US credit cards

gardener1 wrote:

What do people do about US credit cards? I know our cards expire every two years and the bank mails new ones, which then have to be activated through an 800 phone number--and toll free numbers do not work outside of the US. How do you deal with this problem?

Do you have a trustworthy family member in the US? If this were an issue for me (I just got a new card, good through 11/16) I would ask my sister to call the activation number for me.

Regarding payments, if you don't want to pay online, I'm not sure what to suggest.

suefrankdahl wrote:

Am told by some expats that EC in general is a "cash" economy. They keep their US bank accounts and get cash with debit cards at ATM machines. Do you think Ecuador would be a target for credit card hackers. Do a lot of really wealthy people retire in Ecuador?

What I did in the Philippines (which is also a cash economy) and plan to do in Ecuador is to keep my money primarily in a US bank (Citibank, in my case), open a second account in a local bank, and transfer a couple thousand at a time (by online transfer) from Citi to the local bank. Then I'll use the local bank's ATM to get cash and operate on a cash basis.

I think there are risks in almost any approach. There are credit card hackers, but there are hackers of ATMs as well.

suefrankdahl wrote:

Am told by some expats that EC in general is a "cash" economy. They keep their US bank accounts and get cash with debit cards at ATM machines. Do you think Ecuador would be a target for credit card hackers. Do a lot of really wealthy people retire in Ecuador

Online financial transactions are really quite risky.

We've had TWO credit cards cancelled and replaced -this year- because of security intrusions on the other end. One of them was Bank of America, the other was an online vendor who was hacked.

Then there are malware programs like keystroke loggers which are fairly easily installed on the unwitting home computer.

I never use my credit card in foreign countries except for purchase of airline tickets, I pay cash for EVERYTHING.

Hell, I don't use plastic anymore in America either unless the vendor requires it (think accommodations, car rental, etc.) I believe the entire online financial system is extremely vulnerable to fraud, aka Bob's original post about Target.

Now, back to my questions about juggling finances, credit/debit card authorizations and renewals, and US banking while living in a foreign country several thousands of miles away from your money and accounts.

usmc_mv wrote:

Do not do International Wire Transfers (SWIFT). It is overpriced. You might also get big brother watching you as well.

Citibank charges $30 per transfer, which seems OK to me -- I usually transfer enough to get by for a couple months to hold the costs down. As for Big Brother, I figure he already knows everything about me worth knowing.

BobH wrote:

Since this topic started by being off-topic, I'll take the risk of taking it further off by wishing by wishing all -- moderators, expats, expats-to-be, and expats-in-abeyance (that's me), a very Merry Christmas.

And a Merry Christmas to you, Bob, and your Bears of Chicago, hope they pack in Green Bay.

usmc_mv wrote:

I actually use a pre-paid AMEX card (Bluebird) which has NO foreign transaction fees In addition only $2 ATM fee. .

An Ecuador expert from International Living claims Capital One also has no foreign transactions fees and is her favorite.

alezandrie wrote:

I know from having to renew over here in Japan, most banks offer the option instead of calling the 800 number to log in to your online account and activate it, also most banks offer a phone number to call when outside of the us for activation as well

Thanks for that reply.

But how do you get your new credit cards? Do they send them in the mail to your address in Japan?

Will the card issuer re-new the credit card account indefinitely for overseas Americans?