" Amex has never been a problem."
Umm. Well for some reason I have no problem using the Amex card when we travel. HOWEVER whenever my husband travels out of state and it’s not a state that connects to Georgia he gets denied and he has to call and tell them he is traveling. Not sure why that is since I am a authorized user and he is the primary…
^That’s weird. I recently travelled out of the country and informed my credit card companies and AMEX specifically said on their website they didn’t need any notification. So I didn’t but then I never used it while out of the country so I don’t know if that was true, but it’s weird they would say that on their website and then deny your husband.
We have several different CCs. S is on one and flew often–HI,DC,LA and other cities. He’s never hadvisdues. D is an authorized user on my acct and lives in CA much of the time and has never had any issues using her card. All our CC companies no longer require travel alerts if we travel within the US.
We have gotten a few text fraud alerts on CCs with Barclay Sallie Mae, where we were supposed to confirm that it was us or charge would be declined. D has gotten those alerts too.
Our main cards are AmEx, CapOne, Chase and Barclay’s.
I have never had a problem with our Citibank Visa. Five authorized users, three kids have lived in 5 different states, and the card has been used internationally. That would be really annoying.
I think once I got a phone call from CC security while we were on a roadtrip because they noticed the out of state purchases. Just last week, while we were home in NC I got a call about a charge from CVS in Pennsylvania. I flagged it as fraud and our cards were cancelled and replaced. Always good to have a backup (or 2). So for me the fraud protection has been just right. I never gave my kids a card. They used their own debit cards until they could get a credit card.
I have had problems with a number of my cards over the years of this type of fraud prevention nature. This includes amex while traveling out of the country. Recently on a trip to the outlets to shop, I apparently went to too many stores too quickly, and bam by transaction #3-declined due to fraud dept. I had to spend time on the phone verifying myself to get reinstated. My non amex cards also want to be notified of travel and this means even within the US sometimes. It is annoying, but better than fraud. I have had cards compromised quite a few times so I suppose the monitoring is better.
My kid has two authorized cards, so if one is declined, she has a backup. I prefer cc to debit for purchases, since we get rewards.
My USAA MasterCard has never denied me, but it does occasionally send me a text within minutes of a charge to verify that a charge is me. All I need to do is respond with a “Y” or “N”. (Thankfully, it has been me or my H)
.
I’ve had several of these denials on transactions, with cards belonging to Citi, Chase, and Bank of America.
BofA by far the most difficult to deal with–45 minutes on the phone to acknowledge that yes, I did make a $253 purchase. They insisted on lots of weird questions, previous address? (I’ve lived here 20 years, and for 10 years before obtaining this card). When I provided previous address, she was adamant I provide the nearest cross-roads.
Confirming transactions with Citi and Chase has been an inconvenience, but nothing on the level of Bank of America. Grrr