I just signed up for a Revolut card but am a bit concerned about all the posts on reddit from people whose Revolut accounts have been locked while traveling. Anyone here have first-hand experience with using Revolut in places other than your home country?

I just got back to the US from Germany and my main bank card did not work at 90% of ATMs for some reason. Luckily I had another card which worked most places, but I want to use that one as little as possible, so am hoping that Revolut will work.

Revolut isn`t licensed as a bank in Germany. That`s why some ATMs of german banks do not work with Revolut.

They are registered in Lithuania since 2018 and have approx. 350.000 customers in DACH. By having a company haedquarter in an EU country a debit insurance is theoretical covering up to 100.000€. But why debit insurance in Lithuania is only secured nationalwise all banks based there are rated as unsafe in Germany.

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I'm not going to have anything like 100k euro in my Revolut account, but it is important for me that it (1) works in most places; and (2) I don't get caught up in all kinds of "unverified activity" warnings, etc. while I'm traveling.

During my recent trip, my main bank ATM didn't work at all in most places, and I had to call my main credit card to verify a transaction even though I'd already told them I'd be traveling.

Yes, this can be a royal pain - I think you need to tell them EXACTLY (country) where you'll be travelling, and for how long, and I think a call while on the road would probably be worthwhile too. They also go on you history too - what's normal for YOU. I don't have issues any more as my travel is "random" and frequent - and therefore normal. (I DO tell them I'm going.)

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

The issue is that more and more credit card providers are ignoring any kind of informations you are giving about your travel plan and activities to them. The reason for this is growing fraud detection through realtime streaming by the help of AI and maschine learning.

Your behavior patterns, your product categories and the amounts you spent are analyzed by subtly model algorithms that finds patterns and rules so that it can classify whether a transaction is fraudulent or is legitimate.

It`s absolutely right and helpful like Grant says to build up a behavior pattern history for payments(when you start travelling!!) and to avoid any kind extraordinary payments with that card you "daily use" while traveling!

If I will travel again for a longer period, I prefer:

-> having a back up person with bank signatory in your home country who has a another card to order or pay things online.

-> trying to use one credit card provider for only a few product categories to set up a clear behavior pattern and rules for the credit card algorithm.

-> carrying more cash to reduce payments which are out of your normal behavior patterns.

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Yes, I generally understand that, and the problem is that 99.9% of the time I'm sitting at home...haven't been doing much traveling in the last few years (moved, got a dog, etc. etc.).

I guess my plan will be to use the Revolut card as much as possible (fuel, meals, cash) and then use another card (which seems to work everywhere) as my main back up, and then another card as an ultimate back up (although it is the worst in terms of getting blocked/not working.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to "train" an algorithm when you land in a foreign country? I read somewhere that if you buy a ticket to a destination with a card, that card will "know" that you are there and so be less likely to block transactions? Or maybe start by getting a little cash out of an airport ATM? Just start with small purchases (fuel, meals)?

If it seems like I'm paranoid about this, its because just about the last thing I want to do while traveling to new places is spend 90 minutes on the phone with a #%&@! bank to get my card re-activated.

We live in France. In 2019 left France via Morocco, then Paris to Japan on our WRRs (F,D, A,PL,Li,Rus, Mon,Rus).

For cash we decided NOT to go with our bank cards but signed up for MAX (MasterCard) and Monabanq (visa).

We used the MAX almost universally -even though it is not visa- as it provides unlimited withdrawal and payments for no fees, is App managed (so anywhere I get internet), a quite favorable foreign exchange rate (much better than my EU bank card), and when necessary, a very responsive customer service.

Whereas Monabanq, also App managed, has an annual fee (although nicely offset by the 'signing bonus', has a limited number of transactions per month; and can get expensive if you exceed the limit. Monabanq gave us a second card for no cost.

Having the two systems let us have a backup if one didn't work. We could also in times of need could use our various EU bank cards and eat the fees, commission and exchange...

Works from Europe to Japan no problem. Better deal and advantages than N26 and Revolut (UK members seem to like Revolut).

During the voyage almost never used cash, card only. Bof Mongolia maybe cash in the small shops in the country off the pavement.

Not a single problem during the 8 month trip, or since as we continue to use our cards.

EDIT- more details

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2023 back in Japan on the road after COVID, 2019 Paris Siberia Japan tbd -2010 WR250R; 2015-2016 Paris-Mongolia and Paris-Silk Road; 2011-2013 Canada Ushuaia

I just got back from a long US roadtrip (about 8k miles) during which I tried to use Revolut as my main payment option for gas. Didn't really work very well... The Revolut card didn't work at between 1/3 and 1/2 of gas pumps--either the pump's "security" features blocked the card or Revolut itself didn't allow the transaction. Plus every time I filled up, a deposit of $100 or $80 would be taken from my card, with whatever was not used for fuel refunded sooner or later (usually within an hour, but once it took five days and once it took two days).

By the end of the trip, I had a few hundred bucks on the card that I wanted to use for gas, so if the card didn't work at the pump I would go inside to use it...while the card was not rejected during the few times I went inside to pay, it is not very convenient.

