Capital One "security" changes makes international account access difficult
Feb 16, 2019, 3:48 pm
#16
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
If I'm wrong let me know! as I'd love to do that
Feb 16, 2019, 3:50 pm
#17
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
How does eliminating an option reduce complaints?
Also, I feel like email is easier to hack than SMS. At least with the latter you theoretically need a valid SIM linked to the phone number on the account (even if it's simple for attackers to social engineer their way to getting your number onto their phone).
Also, I feel like email is easier to hack than SMS. At least with the latter you theoretically need a valid SIM linked to the phone number on the account (even if it's simple for attackers to social engineer their way to getting your number onto their phone).
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/a...2fa-is-screwed
Feb 16, 2019, 3:52 pm
#18
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
2FA with SMS is wildly more secure than just userid and password. An authenticator app or a key is better still, but 2FA with SMS is a huge improvement, particularly for people who (as a lot of people do) reuse passwords. For someone who does reuse passwords, 2FA via email is a LOT less secure than 2FA via SMS.
Feb 16, 2019, 7:34 pm
#19
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,736
Yes, if you have 2FA for your gmail, then maybe that's better, but if someone can compromise your 2FA for gmail, they can also presumably compromise the 2FA for whatever account you're having 2FA emails sent to gmail.
Feb 16, 2019, 9:01 pm
#21
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
Actually, google does a little bit more than that. If they suspect something suspicious they'll ask you to confirm via another method before they let you in. I don't have any 2FA setup for google.
Feb 20, 2019, 6:32 pm
#22
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
This was annoying but doable when they would email me the code. Starting a few weeks ago, they dropped the email option. Now the only way to get the code is by phone or a text message. The problem for a frequent traveler like me is that I use a different phone in different countries. Today I am in the US, so I can access Cap One. Next week I'm in Canada. A few weeks later I'll be in France. In each country my phone numbers will be different. I will not be able to get the code.
A Cap One customer service person said if I was willing to do online banking from my phone, I would still need a 6 digit code but then I could get it by email. (Seems odd, but that's what she said.) I do not want to do any online banking from my phone.
A Cap One customer service person said if I was willing to do online banking from my phone, I would still need a 6 digit code but then I could get it by email. (Seems odd, but that's what she said.) I do not want to do any online banking from my phone.
When my wife and I still had a Capital One 360 savings account and an investment account (that we had from back in the good old ING Direct days) and my wife briefly had a C1 credit card, the above was indeed beyond annoying. Never had the same problem with any other online service - bank or otherwise.
Jul 16, 2020, 9:04 am
#23
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 1
So mad. I don't want 2 step verification
So angry. I accidentally pushed something on my cell phone last night and now I have to enter a texted pin code every time I want to use the capital one app. I have fingerprint security already set up. Really hate this 2nd step verification. I called and they can't remove it. ........!!! So angry.
Last edited by EmailKid; Jul 16, 2020 at 9:54 am Reason: Not a good start on FT to have first post edited due to language
Sep 3, 2020, 9:40 pm
#24
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 1
No longer recommending CapitalOne to travelers. It's a major hassle. They force you to use the app (must be confirmed with US phone number) and confirm purchases (with a text to a US phone number registered in your name). When I talk to customer service, they act like there's no one left alive who doesn't have a smartphone or a US phone number. Try to explain that I'm living abroad, I'm given the cold shoulder.
This used to be one of the best banks for travelers (just a few years ago). No more.
Curious, can anyone recommend a good bank for travelers that DOESN'T require an app or US tn?
This used to be one of the best banks for travelers (just a few years ago). No more.
Curious, can anyone recommend a good bank for travelers that DOESN'T require an app or US tn?
Sep 3, 2020, 9:59 pm
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 80
If you can qualify, USAA is a great bank, as well as a top insurance company. I have had no problem using their credit and ATM cards and logging in when traveling. I think they may have asked for an additional security check, but they still will do it by email.
