Setting up a Travel Plan with your bank
November 28 2020
Setting up a Travel Plan with your bank reduces the chance of your bank card being suddenly blocked when attempting to use it somewhere unfamiliar when the system sees it as a possible fraudulent event.
To set up a travel plan, I must download and use the NATWEST MOBILE BANKING APP.
They are assuming I have or even want the necessary device which can run the app.
My phone is old. Sure I need a new one but that's not the point. My tablet is new but is not optimised to run the biometrics on the app.
I can not set up a TRAVEL PLAN. Unless I upgrade.
And my anger here is why the fuck should I have to?
I am leaving Turkey soon. I wanted to set up a TRAVEL PLAN.
Back in the day, it was possible to call via Skype to advise them of my intended up coming whereabouts. Not ideal but it worked.
Then it became possible via 'on-line banking'. Which was the best thing ever. I'd log in, select my next country, add the dates I would be there, et voila.
Then they withdrew that option. I was encouraged to use the app but it was still possible up until February this year, using the chat forum. Now it is not.
I learnt that today.
I spent a frustrating hour discussing my options and relaying my fears of my card being blocked.
It isn't definite that the card will be blocked. But it could happen. I am ever careful not to try and take out more than my daily limit as a matter of course and other than ATM withdrawals, I don't use my bank card. Any online purchases are done using my credit card on sites I use regularly.
If my activity is flagged as possibly fraudulent, a text message will be sent to my phone. I can then answer with a Y or N to confirm or decline.
Here lies another possible problem. My not so smart 'smartphone' or rather the not so smart My3 sim card doesn't always get a signal. In Mali, I didn't have a signal. Nor did I have a signal in most of Kenya or North Macedonia.
I pray to God that I will in my next country. If I can't get a signal, I can't verify it was me using my card in the event that dear ol' NatWest blocks it. I will also not be able to access 'online banking' to sort it out.
The only solution if this happens is to call England. This is bullshit.
Using mobile banking, I can set up a Standing Order. After I have logged in I must insert my bank card into a card reader. Why the hell can one not set up a TRAVEL PLAN using the same technology?
The tech guys in the British version of Silicon Valley must assume we all live in the perfect world, with their heads up their own asses.
Also, they now have just one option to be able to set up a travel plan. Hell, you can't even go into your local branch to set one up.
Having only 1 option is never the way to go. Sometimes your luck just runs out and that's all your left with. But c’mon at NatWest, get your act together!
Life is tough these days. Dodging pending lockdowns, curfews, people. Then with this bank shit, I got myself so worked up over it, I didn’t eat breakfast until 4 pm and promptly threw up.
UPDATE: well, things have changed and indeed one can still set up a travel plan, contrary to what I was told, by calling NatWest directly.
To set up a travel plan, I must download and use the NATWEST MOBILE BANKING APP.
They are assuming I have or even want the necessary device which can run the app.
My phone is old. Sure I need a new one but that's not the point. My tablet is new but is not optimised to run the biometrics on the app.
I can not set up a TRAVEL PLAN. Unless I upgrade.
And my anger here is why the fuck should I have to?
I am leaving Turkey soon. I wanted to set up a TRAVEL PLAN.
Back in the day, it was possible to call via Skype to advise them of my intended up coming whereabouts. Not ideal but it worked.
Then it became possible via 'on-line banking'. Which was the best thing ever. I'd log in, select my next country, add the dates I would be there, et voila.
Then they withdrew that option. I was encouraged to use the app but it was still possible up until February this year, using the chat forum. Now it is not.
I learnt that today.
I spent a frustrating hour discussing my options and relaying my fears of my card being blocked.
It isn't definite that the card will be blocked. But it could happen. I am ever careful not to try and take out more than my daily limit as a matter of course and other than ATM withdrawals, I don't use my bank card. Any online purchases are done using my credit card on sites I use regularly.
If my activity is flagged as possibly fraudulent, a text message will be sent to my phone. I can then answer with a Y or N to confirm or decline.
Here lies another possible problem. My not so smart 'smartphone' or rather the not so smart My3 sim card doesn't always get a signal. In Mali, I didn't have a signal. Nor did I have a signal in most of Kenya or North Macedonia.
I pray to God that I will in my next country. If I can't get a signal, I can't verify it was me using my card in the event that dear ol' NatWest blocks it. I will also not be able to access 'online banking' to sort it out.
The only solution if this happens is to call England. This is bullshit.
Using mobile banking, I can set up a Standing Order. After I have logged in I must insert my bank card into a card reader. Why the hell can one not set up a TRAVEL PLAN using the same technology?
The tech guys in the British version of Silicon Valley must assume we all live in the perfect world, with their heads up their own asses.
Also, they now have just one option to be able to set up a travel plan. Hell, you can't even go into your local branch to set one up.
Having only 1 option is never the way to go. Sometimes your luck just runs out and that's all your left with. But c’mon at NatWest, get your act together!
Life is tough these days. Dodging pending lockdowns, curfews, people. Then with this bank shit, I got myself so worked up over it, I didn’t eat breakfast until 4 pm and promptly threw up.
UPDATE: well, things have changed and indeed one can still set up a travel plan, contrary to what I was told, by calling NatWest directly.
