My son who is attending college in Florida has a card in his name on my credit card account. We are in New England. When he first used the card at a Target in Florida we got a call due to a fraud warning even though it was a legitimate card use. I advised the credit card that he was in college in Florida and would be using the card there over the next four years. He has been using the card on a weekly basis for gas, food, etc. I visited him and was not allowed to use my card on the account to purchase gas due to an early fraud warning. Today he was allowed to use the card for a $140 charge at Kohl’s but then a $45 charge at Belks was declined for early fraud warning. I just got off the phone with the company and was advised that they would put a travel note on the card but that it was only good for 90 days. Unless I call in every 90 days and remind them that he is in Florida we will have this problem periodically. They refuse to have a permanent note that he is in college in Florida.
I have had this card for 23 years. The bills are paid in full every month. It has a chip in it. Is this a common problem with kids using credit cards away from home? I am willing to switch cards if that is what it takes. This is a citi A&TT Universal card. Any recommended cards?
We have a kid in another state with one of our credit cards. We have to call every 90 days for her
too be continued as a user. But it doesn’t affect our use at all.
We just call every 90 days. It’s a pita, but not that big of one.
We have never been denied use of the card ourselves.
This is a Visa.
ETA…this was not an issue when our kidneys living in the same state as us…only an issue with her living OOS. We never had to call every 90 days while she lived in this state.
I don’t think I would have minded so much if they had told me in the beginning that I had to call every 90 days, but tonight was the first time they have told me that. The original rep didn’t seem to know that. It was only when I was transferred to the fraud department that they mentioned it. I have always called when I have been traveling out of the country, but this is the only card that has given me a problem when I have used it out of my home region in the US. Amex has never been a problem.
Tyberius, I can put a travel request on my Marriott Visa online. I bet you can register your Visa online and do the same. Fraud departments usually have better trained employees with more authority to act. It is a PITA - my D spent two years abroad and had to do this online with her card every 90 days.
Amex has a system of monitoring your purchases and look for patterns (bought tix to Stockholm, reserved a room on Expedia, a month later bought Starbucks at Seatac, bought a rail pass in Stockholm… she must be in Stockholm…).
Our D just uses a debit card, no problems with her being out of state. We really should get her a credit card under her own name to help build up her credit rating, that’s something you might want to look into. You might also consider Apple Pay, I wonder if that would go through the same fraud check?
We’ve had a lot of trouble over the past couple years using our Chase cards in Florida. We live in NJ and have a second home in Florida. Last winter I was declined so many times in Florida that I was about to blow my top. One of the customer service reps explained to me that there is a higher degree of fraud in Florida, particularly at stores like Target and Walmart, so they are very careful to verify charges there. I had to talk to several people, but I think we finally have our files properly noted so that we will no longer be denied. No one has ever said that I would have to go through this every 90 days. Their system was also denying us with some frequency when my husband and I were each traveling separately. Once he was using the card in the Atlanta airport while I was trying to get gas in Tennessee. They approved his charge and left me hanging at the gas station.
Suggestion – Set up email or text alerts with the credit card company so that you are alerted immediately whenever they have a question about the validity of a charge. Now I get an email on my phone asking me to verify the charge and I can clear things up while I’m still in the store by responding to the email.
At one point, we had Discover cards being used in 4 or 5 places. I had just told them where everyone was “based” and all was good.
My oldest is living overseas for the 6th year, but is now in a different country. Before she moved, she told them where she would be living. The other day she tried to buy plane tickets and was declined and the card was frozen. I’m on the account with her so I can deal with the stuff since she has trouble calling directly. They unlocked it for 24 hours, then said it would be frozen again. So essentially she has an unusable card and is overseas with it. A couple of years ago, I added her to one of our cards and she has that as an emergency backup. Next time she is home, she is going to apply for a different card. This is a military credit union, so it’s not like they never deal with cardholders who live overseas. She doesn’t use it at all for day to day stuff since she has a local bank account.
Can it be fixed by having a PIN for the credit purchases? If not, I’d get a card in his name.
I had a problem once just after I moved. The landlord gave me the wrong zip code, and I changed my address at the bank using this wrong zip. Well, bank statements came and had the right zip so I never thought about it being wrong on the credit card. I’d go to get gas and the zip code wouldn’t work. Tried another station, same thing. Finally went to one without the need to enter a zip code. Got a call the next day from the fraud group and we figure it out about the incorrect zip on my card. The woman told me the first thing thieves do is try to buy gas to see if the card is good, so when they noticed I tried to buy gas at 3 stations, that made the fraud alert click on.
My girls have used Capitol one and discover with no problem. I think we called once to let them know where they would be at school and that was it. I only call now if someone is going abroad because that can raise a red flag. Calling every 90 days is too much of a pain for you and sounds like laziness on the part of the bank.
Chase visa gave one D trouble when she used it to pay for an immunization for travel. Otherwise, no problems. We notified Chase before their semesters abroad. Chase said they couldn’t put a travel note on for Tanzania because there was too much fraud there. In general, they both use the cards infrequently.
This happens to me with Citi in NYC all the time…and I live here! I am not sure what their “pattern” is. When it happens, I use Amex, but would prefer not to. It is infuriating bc they decline the transaction.
Ugh this is so annoying. PNC has done this to my daughter several times! Yes, she has a card on my account with her name, and I have called,it doesnt seem to matter. Ive been told it doesnt help when we call, as whatever algorthm is used doesnt read notes(their words). She has interned in NYC the last two summers and it has been annoying to say the least. Yes, I could get another card, but their rewards programs is top notch, so I dont want to give it up.
I’d get a new card. That’s ridiculous. I’ve used credit cards in multiple states, including Florida and never had a fraud alert due to being in a different state. I mostly use Amex but also have a Visa.
When my H worked out of state for a few weeks they had us call and tell them how long he would be there.
But if it bothers you I guess you could switch to a different card, but then there is the issue of getting his new card to him unless it arrives during Xmas break.
Interesting. We’ve never had a fraud alert coming from a US charge or set a US travel notification - Chase and Bank of America Visas. I do have to remember to update one travel notification regularly for a kid living abroad with one of my cards. DH and I hope to take a Florida break this January, maybe I should set a notification!
I had a recent fraud alert coming from a European source on the BofA card - it was a real fraud. That one seemed unusual as I had just returned from Germany where I had used the card with no problems after giving BofA a travel notification. Probably just circumstance that the travel notification had just expired - or something else? It was caught, that’s all that matters.
I used the Chase on an airline’s Hong Kong website to book a plane ticket. That charge went through, but when I tried a second ticket, the charge was rejected until I called and OK’d it. That one kind of made sense to me, I should have sent a notification before beginning the purchase process, but it did seem odd that Chase OK’d a $2500 charge from Hong Kong, then stopped a $500 charge. It made me wonder what the tolerances are.
It all starts to sound like TSA - unpredictable algorithms!