Travelling abroad? How to avoid this modern day money pitfall

A quick travel tip today if you plan on using your bank card abroad. It's partly bourne of a friend's personal experience and increasing murmurings from the travel community.

A recent trip to Iceland saw a friend of mine, who had planned and organised the visit as a birthday present for her husband, suddenly stranded without money. Thinking, as one might in this modern world, that rather than risk carrying around wads of Icelandic krona she would instead make use of ATMs to draw her money as and when she needed it. Not a preposterous idea I think you'll agree.

Upon trying to do so however she encountered a problem. The machine didn't want to give up her money. Strange since, a) she knew the money was in there and b) she had used her card several times abroard in previous years with no problem. A call to the bank revealed the reason; they had frozen her card. But why?

Well, it would seem that trying to use the card abroad had triggered off a fraud alarm in the depths of her bank's HQ. After a lengthy discussion it transpired that, unbeknowst to her, she should have informed her bank before travelling as the attempted transactions were interpreted as fraudulent activity. Fine, but she had no knowledge of her duty to do this.

The matter was sorted and something new learned. Of course, she was very grateful for the banks efficiency at protecting her money and avoiding a more serious situation, so no harm done thankfully.

It would seem though that she's not the only one who wasn't aware of this new practice. Reading some seasoned travel writers experiences reveals they have also encountered this and my guess, and the point of this story, is that if they are not aware then it's probable that most people aren't. So, remember, if you want to use your bank card abroad to withdrawn your hard earned spending money it's worth advising your bank beforehand to avoid the situation that many have found themselves in.

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