Bank warning for travellers
29th January 2009
You’ve got travel insurance, had your injections and taken Rover to the kennels but have you told your bank you’re going on your travels? A substantial number of people failed to last year with alarming consequences for many, a recent survey has revealed.
The research, commissioned by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, found that 69% of people who travelled in 2008 failed to inform their bank that they were due to go overseas.
One in nine people subsequently had either credit card transactions refused or were unable to withdraw cash during their travels.
As the economic slump continues, banks are becoming much more vigilant in monitoring and trying to stamp out fraud. Fraudulent use of cards – either by unscrupulous people ‘cloning’ travellers’ cards during payment or as a result of theft – costs banks millions of pounds every year.
Travellers are now being warned to tell their bank before going overseas or risk having their cards cancelled.
Peter Harrison from moneysupermarket.com said: “It is staggering to think that only 31% of people who went abroad… told their credit or debit card provider they were doing so. Telling your bank you are heading abroad should be on everyone’s checklist before they go.”