SBH ATM Troubles - Need a New Home Bank

JEK said:

That is a real problem. As I said, my card calls me and checks to see where I am.

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Same with us. We use Capital One. We always call to notify when we travel, and if we don't, they call us. We've never had an issue. My husband travels regularly for business to China, India, etc., and he uses US Bank with no issues. We've even used PenFed regularly on St. Bart's with no problem. However, we always call first. A simple phone call (or online) takes away any unnecessary stress.

We consistently had similar issues with our BofA issued Amex, even while traveling domestically. It drove us nuts.

I always let my cc company know when we are leaving. They would not let me charge in Vegas for $5! I learned my lesson.

Multiple banks in multiple countries is the key (when possible). Multiple debit/ credit/ ATM cards with & without chip / pin. Vi, mc, amex.

I know it shouldn't be necessary, but that's the only way to avoid being stuck somewhere. You can't trust ANY bank.

Fraud protection has become a pain in the bud.

Kevin, check out Charles Schwab high-yield investor checking. Free checking, checks, all ATM fees foreign and domestic reimbursed and very friendly non-outsourced customer service reps. You make the majority of your deposits by means of the app on your phone or iPad. Deposits can also be mailed by USPS or FedEx, etc to them. I switched a couple years ago after experiencing similar issues you described with TD Bank while traveling both in St Barth and other countries. Knock wood - have never had an issue with Schwab and haven't paid an ATM fee in a few years.

islander said:

Fraud protection has become a pain in the bud.

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I like how the explanation why the second skimmed card was closed, "all the previous purchases where in Argentinian pesos and the next ones were in US dollars". I didn't want to tease them by asking if I had flown from Buenos Aires to the US, the first thing I would have done is to withdraw US dollars from an ATM..

The other card closed just perfectly because it did NOT have Visa's "Verified by Visa" security system. Getting a new card didn't work as planned, they sent the new card to the bank(!) and new PIN to the home address. They did manage to get the card back and DHL to St. Barth, and a friend checked the PIN from all the mail. Now waiting for the next working day to activate the card..

Amex has paused the card once when I was booking flights in Asia. Kind annoying when they do it 24h but the text message notification doesn't arrive until the working day.

For this sort of thing, I use Schwab bank. No fees at ATMs. Easy access. Good service. Great Euro exchange rates.

Even though you may have never told B of A in the past you were traveling OUS and everything worked as planned, as we all know, times have changed. The fraudsters are thinking up more angles all of the time. We too always inform our credit card companies of our travel plans at least a week in advance. The companies have had problems identifying SBH, but with patience they always do. As some one else said telling them 'Guadeloupe' helps. Confirming what others have said, AMEX consistently informs us we don't have to call them but we generally don't use their card anyway because of the 3% fee. However their Delta card exchange rate fee has been eliminated, effective May 1. The B of A recent add on of a 3% exchange rate fee is strange as many credit cards are doing the opposite and dropping the fee.

AmEx P & C have no fees.

Last time we were in SBH (Spring 2012), we had the exact same issues. And I did call them several days in advance of the trip to let them know we would be traveling there, just to make sure I didn't have to deal with it there. Four calls to BOA later while on the island, it was finally resolved. We never knew which card would work where (our ATM/debit cards are linked to same bank account, but one would sometimes worked while other was stopped, and my husband's BOA credit card also had a stop at one point). Luckily our villa on that trip had free US calling. I appreciate that there is fraud detection, but considering we've been to the island probably 7 times while we've had these accounts and have alerted them in advance, it was extremely frustrating!

We always tell the credit cards and the bank (even though they say you do not have to) when we are leaving the country. AND - in the case of St. Barth - I tell them St. Barth, St. Martin, St. Marteen, Guadeloupe and France.
Not because of where we might go, but …… The charge or cash withdrawal will appear to your bank or credit card company to have come from where ever merchant has their bank account.

Two years ago I opened a Charles Schwab account largely for travel. There are no foreign exchange fees, no ATM fees and those charged by other bank ATM are returned monthly to my account. I have had no problem getting money in St. Barth (except forgetting the number code) since. Also, always use Skype in SB, my husband makes lengthy business calls with no problem--and super cheap!