wma

Bumping this thread with some good news. Basically abandoned using BOA ATM in Europe after fiasco in summer. But figured I'd give it a try again on this vacation. What I did was called the BOA number on the back of my ATM and asked for the "FRAUD DIVISION", told them I was traveling to Paris, gave them the dates, asked what banks to use so no charges. They asked me a bunch of questions related to trip, told me to use NBP bank for no charges and Viola, my card worked. My daughter did the same and her card worked also.

The key is letting BOA switch on your card for use in a foreign country. Granted it's a royal PITA but my card worked.

LostInAmerica

I had a problem a couple of years ago with a MasterCard issued by GMAC not being accepted in the UK. I found out on my return that because it was such a departure from my "normal purchase" pattern that it was automatically rejected. Since that trip I always call ahead when I will be travelling out of the US. BofA is fine for ATM's as long as I call first. I also call Citibank or whichever credit card I will be using and alert them to be sure that everything works as it should. I agree that it is a PITA, but it is much easier to call first than have a card rejected far from home.

flyrights

This is something I happen to know about... there are "fraud alerts" for ATM cards in several countries... and banks, most notably BofA and Wells Fargo just cut off use of their ATM cards in those countries, WITHOUT WARNING.

It is not a question of 'setting up your account for international use"... but rather there are "overseas ATM cards" that Wells Fargo issues... they look identical to regular ATM cards, but they have a different coding of some sort on them, and will work in any overseas ATM. If you are going to travel, you should get one of these cards BEFORE you travel... or you could have a disaster on your hands.

kaptan

Thought I would just add some experience with using BOA card in Europe (or Asia for that matter). I would run into problems probably 50% of the time when I was using the BOA debit card (Visa logo). I switched to regular ATM card 2 years ago and since then I have yet to experience a problem anywhere in the world. Doesnt matter if I use the "Glocal Alliance" ATM's or not. Sometimes I call ahead and let them know about my travel plans but if its last minute travel sometimes I forget and it still hasn't caused a problem. Maybe its just a coincidence but maybe the debit card is a source of some of these problems???

wma

Didn't know there is a difference in ATM cards from BOA. Will look into it. Thanks,

SQFreak

I had a problem with my Lexington State Bank ATM cards in the UK last year. The ATMs in LGW kept saying that they couldn't authorize the card. I used my First Charter Bank ATM card and that worked fine. When I could get a hold of LSB, I talked to the agent who said that due to recent fraud, they'd cut off all overseas transactions on their ATM cards. The agent at my branch had already called down to HQ about it, asking to get my cards unblocked, but was told that there was nothing they could do. The First Charter account didn't have a whole lot of money in it at the time (parts of our accomodations at B&Bs had to be paid for in cash), so we ended up getting a cash advance from AmEx's emergency department. One of the strangest experiences...calling collect from a UK payphone. The first thing you hear when you call the AmEx international number is "Thank you for calling American Express. If this is a collect call, we accept the charges."

Now, I wonder, how much can I trust my ATM cards in Moscow?

party_boy

This is similar to what I've experienced via citibank, hsbc, and a local bank. I'm curious to see how much they spend on international collect calls. I've had conversations for over an hour with Citibank and HSBC before.