2

I make a lot of non-local purchases using my Mastercard debit card. I buy things both out of state and in foreign countries, principally in Europe.

I constantly have the problem that my card gets blocked by "fraud protection" performed by Mastercard. I then have to call up my bank and spend signficant time getting these restrictions lifted or temporarily suspended. This happens constantly and is incredibly frustrating and annoying.

My bank tells me there is nothing they can do, other than these spot fixes.

Is there any way I can get the way fraud detection is performed on my card to be permanently changed?

Improve this question
5
  • 8
    Which bank, which country? But probably the answer is ‘no’. Get a different card or a different bank
    – Aganju
    Commented Apr 5, 2022 at 18:11
  • 1
    They’re probably more suspicious of debit card purchases because of the possibility of draining the whole account. Try using a CC.
    – RonJohn
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 0:51
  • Also, consider how the merchants you're buying from are set up. If this is all from websites, there really shouldn't be any problems. But if they're taking the card number and typing it on a payment device or into their bank's virtual terminal (or have a misconfigured ecomm sites), then it might be counting as "card present". And if your card shows that you're simultaneously in multiple locations, that's a good indicator of fraud. Alternatively, it could be related to 3-D Secure, which is now mandatory in Europe.
    – Bobson
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 0:56
  • Try using Paypal if the online merchant accepts it instead. I used to have similar issues ordering stuff, but it stopped when I switched.
    – pboss3010
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 15:33
  • I'm amazed that you can make overseas purchases with a debit card at all. Where I'm from you expressly need a credit card for international purchases. You may find if you upgrade the debit to a credit card that the problem goes away.
    – Neil Meyer
    Commented Apr 10, 2022 at 8:44

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

The simple answer is call your bank before the trip and tell them you will be traveling.

Another option is to get a credit card to use while traveling. Dispute resolution is a bit easier with credit cards and banks can be a bit more lenient, especially if you get a card geared towards travel (like an airline card or similar).

To answer your specific question:

Is there any way I can get the way fraud detection is performed on my card to be permanently changed?

No, you will have to change banks. Some banks like Chase don't even require that you call beforehand to notify them of travel.

Improve this answer
3
  • Most banks don't do travel notices anymore. Calling them won't help
    – Hilmar
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 14:10
  • @Hilmar I mentioned that some banks don't require travel notices in my answer. Obviously the OP's bank does require it.
    – Nosjack
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 16:04
  • Understood. My point wasn't about "not requiring" it but most banks have completely eliminated the mechanism. Even if you want to notify them, you can't. They simply won't take the information.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Apr 7, 2022 at 17:50
1

It would depend on the policies of your bank.

I have a credit card that does this. But when they do, they send a message to an app on my phone. I can then authorize the transaction from my phone and re-do it. I don't have to talk to a person, I just press a button in the app. They also send me an email and I can authorize it from a button in the email.

If your bank doesn't give you a smooth way to handle this, this is a matter of the bank's procedures and not laws or policies of Visa or Mastercard, so you should be able to find a different credit card with policies that are easier to work with.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .