We are traveling in Europe and Penfed has a pretty neat on-site method of reporting when you are going to be away. For international travel it asks that you list the countries you will be visiting as well as the dates that you will be out of the USA. This I did, and have not been checking my Penfed CC account very often as I'm not using it, using my UK bank card instead.
I checked today to find a balance of over $19k (my typical balance at month end when in the USA is ~$2k). Looking at the details I see that it has been used extensively this last 4 days at brick and mortar stores in New York and Georgia, most purchases being many hundreds of $. In talking with Penfed they say it sounds like the card was swiped some months ago and duplicate(s) made. I now have 33 disputed charges to deal with, affidavits to sign etc while traveling abroad. (off to France in 3 days where I won't even have easy access to internet for 3 weeks).
My biggest gripe however is why their fraud detection systems didn't notice either an unusual pattern of buying, or the fact that my account is flagged as us being out of the country during the period when $19k worth of purchases are run up in 4 days in physical locations where I have said I will not be.
I wonder if the USA will ever switch to CHIP and PIN for their cards like Europe or if the cost is just too high for the industry. With CHIP and PIN, not only do you have to enter a PIN for every purchase, your card never leaves your possession because even at a restaurant the server brings a device to your table.
When we get back to the USA I think I am going to try and carry enough cash at restaurants so that the card never leaves my possession. More fool me, I should have started doing this after my card was electronically stolen the last time....
I checked today to find a balance of over $19k (my typical balance at month end when in the USA is ~$2k). Looking at the details I see that it has been used extensively this last 4 days at brick and mortar stores in New York and Georgia, most purchases being many hundreds of $. In talking with Penfed they say it sounds like the card was swiped some months ago and duplicate(s) made. I now have 33 disputed charges to deal with, affidavits to sign etc while traveling abroad. (off to France in 3 days where I won't even have easy access to internet for 3 weeks).
My biggest gripe however is why their fraud detection systems didn't notice either an unusual pattern of buying, or the fact that my account is flagged as us being out of the country during the period when $19k worth of purchases are run up in 4 days in physical locations where I have said I will not be.
I wonder if the USA will ever switch to CHIP and PIN for their cards like Europe or if the cost is just too high for the industry. With CHIP and PIN, not only do you have to enter a PIN for every purchase, your card never leaves your possession because even at a restaurant the server brings a device to your table.
When we get back to the USA I think I am going to try and carry enough cash at restaurants so that the card never leaves my possession. More fool me, I should have started doing this after my card was electronically stolen the last time....