Banking WTFs



  • Recently, I tried to purchase the Indie Gala. The charge was denied and my card was blocked. After unblocking it, I decided to purchase Minecraft for a mini LAN party I have every week. The charge was denied and my card was blocked.


    Upon inquiring, I found that my bank blocks all charges originating from overseas. Their reasoning was that it's fine for people in the US to scam US citizens, but not for foreigners to scam them. Judging by the fact that no one else in the group has this problem and the fact that a friend bought a second copy for me with no problems, I believe it's just my bank that does this. When I inquired how I should make overseas purchases, this is what I was told:



    1. Sign paper at bank stating that, at some future time, I intend to make an online purchase from another country
    2. Make online purchase, which will be denied
    3. Call a number and verify that, yes, I did intend to buy something with my own money
    4. Make online purchase again, which will hopefully go through this time

    I think I'll just not buy things from overseas individuals now, thanks.


  •  Pretty curious conclusions. I would have just closed immediattely my bank account.



  • @Kaulesh said:

    I found that my bank blocks all charges originating from overseas. I believe it's just my bank that does this.

    You don't say?

     



  • It's not just banks that have WTF's involving overseas stuff. Couple years ago I went to Texas, and when I tried to log into Facebook, it rejected my credentials. There was a message saying they thought someone might be trying to hack my account, and if I was traveling abroad, I should enable some option somewhere to allow logging from other countries. But in order to do so, I'd have to login to my account, which would involve flying a few thousand miles back home (or using a VPN, which I couldd have done back then).


  • ♿ (Parody)

    That seems extremely proactive. I'd guess they've been burned pretty badly. I've never had this problem, though when I travel abroad I make sure to let them know where I'll be going to prevent the automatic fraud stuff to cut me off.



  • @Kaulesh said:

    I think I'll just not buy things from overseas individuals now, thanks.
     

    Or you could just use a bank that isn't so paranoid when it comes to international purchases.

    I've had my card stopped a couple of times and the bank ring me to enquire about suspected fraud; I got it cleared pretty quickly and although it's an inconvenience it's there for protection reasons.

    If you don't agree with that bank's policies, vote with your feet.

    (footnote: reminds me of the Verizon email embargo)



  • @Cassidy said:

    I've had my card stopped a couple of times and the bank ring me to enquire about suspected fraud; I got it cleared pretty quickly and although it's an inconvenience it's there for protection reasons.

    Yeah, my financial institutions* tend to block suspicious charges (and even freeze the whole card sometimes) but I'll get an email or call soon thereafter and can merrily go on my way. It usually happens with: larger Internet orders (over $1k); while traveling; overseas purchases. I guess it can kind of be a tad annoying at times, but it's understandable. Probably the most annoying is when I am on a road trip and they notice the multi-state gas purchases and cut me off. Have they never seen someone drive across a few states before?

    • Amex, Chase, B of A, Citi, Discover


  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Have they never seen someone drive across a few states before?

    Yeah, but it's usually televised and involves Thelma, Louise, OJ or Woody Harleson in conjunction with an exciting five-oh chase.

    Perhaps you're not important enough to the Plastic Makers.



  • Funny thing is World of Warcraft did that too, back when I was playing. Even though I had the authenticator to prevent just that, they still did it. So what's the point of the damn authenticator?!

    @Renan said:

    It's not just banks that have WTF's involving overseas stuff. Couple years ago I went to Texas, and when I tried to log into Facebook, it rejected my credentials. There was a message saying they thought someone might be trying to hack my account, and if I was traveling abroad, I should enable some option somewhere to allow logging from other countries. But in order to do so, I'd have to login to my account, which would involve flying a few thousand miles back home (or using a VPN, which I couldd have done back then).



  • @Cassidy said:

    Or you could just use a bank that isn't so paranoid when it comes to international purchases.

    I would love to, but my car's out of commission and there is only one bank in town. That's probably why they can get away with it.



  •  I've never been blocked, but I have had a few phone calls from Mastercard's fraud division.

    1) Travelling from Toronto to Halifax by car.  They didn't like the string of fill-ups across the country.

    2) My brother-in-laws wedding (The day before).  Apparently, a $120 fillup (3 cars on one transaction) and $1200 at the liquor store raises some flags.

    My wife and I went to the Cook Islands a few weeks later.  You can be sure I phoned them before travelling saying "I'm going to be in the Cook Islands.  Don't block anything under $1000 from .ck, .nz )

     

     

     

     


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Kaulesh said:

    I found that my bank blocks all charges originating from overseas.
    Do we need a banking sub-forum? Anyway - you seem to have omitted to mention the bank involved - name and shame please!



