Originally Posted by der_saeufer

Exactly. It's time to diversify cards. Contrary to the statement up-thread, how VbV is implemented can and does vary by bank. Not all American card issuers choose to implement it the same way. Chase doesn't want to "inconvenience" its customers, so when VbV is triggered, Chase will normally just process the transaction anyway. When that doesn't work, you find yourself in the situation in the OP, having to call the fraud department and play games just to spend money. That's one of the reasons I cancelled my Chase cards.

Capital One supports SMS second factor, so when I try to buy something online that trips VbV, I get a box telling me that Capital One will SMS me a code. I click OK, I get the code, I enter it on the website and the purchase goes through. Even still, Capital One's implementation is annoying if you have AUs--it'll only SMS one number no matter which card is used to make the transaction. The ridiculous workaround we came up with is that my wife and I have a shared Google account with a GV number so we both get the codes. USAA has a similar implementation where (when it works correctly) I can approve the transaction in the USAA app or receive a code.

It's the same story for European card issuers. ING's 3DS implementation required me to get the ancient calculator-looking code generator, insert my card, enter the challenge token, etc. and then enter the code on the webpage. N26 sent a push notification to my phone to approve.



I just did this the other day for an upcoming trip to Japan. Three Visa cards in a row failed, but Mastercard worked fine.