title: “Out In The Cold” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-27” author: “Walter Ballard”
title: “Out In The Cold” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-05” author: “Alice Rushing”
Actually, it shouldn’t happen at all. My card was a victim of neural-network technology, a tool that is supposed to make life easier for travelers. It tracks spending; if it detects anything unusual–like a sudden splurge on easy-to-fence items like jewelry–it sets off an alarm. But, says Robert Boxberger, senior vice president of fraud management at Fleet Credit Card Services, “our [system] is geared toward not declining any travel and entertainment expenses, like hotels, restaurants or car rentals.” Really? My card was stopped after I’d used it just once, to rent a car, which, according to Boxberger, should have signaled the system that I was traveling. I was what the credit-card industry calls a false positive–a legitimate cardholder inconvenienced by the hunt for fraudsters. At least I had company: industry experts estimate that an astounding 75 percent of the transactions caught in the neural network turn out to be legit.
Bank officials describe the neural-network program as an overwhelming success. It dates to around 1993, when major credit-card issuers began using it to curtail fraud. Since the introduction of the program, Visa–which recorded U.S. transactions worth $760 billion in the last four quarters–has seen its fraud rate drop from 15 cents to six cents per $100. When a credit-card company suspects fraud, it doesn’t automatically suspend the card. Instead, it phones the cardholder to verify purchases.
That works well enough–unless you happen to be on the road. What’s a traveler to do? Card-company officials suggest you touch base with your card’s bank before leaving on a trip and take along the card’s customer-service number. Says Fleet’s Boxberger: “If people notify us that they’re traveling abroad, we assure them that no matter what happens, that card will not be declined.” Or you could travel with several cards–which may be just what the credit-card companies want to hear.
