Very interesting post.
I have never yet had a card refused abroad, but I often come back to an answering machine message asking me to call the bank to verify that this particular Hong Kong hotel bill is mine. How can I do that? I'm in a hotel in Hong Kong FFS!

What I don't understand is the "protecting the customer" aspect of this. So far as I can tell, if my card is used fraudulently then I am protected by the bank's guarantee and will be refunded. Preventing such fraud is therefore protecting the bank, but entirely neutral so far as my finances are concerned.

The model does work however. I never bet online and the one time a £200 online bet turned up on my credit card I had the bank on the phone to me within the hour, at 8pm on a Friday night. My card was stopped minutes later. They may be protecting themselves but they're damn efficient at it.
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Fri 8 May 2009, 17:09, Reply)