If it happened to me, maybe it could happen to you. So I am writing this in condensed outline format, so as not to burden you with unnecessary narrative. Will be glad to add more in response to any questions you have. This took place in June 2007.

1. My ATM card, issued by a major American Bank, was working in France, and I had used it to get Euros in several cities.

2. A French bank ATM ate my card in St. Emilion

3. The bank manager informed me that the bank could not return the card to me unless it was authorized by VISA France. Apparently VISA France had no information on the card, and therefore refused to authorize its return.

4. My bank discussed this situation with their “foreign desk” and “loss control” people, and informed me:
a) The French bank was wrong – as long as I could prove my identity they had to release the card to me.
b) Technically the card was their bank check card, and it was NOT a VISA card, it was only “branded” with the VISA logo – and that was probably why VISA France had no information about it.
c) As such, the bank informed me that it would not and could not divulge any confidential customer information to “third parties” – i.e. neither VISA nor the French bank.

5. I was having a problem understanding the nuance in 4b, as back at home on occasion I had used the card both as a debit and credit card at shops that accepted VISA cards.

6. I was unable to convince my bank to do anything that would get my card back. I concluded that with my limited French, and the French bank manager’s limited English, that there was no way I could successfully convince him that he didn’t need VISA France’s permission for him to return the card to me.

7, Therefore I did not try again to retrieve my card, and hence was unable to use it for the rest of my trip.

Any comments and thoughts are appreciated.

Send your bank a "bon voyage" card, and don't translate it.

One of the things I learned the hard way is to be sure to obtain a phone number for your bank that will work outside the country. Most have a toll free 800# for use at home but they do not work overseas. Most banks have a number where they will accept collect calls.

Not sure why the bank told you they could not release info - with your consent they can release just about anything, though you might have had to fax them a signed release. In this situation, I would have asked a manager (not a first line customer service rep) from my bank to speak directly with a manager (not a teller) at the bank that ate the card, and/or ask them to express me a replacement card.
As to the nuance of a credit card versus a debit card with a Visa logo - when you used it it did not work like a credit card in that you received a bill at the end of the month - the funds were taken from your account right away. The Visa logo on a debit card indicates that the bank uses that system for processing transactions, but it is NOT a credit card.

Hi, 2 questions:

I'm curious what finally happened to the card? Does a bank shred it in this scenario?

What would you take as the learning opportunity from this experience? What kind of card would you use, or how to prevent this happening again?

Thanks.

The tele I had gotten before I left ther US got me directly into the credit card division, not general customer service.

On the plus side, my bank actually called me back in France so I did not have to hang on the phone while they bounced my issue around the various departments.

Also, my wife and I each have separate bank cards, in addition to having other plastic we could use. My bank transferred a balance from my checking account to my wife's account, so that through her card we could access all the free cash that we had anticipated we would need.

So I am not willing to give my bank an F grade.

But I do want to alert all the rest of the Fodorites that something like this could happen.

Scotlib:

The scary thing is that I do not know how to prevent something like this happening again.

Now I will say that it was a grey rainy day, and the waiters at restaurants and cafes were having trouble making their WI-FI credit card machines working. Sso looking back, what I believed happened is that the bank's ATM was unable to access the credit card network via sattelite. THAT is why it ate my card. So maybe I'll use an ounce of prevention and use the ATMs only in good weather.

As to your other question, the manager told me that they held onto cards for one week, after which they sent them to VISA France.

By the way, bolstering my thought that the weather was a factor, when the manager walked back to his office from the ATM cage to talk to me, he was holding a stack of other people's credit cards, 1 1/2 to 2 inches high, that the ATM had accumulated.

That seemed like too many cards for a normal type of day.

Hi B,

C'est dommage.

We expect to run into trouble with ATM and CCs.

My wife and I each have ATM cards linked to 2 bank accounts (4 cards in all).

In addition, you can link your Amex card to your bank account so that it becomes an ATM card, making 6 cards total.

We figure that it is unlikely that all 5 cards will be eaten on one trip.

I suggest that next time this happens, you report your card accidentaly destroyed and ask your bank to send you another one.

If weather was the cause, I wonder why the machine didn't simply reject the transaction and then return the card... and the manager had all those other people's cards? Were you not told it was a systemic problem?

I would automatically think that any card with a VISA logo on it is meant by the issuer to be a VISA card. What is your bank doing issuing VISA branded cards that are not part of the VISA system?

IRA : Did not know I could link AMEXs to my bank account! Will be certain to do that before next year's trip. that is exactly the type of information I/we need to know. Thanks

TuckH: The ATM did warn me that it was going to keep my card unless I canceled the transaction request within 30 seconds. I kept hitting "delete" "stop" "cancel" or whatever the key was, and the digital clock kept counting down 27..26..25..24 etc.

The final indignity was when it finished "retaining my card" and the welcome screen came up with (in french) "Welcome, insert your card to start your transaction"

My ATM card was eaten years ago at a train station when we were making a connection. No branch there. I have no clue why it was not returned. I didn't have time to follow up with it.

As others have said, we always travel with multiple cards so there really was no harm.

I try to use ATMs with "swipe" card readers whenever possible, but it seems like I don't see many of them in Europe.

Kerouac, my ATM Card (note, not a debit card) has the Mastercard logo on the back as well as Pulse and a few others. This just means that I can only use them in ATM machines that take Mastercard or Pulse or one of the other logoed ATM cards. It has nothing to do with being a CREDIT CARD. As noted earlier, they only provide the network for processing the transactions.

You know, when the ATM cards work, it's great. You have easy access to cash at the "best" exchange rate available. That said, my husband and I experienced a problem on our last trip to Paris. After many turns in many different ATM machines, we determined that HIS card worked, but MY card did not. Very odd, since we have one account (albeit with two card numbers) and I was the one who called to authorize access for our dates in Paris (only knowing my card number, not my husband's). At any rate, we spent the better part of an afternoon calling our bank to correct the situation. Basically, it was a case of "garbage in - garbage out". You know, we are all truly at the mercy of the data entry people. Upon our return home, I wrote a letter to BofA requesting refund of any and all bank fees associated with our transactions, as well as phone charges for time spent trying to rectify the situation. The bank refunded all requested monies, but the situation still remains that you cannot be certain that your cards will work until you use them. EJ

I had an ATM machine in Prague keep my ATM card. This was an ATM card with a Master Card logo on it that was issued by my local bank. This happened in a bank lobby. I could find no one from the bank that spoke very good English. They told me that I would have to have someone from my bank release my card on the network.

I called the phone number for Master Card thinking that they could take care of my problem. I called the collect number and there was someone that answered right away. The person was very nice but said that they could do nothing about it. That I would have to call my local bank and get the problem resolved. They offered to transfer my call to my local bank which was nice of them, but when I got connected to my bank it was not within regular business hours and I was out of luck.

By the time that my bank had released my card on the network, the Prague bank had destroyed my card. My bank said that they could not send me a replacement card to Europe. They could send a replacement card to my home address but not Europe. I would imagine that there are a lot of ATM cards issued by local banks that are this way. I would make sure that I knew who to contact and what they could do for me if I had card problems before I went to Europe.

I just had my Visa debit cards replaced because of a potential fraud problem (charged at TJ Maxx). They just sent the new cards and my old cards still work. Maybe I should keep both active until we get back from our trip? They would all draw off the same account. I am taking an additional couple of Visas. I hate carrying all of these cards.....