Most big banks have an online travel notification form where you can alert your bank that your card will be used overseas. If you fail to alert your bank there is a high chance they will reject any transactions abroad if you have not alerted them as a precaution.
I have a Bank of America debit card that I use as a backup to my new No Foreign Transaction Fee ING Direct debit card. For years I have been putting a call in to BOA and wasting 20+ minutes transferring from here to there to here to there until I finally find the right person who can add the simple travel notification to my account.
This time around I tried using the BOA chat feature and completed the transaction in exactly 57 seconds. The chat went like this.
Lana: Hello! Thank you for being a valued Bank of America customer! My name is Lana.
Lana: May I have your complete name please?
You: alex …..
Lana: Thank you Alex! Please give me one moment while I access your information.
Lana: How may I assist you with your personal accounts today?
You: I want to put a travel notification on my debit card for Japan and Germany.
You: I will be using the card outside the country in the upcoming week from XXX to XXX
Lana: I have successfully made the travel notification in your account.
Lana: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
You: Nope, that is it. Thank you!
Lana: You’re Welcome and have a Safe Trip!
To get into the chat, login and look to the bottom right.
Click Send us a message.
From there click, Send us a message AGAIN.
And finally click, Chat with a specialist. They make this too easy……
The bottom line
I know there are a lot of Bank of America travelers out there. While I would kill for an online travel notification form, we are stuck with what we have so check out this tip to save you some time on your next vacation.
Golfingboy said,
I have been with BOFA for a long time now. In the past, I had to tell them every time I am traveling, however, now I have an established “pattern” of traveling abroad quite often, I have since [maybe 4 years ago] stopped notifying them when I travel. I have never had any issues *knock on wood*. I think this is paramount for people who does not travel abroad often and a charge taking place in Germany will trigger a red flag in their account for potential fraud/theft.
However, for travelers like us, with a repeated and established travel history, it is not as crucial. It is good to err on the safe side and notify the bank nonetheless.
Thanks for sharing this tip and this definitely save a lot of time!
Dale said,
I was happy to see your post and immediately did a chat session to have my account noted. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for all their customers:
Alex Smith: As a valued Wealth Management client, you not only have an assigned Financial Advisor that provides you thoughtful guidance to help you reach your financial goals, you also have access to a dedicated Wealth Management Client Services team that is available to assist you with your servicing needs.
Alex Smith: May I provide you the contact number of our Wealth Management Client Services team for immediate service with your request today?
You: Can we just do it through chat to note the account?
Smith: I am so sorry I see you are a valued Wealth Management customer and you have a dedicated department where your request can be placed
Mel said,
Thanks for the tip. Chat specialist was available immediately and “Katherine” helped me sort out my travel plans. I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with those robots over the phone
Bernie said,
Just did this, worked perfectly and got a chat much faster than the phone calls work.
They did ask for some extra info – full name and driver’s license number but still very fast and painless.
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