SPOKANE, Wash. — As travelers prepare for New Year getaways, financial experts recommend adding fraud protection measures to departure checklists alongside packing and itinerary planning.
One item travelers don’t want in their carry-on is a locked or declined credit card, according to Daniel Thorpe, branch manager at Washington State Employees Credit Union.
“You won’t notice until you go to use it and it’s declined at a restaurant or something,” Thorpe said.
Financial institutions often freeze accounts when they detect unusual spending patterns, including purchases made far from a customer’s home address. Thorpe says preventing these lockouts requires simple steps that travelers frequently overlook.
“No matter if you’re traveling to London, or if you’re traveling to Seattle, Portland or somewhere close, it’s important that your financial institution knows that you’re going to be there,” Thorpe said.
Beyond travel notifications, customers should ensure their banks have current contact information, including recent address changes and new phone numbers.
“The smallest thing, you get a new phone number, you move across town, that’s important. Zip code is important. The small details, they gotta know,” Thorpe said.
Updated contact information serves as a security measure when banks detect suspicious activity. Financial institutions use phone numbers and addresses to verify account holders’ identities before freezing accounts.
“If there are suspicious transactions on your account, they’re going to try to reach out to you whether it be through text, phone call. If they don’t have that information on file then there’s a high likelihood that your account or your card will be locked,” Thorpe said.
Travelers should also update their mobile banking applications, which often include features to temporarily lock cards without canceling them entirely.
“Most places have an option to lock your card, which is great because if you lose it, or you think it may be in the car, it may be in a bag, you don’t want to cancel it, you can just lock it, gives you some peace of mind,” Thorpe said.
The temporary lock feature allows customers to secure their accounts while searching for misplaced cards, avoiding the inconvenience of waiting for replacement cards during travel.
Financial experts recommend completing these security updates at least one week before departure to ensure changes process through banking systems before travel begins.
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