You do a lot to prepare for a trip: book the flight, find the perfect hotel, take time off work months ahead of time, buy new bathing suits, get a pedicure, and on and on. However, there’s one important thing to do before a trip that most people overlook: telling your credit union or your credit card company about your travel plans.
Credit card companies and credit unions like ours have standards in place to identify suspicious credit or debit card use. If transactions occur in an unfamiliar location, the financial institution may assume your card is being used fraudulently and shut it off.
If you tell us about your travel plans in advance, on the other hand, we can monitor your accounts appropriately. We will add a note to your account and share it with our fraud detection system. This prevents your abnormal spending patterns from triggering a block on your card.
To notify us about your travel plans, call us at (912) 236-4400 or step into one of our credit union branches throughout the Savannah Metropolitan Area. You may also find a link for Travel Notifications under “Cards” in our mobile banking app.
For general tips on how to keep credit and debit cards safe while traveling, see our news and blog page.
