wma

Mid August I was in Krakow and Prague. When I travel to Europe I usually don't take travellers checks but carry some cash and use ATM's. Usually in Europe I use an ATM card from a small local bank (Village Bank)in the Boston area that doesn't charge service fees. During this trip, my mind blanked on my pin and I tried to use my Bank of America (my main bank account). Let me add this was the first time I tried to use my BoA ATM card in Europe. In the past Mr. WMA has used his Fleet Bank ATM card and it worked fine. Boa took over Fleet last year.

Well the card wouldn't work. I tried several different ATM's and each one came back "Invalid Data". I even called the 800 number on the back of my card (Skype is a wonderful tool) and the agent said I needed to make sure there was a PLUS or VISA sticker on the ATM. I went back to the ATM and there was both a PLUS and VISA sticker on the machine. This happened the whole week. I finally called my home and asked my son to look up my pin so I could use my Village Bank card.

When I came back I spoke with BoA again. They said it had to be a system glitch at the time I tried using the card. They also told me that for security purposes I should call my branch before I go to Europe again and let them know I will be there and that my card isn't stolen.

Has anyone else with a BoA ATM card had this problem in Europe?

Berto

I dont use BoA, but i have never had any issuse with my Visa/Plus US Bank Card. Maybe the "Invalid data" message means that the magnetic stripe got messed up somewhere.

Also it is always a good idea to always call your bank to let them know you will be travelling overseas and that you will be using your card there. Maybe BoA froze the account, because a safeguard in the computer could have thought it was stolen, by being used in a distant place that you dont frequent.

Slightly OT, but if your going on a road trip call the bank and tell them. It can save headaches at the gas station if they freeze the card, especially if you have to fill up the tank multiple times a day when travelling.

wma

I know the mag stripe was fine as I used it at my local BoA branch before I headed to the airport. Also the machines rejected both mine and my husbands cards. What doesn't make sense was I called the BoA rep the first night I was in Krakow to tell them of the problem, and that I was in Europe, therefore they shouldn't have froze my card. I think they have a network problem.

FlyinHawaiian

Many ATMs in Europe cannot accept a PIN longer than four digits; that might be the cause of your problem. Otherwise, I have used my BofA ATM card at Barclays in the UK and the Bank of Austria with no problems.

OutOfOffice

I have used my BofA card in both Europe & Asia using a 6 digit pin and have never had a problem. Maybe the explanation BofA gave of a system or some other glitch was valid?

wma

I have a 4 digit pin. And yes I was told (after I came home) that if I had found a Barclays bank I probably would not have had a problem. The thing is you can't find a Barclays bank easily in Eastern Europe.

jophilpo

Some European ATMs will not work if one of those four digits happens to be a zero. I changed the PIN on my BofA card before my trip to Europe to avoid this problem and the card worked fine. Although, I did use it exclusively at Barclay's. I called BofA a couple days before I left. The phone rep didn't understand why I wanted to tell him my vacation plans. I think he was new. I explained why, and he put a note in their computer for the fraud department.

Chapel Hill Guy

I have a zero in my four digit pin and it's always worked all over Europe.

I always do this as well, but FYI I had charges denied in Shanghai even though I had called. So an expensive call from China to USA to find out there was nothing noted about my travel. Be sure to talk directly to the fraud department; don't rely on what the general service reps tell you.

CDTraveler

I've been told by BofA several times that if your account isn't set up for international use, you won't be able to use ATM's in other countries. (this is BofA out of California if it matters) Now I always call about 10 days before a trip to request international access, and have not had problems getting money.

GWU ESIA STUDENT

When I was in Spain for 4 months a year ago my BoA ATM card didn't work for a day or two at Barclay's in Madrid. THen later in the week it worked just fine. Rather interestingly the 757 area code number on the back of my card would not accept my collect call from Spain. I have no clue as to whhy it didn't work for those 48 hours.

Whenever I go abroad I make sure to call BoA and have them put notes on all of my accounts so I don't have to worry about my cards locking up on me halfway around the world.

asnovici

The only time I ran into a problem using my BoA ATM card was in Russia. Specifically, ONLY at SVO airport. Out of three ATMs in the arrival hall, the first two I tried gave me the response of "Invalid Card".
I went to the bar to "regroup" and after chatting with some patrons found that there is a third ATM at the other wing of the airport, and that one worked!

That said, the card worked at every other ATM in Moscow or any other Eastern/Western European destination of mine.

tom911

I had this same issue with a US Bank ATM card on the PLUS network in Montreal this year. It wouldn't work at the airport, or at the first two ATM's I hit in the city. I called US Bank and they said everything looked fine on their end, so I tried a third ATM (all different banks) and the card worked fine. This was in late afternoon/early evening, so you would think all the various systems would be up and running.

Over the years I've also ran into ATM problems in Sweden and England, but when I tried different terminals the following day my card seems to work fine. The bank I used then suggested it might just be that the network was down when I tried to access, and to just try again later. That seemed to work.

Now I always have a backup plan in case I can't get cash (which usually means falling back on cash from credit cards in an emergency).

wma

This is very interesting to know. I will talk with the rep about this on Monday. As I stated in the OP, I've never had trouble using my cards in Europe when it was Fleet, only now that they are BoA. I could understand the fraud issues, but having to make another call and get "permission" before I travel to use my own money is a royal pain. As it stands I reconfirm the airline and the hotel and now the bank!

gosha83

When I was living in england this past winter/spring, I saw my friends experiencing problems with a BoA Debit Cards. They called BoA in the U.S. and were told that the international transactions sometimes get suspended by BoA for technical reasons. None of them could use the BoA cards, btw, not just one or two ppl.

Boraxo

Thanks for the heads up. Nice to know that I can't rely on BofA. I guess I will bring my Citi ATM card on the next trip as I have used it all over the world with no problem.

I may have to "suspend" doing business with BofA if it can't get its act together. It is fine to have anti-fraud safeguards, but not at the expense of preventing legit transactions.