  • @Kaulesh said:

    @Cassidy said:

    Or you could just use a bank that isn't so paranoid when it comes to international purchases.

    I would love to, but my car's out of commission and there is only one bank in town. That's probably why they can get away with it.

    Internet banking? I haven't needed to go inside a physical bank for many years.



  • @mightybaldking said:

    $1200 at the liquor store

    Jesus, dude.



  • @mightybaldking said:

     I've never been blocked, but I have had a few phone calls from Mastercard's fraud division.

    1) Travelling from Toronto to Halifax by car.  They didn't like the string of fill-ups across the country.

    2) My brother-in-laws wedding (The day before).  Apparently, a $120 fillup (3 cars on one transaction) and $1200 at the liquor store raises some flags.

    My wife and I went to the Cook Islands a few weeks later.  You can be sure I phoned them before travelling saying "I'm going to be in the Cook Islands.  Don't block anything under $1000 from .ck, .nz )

     

     

     

     

    Last time I went to the US I bought some tickets from Delta Airlines. They charged me twice for each ticket. So my card went over the limit. When I told Delta about it they reversed the charges, but the damage was already done, since Mastercard would only fix the mistaken charges on their ends two months later (there is some retarded "process" they must follow in such cases, which takes that long). They kept fucking up and the next month I wasn't even charged anything because there was some problem with my account. And then on the month after that they charged for every use I'd done in two months, and finally had a $600 charge undone on my billings. But durnig most of the time I spent in TX my card was useless, and I'd be fucked if I didn't have another one.



  • @PJH said:

    Anyway - you seem to have omitted to mention the bank involved - name and shame please!

    Not much to look at - have fun!


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Kaulesh said:

    Recently, I tried to purchase the Indie Gala. The charge was denied and my card was blocked. After unblocking it, I decided to purchase Minecraft for a mini LAN party I have every week. The charge was denied and my card was blocked.


    Upon inquiring, I found that my bank blocks all charges originating from overseas. Their reasoning was that it's fine for people in the US to scam US citizens, but not for foreigners to scam them. Judging by the fact that no one else in the group has this problem and the fact that a friend bought a second copy for me with no problems, I believe it's just my bank that does this. When I inquired how I should make overseas purchases, this is what I was told:



    1. Sign paper at bank stating that, at some future time, I intend to make an online purchase from another country
    2. Make online purchase, which will be denied
    3. Call a number and verify that, yes, I did intend to buy something with my own money
    4. Make online purchase again, which will hopefully go through this time

    I think I'll just not buy things from overseas individuals now, thanks.

    Which, of course, is exactly what they want, because that way they don't have to deal with it.



  • @Kaulesh said:

    @PJH said:
    Anyway - you seem to have omitted to mention the bank involved - name and shame please!

    Not much to look at - have fun!

    Goddamn, dude:

    • Rendering is all messed up in Chrome
    • Right-click seems disabled
    • Uses frames
    • Written in ColdFusion
    • Login form served over HTTP, so might as well not even bother with HTTPS


    You trust your money with these people?



  • @FrostCat said:

    Which, of course, is exactly what they want, because that way they don't have to deal with it.

    How does this make sense? I don't know about his bank, but my bank definitely wants me to spend money. It's no hassle for them.



  • I like my bank. I bought a $1200 plane ticket from THY, and I got a call 5 minutes later asking about it. When the person introduced themself, I just said, "Yes, I did just buy a $1200 airplane ticket." They said "Ok. Thank you. Have a good day."

    When the trip itself came, I did have issues trying to use ATMs at first. Turned out Visa was blocking the transaction before it even got to the bank.



  • Bank of America has called me about a purchase a couple times, once when it was a large purchase (computer and laptop in one transaction), and once when I was in Utah renting a car. Both times I got the sense they didn't actually "fail" the transaction, they just delayed it until they were able to call me to confirm. I was actually quite happy with how they do that.



  • Also, my bank, Charles Schwab, seems to have me down amazingly well. If I pay at the pump in a suburb like 30 miles away they'll place a hold on my card.
    Though at least they don't completely block my card - once there's suspicious activity on my account, they'll still let a few more transactions go through, then they'll call me and ask me to verify the charges. If I answer and accept the charges and all, the card is fine. If I dispute, then they block the card right out and any of the suspicious charges.

    One of the nice things about my bank is that when this actually happened and I had a fraudulent charge, I called them up and asked them to unblock my card so I could use it at an atm and take out some cash, then put it back on. Was in the middle of nowhere at the time, too.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @mightybaldking said:
    $1200 at the liquor store

    Jesus, dude.

    He would be helpful in that situation, what with his water-into-wine powers



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Kaulesh said:
    @PJH said:
    Anyway - you seem to have omitted to mention the bank involved - name and shame please!

