Is anyone having trouble with their US ATM card?

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Re: Is anyone having trouble with their US ATM card?

Post by Username Taken »

Don't know if this will help, but anyway . . .
Last year I was having trouble with my card being rejected by ATMs. I contacted the bank who said that the card is valid, etc. so there shouldn't be a problem. However, the problem persisted. Then one of the bank staff suggested cleaning the card, particularly the circuit board as they can get covered with dust and dirty fingerprints. I gave the card a quick wipe over, and then magically the card started working again.
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yongchi
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Re: Is anyone having trouble with their US ATM card?

Post by yongchi »

Username Taken wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:39 am Don't know if this will help, but anyway . . .
Last year I was having trouble with my card being rejected by ATMs. I contacted the bank who said that the card is valid, etc. so there shouldn't be a problem. However, the problem persisted. Then one of the bank staff suggested cleaning the card, particularly the circuit board as they can get covered with dust and dirty fingerprints. I gave the card a quick wipe over, and then magically the card started working again.
I have experienced exactly the same.
And also when trying to use the card at a shop.
Just wiping that chip (=circuit board) has helped several times.
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Big Daikon
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Re: Is anyone having trouble with their US ATM card?

Post by Big Daikon »

Not an American card, but my Japanese debit card got rejected at the ATM in the lobby of the Ohana Hotel. Worried me a bit. Walked down the street and used another ATM (forget which one) and got my cash. Weird.
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General Mackevili
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Re: Is anyone having trouble with their US ATM card?

Post by General Mackevili »

beaker wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:53 pm All I have needed to do was keep my travel dates updated as they used to only go for 3 months at a time until recently now it doesn't need to be updated unless I change locations.
I also think they don't need you to update every time you travel, as like you said, I've given up telling them everytime, and so far, so good.

Several cards have told me it's only good for 3 months. When I called one of them once and started giving them dates, they said they would do what they could to just make it for a year. Sounded like maybe they just added a note, but I'm not sure. I definitely think they 'learn' your travel habits. If I can, I always try to use the same ATMs I've used before because hopefully it raises less flags.

And I've said it before, but if anyone is from the US, get a Charles Schwab account. It's free with a low minimum required opening balance ($500 if memory serves) and it charges no fees at all to access foreign ATMs, and on top of that, they even reimburse you the ATM withdrawal fees that the overseas ones charge you. And since Cambodia lets you take out USD, it's literally free to transfer dollars from your US banks to Cambodia.

You also get a free brokerage account, and now Charles Schwab lets you buy stocks for free, and you can even buy 'slices' of stocks without any fees, if you want to own a microscopic part of Amazon without dropping over $2,000.

The only time I was in a pickle with an ATM card was when I was in Malaysia using a PayPal card and they blocked it when I first tried to use it. I forget what I had to do to verify it, but it was a pain in the ass and took a day or so. That was the only card I had with me, so it would have been a disaster if I hadn't been able to get it working.
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Re: Is anyone having trouble with their US ATM card?

Post by Ravensnest »

General Mackevili wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2020 11:51 am
beaker wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:53 pm All I have needed to do was keep my travel dates updated as they used to only go for 3 months at a time until recently now it doesn't need to be updated unless I change locations.

And I've said it before, but if anyone is from the US, get a Charles Schwab account. It's free with a low minimum required opening balance ($500 if memory serves) and it charges no fees at all to access foreign ATMs, and on top of that, they even reimburse you the ATM withdrawal fees that the overseas ones charge you. And since Cambodia lets you take out USD, it's literally free to transfer dollars from your US banks to Cambodia.

You also get a free brokerage account, and now Charles Schwab lets you buy stocks for free, and you can even buy 'slices' of stocks without any fees, if you want to own a microscopic part of Amazon without dropping over $2,000.

Damn, that's sound advice. I can't believe you can buy less than 1 stock now and 0 fees! Awesome. I'll google my other questions.

My current bank charges an ATM fee ($2.50) + an additional fee because it's overseas, and then I pay the local ATM fee= at least $10 each time. So I hardly ever use, my US account to pull cash out of an ATM here.

USAA credit union can be opened online with no fees. The first 10 uses of a different ATM are free- 11 and on there is a $2 fee per. But for an overseas ATM, they do have an additional 1% fee.
Still here, in country...
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