I also use Amex Delta when traveling, and even occasionally Amex Blue Cash Preferred. No problems from outside the US, but you have to pay for their credit cards.
The indifference of Capitol One and other credit card issuers to people who travel (or used to!) seems amazing. They advertise that they don't have foreign transaction fees.
What is also amazing is that none of the credit card review sites I've looked at even mention this issue. They do talk about whether there are foreign transaction fees.
I also use Amex Delta when traveling, and even occasionally Amex Blue Cash Preferred. No problems from outside the US, but you have to pay for their credit cards.
The indifference of Capitol One and other credit card issuers to people who travel (or used to!) seems amazing. They advertise that they don't have foreign transaction fees.
What is also amazing is that none of the credit card review sites I've looked at even mention this issue. They do talk about whether there are foreign transaction fees.
Sep 3, 2020, 11:08 pm
#26
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 263
Capital One and Chase have both started insisting that my mobile number is not "mine" and refusing to use it. I have also been told by a credit union that if I am not on a "normal service with a normal carrier" then their validation system flatly won't work. The IRS' "verification" system is similar. My spouse, who has not had a mobile number under their name or billing responsibility in many years (we've been on family / joint plans with each other, usually in my name, for as long as we've been married) has been in the same boat for longer.
I'm becoming quite frustrated with the idea that a mobile number is a unique identifier and all of the assumptions made to get to that point, especially when those assumptions aren't communicated in advance and even worse when the policy--as here with Capital One--is changed out from underneath me with no warning in advance.
Sep 5, 2020, 9:16 pm
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
But apparently Cap One is assuming everyone either doesn't travel overseas, or travels for short times and doesn't need to access their bank account while there, or pays for "roaming" fees overseas.
Cap One is famous for not really understanding travel (dating back to their infamous mess of a "status match" promo, where they thought you could get a one-page statement from your airline of just the miles you earned from your credit card that year), so it makes sense that they would be the ones to do something like this while claiming to know about "travel".
Nov 26, 2021, 7:04 pm
#28
Join Date: Nov 2021
Programs: IHG, Marriot, Emirates
Posts: 121
Any American expats here who have received the Venture X card and found a way to use the card overseas? If you live abroad and don't subscribe to a US mobile phone service or have a US phone number to receive text messages (SMS) for 2FA you seem to be out of luck. I was able to set up my account by clicking on a link that says I don't currently have access to a mobile phone but to reenter my account they ask for a number and the format of their request does not allow foreign phone numbers. This is my first account with Capital One, so I didn't know they won't let you use your email address to be used for 2FA. I've never had a problem with this with Amex or Chase. I found a thread on FT discussing the difficulty of US citizens just traveling abroad on vacation being able to access their account overseas and that Cap 1 customer service cannot help them. Most online SMS and virtual phone services cannot receive SMSs from financial institutions and banks but I hear that there are a few services that can receive "shortcodes" used by Cap 1 that work but I haven't found them yet. Has anyone else found a solution?
Nov 26, 2021, 7:21 pm
#29
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: NGS
Programs: UA Silver, ANA MC, HH Diamond, Hyatt Discoverist, Bonvoy Plat, IHG Plat, Shangri-La GC, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,233
"You must have an existing US-based mobile or landline phone number to qualify."
Do you live overseas? Does Google Voice receive text messages (SMS) without problem from Cap 1? Almost everything I've read online says that Google Voice cannot receive SMS from banks and financial institutions.Last edited by Nagasaki Joe; Nov 26, 2021 at 7:30 pm
Nov 26, 2021, 7:28 pm
#30
Join Date: Nov 2021
Programs: IHG, Marriot, Emirates
Posts: 121
You need a US phone number to set up Google Voice, which I don't have. Do you live overseas? Does Google Voice receive text messages (SMS) without problem from Cap 1? Almost everything I've read online says that Google Voice cannot receive SMS from banks and financial institutions.
Also, some banks allow the verification to be done through a phone call.