    Not much to look at - have fun!

    Goddamn, dude:

    • Rendering is all messed up in Chrome
    • Right-click seems disabled
    • Uses frames
    • Written in ColdFusion
    • Login form served over HTTP, so might as well not even bother with HTTPS


    You trust your money with these people?

    And... a totally blank page with JavaScript disabled. [ducks, runs]



  • wow...
    the user id of 3241234 that I randomly typed in to see what the login would do... took me to a page with a "Challenge Question" asking what city I met my spouse in.
    i stopped there, because I'm scared that if I guess a city name in California, I might accidentally get it right.

    who needs passwords, easily guessed challenge questions are the way to go, amirite?



  • @darkmattar said:

    wow...
    the user id of 3241234 that I randomly typed in to see what the login would do... took me to a page with a "Challenge Question" asking what city I met my spouse in.
    i stopped there, because I'm scared that if I guess a city name in California, I might accidentally get it right.

    who needs passwords, easily guessed challenge questions are the way to go, amirite?

    I think it's a bug; you get the challenge question for obviously fake names.



  • @darkmattar said:

    wow... the user id of 3241234 that I randomly typed in to see what the login would do... took me to a page with a "Challenge Question" asking what city I met my spouse in. i stopped there, because I'm scared that if I guess a city name in California, I might accidentally get it right.

    who needs passwords, easily guessed challenge questions are the way to go, amirite?

     

    So choose a city not in California.  Might still be correct, but you cut the odds way down.

    I recommend Çatalhöyük.



  • @darkmattar said:

    wow...
    the user id of 3241234 that I randomly typed in to see what the login would do... took me to a page with a "Challenge Question" asking what city I met my spouse in.
    i stopped there, because I'm scared that if I guess a city name in California, I might accidentally get it right.

    who needs passwords, easily guessed challenge questions are the way to go, amirite?

    [url=https://online.westpac.com.au/esis/Login/SrvPage/?h3&app=wol&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westpac.com.au%2FHomepageAlternative%2F]Westpac[/url] here make you type in your password by clicking on buttons on the screen. And the password can only be six characters long. It's the only thing I don't like about them.



  • @Douglasac said:

    Westpac here make you type in your password by clicking on buttons on the screen. And the password can only be six characters long. It's the only thing I don't like about them.

    Well, at least it slows down crackers!



  • @Douglasac said:

    Westpac here make you type in your password by clicking on buttons on the screen. And the password can only be six characters long. It's the only thing I don't like about them.

    Don't worry, ~10 years ago it was only 3 numbers, no more, no less. I think mine were 791. Disclaimer: my Dad used to be a branch manager, until Westpac closed down all the branches!



  • @Zemm said:

    Don't worry, ~10 years ago it was only 3 numbers, no more, no less. I think mine were 791. Disclaimer: my Dad used to be a branch manager, until Westpac closed down all the branches!
    It's still three numbers for phone banking.



  • @Douglasac said:

    @Zemm said:
    Don't worry, ~10 years ago it was only 3 numbers, no more, no less. I think mine were 791. Disclaimer: my Dad used to be a branch manager, until Westpac closed down all the branches!
    It's still three numbers for phone banking.

    LOL, still!? When Internet Banking first came out they were one and the same. Didn't take long for them to separate them though. Luckily the "account number" to login was not similar to your bank account number, etc, so the hacking potential was slightly limited.

    I left Westpac when I stopped being a student and they wanted to charge me "account keeping" fees, where plenty of their competitors offer fee-free banking. I think I've discussed this recently (CBF looking for thread)

    I used a credit union for a while and their internet banking password is 6 numbers (only), entered similarly.



  • @Zemm said:

    Didn't take long for them to separate them though.

    For whatever reason, though, one still needs telephone banking before one can have internet banking.


    @Zemm said:
    I left Westpac when I stopped being a student and they wanted to charge me "account keeping" fees, where plenty of their competitors offer fee-free banking.

    I'm a student at the moment so get to enjoy fee-freeness, but even then all you have to do to avoid the fee nowadays is just shuffle some money back and forth between two accounts that you have to the total of $2000. Ditto for CBA.


    @Zemm said:
    I used a credit union for a while and their internet banking password is 6 numbers (only), entered similarly.


    Adelaide Bank use a silly scramble pad to enter the password... which is a four digit number. Thankfully, now that most people were with them are now with Bendigo Bank (Adelaide and Bendigo Bank "merged"), they use the Bendigo Bank system of Customer Number, Password and Code from DigiPass Doover Token Thing.


