Potential problem with frequent ATM and credit card transactions

Last activity 28 July 2023 by JamesDM

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JamesDMNew member28 July 2023 01:05:25

I'm moving abroad soon and have read a lot here about transferring money to my foreign bank account using various services (such as Remitly, Xe, WorldRemit, Xoom), bank-to-bank wire transfers, etc. One recurring suggestion on this forum is making regular ATM withdrawals in the local currency from a U.S. bank account that imposes no international fees.

After reading numerous posts, I decided to move all of my assets into Charles Schwab brokerage, retirement, and bank accounts. I have had good success using local ATM's on my visits to my soon-to-be home country (excellent exchange rate and reimbursement of all fees).

Like many expats, I will be using a friend's address as my address of record in order to maintain my assets in a U.S. bank. My concern is that frequent withdrawals in a foreign country will “flag” the bank to the fact that I'm actually residing there. It seems to me that it would be a clear indication that I'm not living in the United States. Yet many people on this forum seem to do this, and I've never read that it creates problems.

A related issue is the use of my credit cards. “Travel notifications” are only good for so long. And, similarly, it seems that exclusive use of my U.S. credit cards in a foreign country will be an obvious indicator to the credit card issuers that I'm residing abroad.

Any experience or advice regarding this would be much appreciated.

GuestPoster491Guest28 July 2023 16:42:41

214245

I lived 15+ years abroad and never had a problem with banks. The few times that I did have to call customer service for any issues, I was asked about being abroad but I just told them that I was abroad temporarily "for a few months" (I was never specific about dates) and told them my "residence" was the U.S address that they had on record (a relative's home). They never had a problem with that considering my account was always in good standing.

As far as the travel notifications that let the bank know you're abroad and to lessen the chance of transactions being blocked, they can be renewed/resubmitted as often as you like. Again, I never had an issue doing that online.

I think as long as you do enough business with the bank and have your accounts in good standing, they won't want to lose you as a customer and they won't make a fuss about things as long as you tell them what they want to hear.

Romaniac

JamesDMNew member28 July 2023 17:20:15

@romaniac

Thanks for your response and experience with this. I’m hoping to keep everything in good standing with the bank, and not raise any red flags.

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