveling, call the credit card company so that purchases will not be halted due to fraud measures. This is especially necessary when traveling to a foreign country. This helps avoid a freeze on a credit card account. There is antifraud software that monitors customers’ spending patterns. When cardholders stray from usual habits, for example, like making purchases in another state instead of at a store in the home ZIP code area, it could be flagged as fraud.
Many people are glad about this, but others get upset when purchases are denied. In addition to watching for unusual spending patterns, banks also monitor where criminals use stolen cards, which can be places like automated payment kiosks in metropolitan areas. This is why some people have more than one credit card when they travel. It can be a big problem to unfreeze a card when traveling in a foreign country.
For people who travel all the time, countries in Europe, Japan, Canada, and Mexico have adopted a credit card that has a chip. The customer must enter a PIN. Merchants that accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express are supposed to let customers pay with either type of card, yet some employees at stores outside the United States do not always know what to do with the magnetic version.
Another problem can be that automated kiosks in Europe, may only accept chip and PIN cards, particularly in train stations, parking garages, gas stations, and some tollbooths. When this happens, Americans with magnetic stripe cards usually have to wait in line to pay with cash or have a clerk swipe their cards. These lines can be long and frustrating when trying to catch a train. Some merchants in other parts of the world often have higher minimum-purchase requirements, to use a credit card or simply do not accept the cards because they do not want to pay the fees card companies charge retailers. Be sure to contact card issuers before traveling and check the credit limits on each card. |
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