ATM comment
 

We go to Europe twice a year and have used ATM cards there ever since they were available. Always call Bank of America and tell them when. where and how long we will be. Have never had a problem until this trip.

We started in Malcesine on Lake Garda. Used card as soon as got there and worked fine. Two days later tried to use it again and it was blocked. Fortunately, hotel had internet and I checked email. BoA had sent the unusual activity email and said to call the international collect number which was not the fraud number I had been given. Called and was told only that there had been a lot of fraud going around and my account was flagged for a trip to Italy. Account was available five minutes later.

We didn't know about the traveler warning until we returned home so don't know if it had anything to do with it. Or if this would have happened in another country.

Just wanted to warn you to check and make sure ur ATM will work the second time before you get in situation where you have to have cash.

I think I've heard of B of A doing that kind of thing before, and maybe some other company but I can't recall which. Maybe it was them. Sure, it was country-specific, from everything I've read. There isn't fraud in all of Europe everywhere the same way as in some countries regarding this issue, apparently. The one I read was for Spain, as I recall.

How very odd they flagged it when you had notified them of your trip. But I'm glad they resolved it for you quickly. It's a good reminder not to let your cash supply go too low before trying to get more.

Several of the banks have told me thank you for calling to tell us you are travelling but it is very possible the computers will put a block on anyway for what they consider suspicous activity so you know what; I don't bother to call anymore. I'm not saying you shouldn't but it's no surprise that it really means very little.

I had problems with my ATM card on a recent trip. I've always used the same card that is on a joint savings account with my daughter and never had problems. She used this card while living in Spain for 6 months without any problems even though banks in Europe don't give you a choice of checking or savings. The card automatically selected savings because we do not have a joint checking account (we only used this savings account to access money while traveling and don't keep money in the account otherwise). This trip my card didn't work even though they had been notified of my travel in advance. It seems they had changed to new software in the past year which made me card not work. Luckily, since my daughter shared the account with me, she was able to get them to take care of the problem by switching the ATM card to an existing checking account I had and transferring the money I had deposited for the trip to that account.