Not sure if things will work like this overseas, but if so I'll be looking for a different solution.

When we traveled to Serbia this year we used Mastercard without any problems, but mostly we used cash anyway. I was surprised that even some big shops didn't allow paying by card, lol. And truly, there's a problem with Revolut card while traveling, so people from Reddit are right. Too good we usually have several cards with us.

Oh, one more thing...We had a surprise when we returned from traveling as our landlord was trying to deceive us. He asked us to pay some extra money for nothing, but we later contacted [removed] and he explained to us that landlord isn't right in this case. Lord, why do people always want to deceive one another?

I thought of this thread last week while taking a brief, un-adventurous little trip around the resource-extractive country to our north. I used my favorite credit card to pay for motel rooms, ski passes, fuel, and the occasional liquid sustenance. Halfway through the trip I got a text at 5:00am asking if I'd made a certain purchase; I texted back that I definitely had not, but declined to enter the requested account information because....you know.

Turned out it was a genuine breach and my card was abruptly cancelled. I switched to the spare I was carrying, and life went on. But it made me think about the frequency with which such stuff happens these days, and I think for my next brief little trip I'll take more than one spare card, and maybe an extra debit card as well. Even in the relative comfort of western Canada, no more than a day's drive from home, I don't want to be without functional credit if I can help it.

The issuing bank said they'll let me know what their investigation turns up, but it's obvious I'll never know which roadside motel, ski area, gas station, or wifi network (while using Booking.com) stole my card data.

Mark

Good advice - we carry a variety of cards and have on occasion had one suspended when a fraudulent purchase was made. Between the two of us we have at least 3 cards each. Sometimes a card doesn't work simply because the bank doesn't have an agreement with the business's bank.

I looked at Revolut but don't live in a country where you can take out an account : (

I carry as all some cards in my wallet but I always try to use electronic card payment by my iphone/watch or by my android phone for all payments. Both - Apple Pay and Google Pay are offering the advantage that your real credit card number gets encrypted during the payment process which prevents card fraud best in my opinion.

For online bookings or payments I use 2 debit cards which arent`t connected to my main bank account. Fraudster can try to use them but due to missing credit, it wont work. It is easy, fast and takes less effort today to transfer money from one bank account to another if you use your mobile internet connection.

I remember that I changed my payment options at amazon in 2019 to a new credt card. I only registrated this card at amazon and I never used it anywhere else. 3 months later I got informed by my credit card provider that this card was used in a fraud at amazon in buying some expensive. Everytime you register your card anywhere or you enter it online in a payment or reservation process it will be saved. When it is saved, it is stored under unknown conditions and a potenial risk that someone grabs is given.

If you want to avoid fraud and trouble through locked credit cards, using encrypted electronic payment offers a good protection. For work I have to travel a lot in west and eastern euope and since I use encrypted apple and google pay I never had any issue with credit card fraud.

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Interesting. I guess I'll want to research the security aspects of different ways of accessing funds/paying for services. So many of the ways I do things are directly derived from the era of manual credit card imprinters and the very earliest days of ATMs.

I try to avoid doing any electronic banking related to my personal accounts (checking balances, transferring funds) while away from home because I don't trust ANY of the systems by which information is transmitted and possibly stored, and I don't want anyone to have access to my funds.

I use credit cards in preference to ATM cards because there is no direct electronic link--I pay my credit cards by personal check every month, not by auto-transfer, and have always assigned a friend to do that for me when I'm away. My liability for credit card fraud is limited to (IIRC) US $50.

On the other hand, I use debit cards in ATMs freely in places where credit cards aren't accepted, which isn't consistent with the above, especially since I don't limit available funds by transferring money into those accounts as needed. I ought to think carefully about that--more carefully than I've done so far. Why am I so willing to give credit card info in person, over the phone or via the internet, but only use debit cards in ATM machines? And why will I use a credit card to buy groceries, but not a debit card, "tap" or Apple Pay?

I've been subject to credit card fraud at least a couple of dozen times, ranging from someone in India who took two imprints of a card 30 years ago to whatever it is that happens to me now every 6 months or so (and additional times where people open new accounts in my name, a.k.a. identity theft). I've never had to pay for anything, but it does cost time and energy.

Missing from my understanding: why should I trust Apple Pay, which encrypts communication but still requires unencrypted information on both my end and the merchant's end of the process? How is that different from typing a Visa number into an https-protected website, or plugging it into a chip reader at the grocery store?

A lot of developing countries now accept credit cards and have high security measures.

1. I use credit cards for large purchases to be safeguarded from fraud and one with the lowest forex mark up fees

2. I use forex free debit cards at ATMs and I only keep a small amount in that account, i also land up using the atm fee saver mobile app, it gives me a list of fee free atms in developing countries

I use cash at a lot of places, it allows me to buy more local and also not have to expose my card at every place.

I was using my Revolut "card" quite happily in France in September. No issues whatsoever - I will get a physical card from them at some - I don't like being to reliant on my phone. I also used cash but the exchange rate was nowhere near as good as Revolut - I think there is a way to get cash at Revolut rates but off the top of my head I can't remember what it is.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.