I remember the moment clearly. I was in the Nike store at the Orlando International Premium Outlets on the tail-end of a vacation that took us down the Eastern seaboard by car, stopping in cities like Doswell, VA; Charlotte, NC; and Jacksonville, FL. It was a simple sneaker purchase of under $100, but Chase Bank flagged it for fraud. I used an alternate card and immediately made a phone call to have my debit card unlocked, while my tween son wondered if I could afford his new sneakers.
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While it’s good that financial institutions look out for customers’ best interests and flag potential fraud during travel, it can be annoying – and embarrassing — to make a call or reply to a text at the cash register during a transaction. As snowbirds migrate north and retirees plan vacations, it’s a good idea to know the red flags that could have your accounts temporarily shut down by your bank. Fortunately, a quick phone call or text typically solves the problem, but it’s easier to avoid it in the first place.
“These systems… are built to detect anomalies. If your behavior suddenly looks different from your established pattern, that is enough to trigger a review,” Harrison Jordan, founder and managing lawyer of Substance Law, said in a press release.
Fast travel
If you move between cities or countries rapidly, the bank may flag your account. That’s what happened to me in Orlando; we had been shopping in Tampa the day before. Your financial institution will check two things: Is the travel physically possible and does it fit your history? Because we’d been spending days – not hours – in previous locations, the quick jump between two cities led to a red flag.
Multiple bookings in a short time frame
If you’re planning a multi-city trip, it makes sense to book your flights, car rentals, and hotels in one shot. But this can look suspicious to your bank. Criminals will often max out a stolen credit card on one website, and fraud systems are built to detect that pattern.
Using a different device or SIM card
Many financial apps detect when you’re logging in from a new device or location and require multi-factor authentication. Others may flag your account for fraud and shut it down temporarily.
“Your account is suddenly being accessed from an unrecognized device, with an unrecognized network, in an unrecognized location, which amounts to three anomalies at once,” Jordan said. “Combined, this creates a risk score that can cause an automated block.”
“Systems compare your current behavior to your baseline. If cash withdrawals have never been a regular habit, a sudden string of them stands out.”
Logging in via a VPN
Using a virtual private network (VPN) to log into accounts while you’re on public Wi-Fi might seem like a tech-savvy way to protect your personal information on the road. But your financial service providers might view it a different way, Jordan warned.
“Switching VPN locations frequently, or connecting through a server in a country you are not physically in, can confuse the location data that risk systems rely on,” he said. “The result is an account that appears to move between multiple countries simultaneously.”
Frequent ATM withdrawals
There are many reasons you may want to use cash on a vacation, from leaving tips to saving on credit card service charges if you’re dining out frequently. But making multiple ATM withdrawals, especially in locations far from home, can trigger a fraud alert.
“Systems compare your current behavior to your baseline. If cash withdrawals have never been a regular habit, a sudden string of them stands out,” Jordan explained.
Frequent or back-to-back logins on multiple financial apps
You might check your financial apps, including credit cards and bank accounts, more frequently on vacation. You might think you’re following smart budgeting practices to keep tabs on your spending.
But, Jordan said, “Rapid sequential logins across multiple financial services can resemble account takeover activity, where someone who has gained access to a device is quickly surveying what accounts are available.”
The behavior looks even more questionable if it’s not coming from your typical location.
Conclusion
In many cases, a phone call to your bank and credit card providers with a note that you’ll be traveling – and the cities you expect to visit – can prevent your accounts from being blocked for fraud.
It’s always smart to travel with more than one form of payment so you have a back-up if one account is blocked or, worse, if you lose your credit card on vacation. Many providers allow you to turn a misplaced card off temporarily, but it’s also smart to keep the phone numbers to report fraud or a lost card handy, just in case.