Imagine you're dining out while on vacation or a business trip. You go to pay the bill, and your card is declined. You know there is ample money in your account to cover the expense. For the life of you, you can't figure out why it was declined.
Why was my card declined?
Due to the increasing amount of debit card fraud, it's common practice for bank and credit card fraud monitoring services to flag transactions which appear out of a cardholder's ordinary habits (i.e. new geographical location, sudden change in spending patterns, etc.). As such, to assist in preventing potential fraud, transactions within specific geographic areas and with particular types of merchants will trigger a "block," causing some card transactions to be denied. If this occurs, please try to use the PIN-based debit option using a keypad and entering your PIN (i.e., use the chip card function).
Before You Travel
To reduce the likelihood of your card being declined when you travel, we recommend you notify us with a travel plan at least 48 hours before your trip. You can submit your travel plan to us by:
Phone
Call our Client Service Center at (915) 532-1000, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM and Saturday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM (MST).
Online & Mobile Banking
- Once you've logged in, select "Messages" from the menu on the left. Then, click or tap the "New Message" button.
- Next, select "Debit Card Activity Alert" from the recipient dropdown menu.
- Enter your travel plan, which should include:
- Specific city, country, and date for each place you'll visit.
- Contact phone number where you can be reached.
- Once complete, send your message.
After submitting your travel plan, we will attach a travel note to your debit card in our system. Your card will continue to be monitored by our fraud monitoring service, and you may receive a phone call while you are traveling to determine the validity of purchases. For your security, please ensure your contact information is up to date prior to your travel.