    I really don't like Credit Unions\Fake Banks, and wonder why people seem to think they offer better value than a Real Bank (65c to EFTPOS? $15 for a Visa Debit card? No thanks). If you place no value on competence or customer service, NAB gives you everything for free, no questions asked. Otherwise, if you sweet talk the bank well enough they'll waive them permanently forever...apparently one only need threaten to leave CBA over fees and they'll quite often put a thing on your account so that you are not charged them ever.



  • @Douglasac said:

    I really don't like Credit Unions\Fake Banks, and wonder why people seem to think they offer better value than a Real Bank (65c to EFTPOS? $15 for a Visa Debit card? No thanks). If you place no value on competence or customer service, NAB gives you everything for free, no questions asked. Otherwise, if you sweet talk the bank well enough they'll waive them permanently forever...apparently one only need threaten to leave CBA over fees and they'll quite often put a thing on your account so that you are not charged them ever
     

    Because a real, local credit union that does honor to the name of "credit union" doesn't have those kinds of fees or piss-poor customer service you're indicating they have.  West One Bank was okay until they merged with US Bank, then the only thing that US Bank did that was decent for us was to call us and let us know they were presented with two washed checks about 5-10 minutes before the branch closed.  Beyond that, their $5 per sneeze fee, their $3 fume dispersion fee when using the drive-through, the $2/min teller fee, etc.* . . . we went to a credit union of which my wife had been a member since childhood and the service has always been top-notch, even when I've gone in with weird requests.  ("I need to withdraw $324.38 as 5 $20, 20 $10, 1 $5, 19 $1, and 38 pennies" or some such bizarre allocation.)

    If you have a national bank that provides great customer service, excellent.  I have yet to find one. The credit union does very well for us.



  • @nonpartisan said:

    ("I need to withdraw $324.38 as 5 $20, 20 $10, 1 $5, 19 $1, and 38 pennies" or some such bizarre allocation.)

    In what world is that a weird request? My primary bank is B of A--not known for being high-quality--and they wouldn't have any problem doing that.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @mightybaldking said:
    $1200 at the liquor store

    Jesus, dude.

    Something wrong with buying a case of good wine for a wedding?


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @nonpartisan said:
    ("I need to withdraw $324.38 as 5 $20, 20 $10, 1 $5, 19 $1, and 38 pennies" or some such bizarre allocation.)

    In what world is that a weird request? My primary bank is B of A--not known for being high-quality--and they wouldn't have any problem doing that.

    Yeah, I've been pretty happy with BofA. If I need to speak to a person, then something is very wrong (or I'm doing something very unusual, like applying for a mortgage). I'm baffled about all of the commercials for banks whining about using machines during banking transactions. An ATM is faster and less error prone than a person, and has much more flexible hours.

    I'm happy that there are people there if I need them, but I'm happier that I can do 99% of my banking without needing to see or talk to them.



  • @boomzilla said:

    An ATM is faster and less error prone than a person, and has much more flexible hours.

    And this is why they exist. Because having your money go into your sister-in-law's checking account instead of yours is slightly funny the first time it happens, but not at all the second time. That teller got fired promptly.

    Also electricity is cheap compared to people.



  • There might be different terms used for "credit union", "building society" and "bank" for different countries?

    That said, when I first started using CUA they were great value. No bank offered a visa debit card - the whole reason I started using them: I couldn't get a real credit card as a student but having a "credit card" makes Internet life easier. The card was free and no other time based fees, though there were overage fees, but I avoided virtually all them but having multiple accounts. I also could withdraw cash from any ATM without fee, not just "network" ATMs, but all, including "private" ones. But a lot of those benefits disappeared, and my current bank is better/same in all regards now.



  • @nonpartisan said:

    Because a real, local credit union that does honor to the name of "credit union" doesn't have those kinds of fees or piss-poor customer service you're indicating they have.
    There are very few "local" credit unions in Australia. Most are chains of credit unions. Here, there's two credit unions. There used to be three but two were part of seperate chains and merged because they couldn't compete with the big banks (hint: look at your fees. Look at the big bank's fees. Notice a significant difference? That might be why you can't compete you morons).

    See here (PDF link). Basically, if I were to go with Police Credit Union, I would be charged $1 or thereabouts every time I wanted to touch my own money, meaning that I'd be paying about $30 in fees per month because I'm lazy and only withdraw cash if I have to do laundry or I have to buy a bus ticket on the bus. They also charge you for using another bank's ATM, which as far as I am aware is no longer legal here, the practice now being that the ATM will say "Hey, I don't belong to your bank, so if you want to continue I'm going to charge you $X extra, do you want to continue" and your bank having no say at all in what happens.

    The other credit union, People's Choice, is very hush-hush about their fees, apart from their $15\year Visa Debit fee. They also offer business bank accounts, but no merchant services (EFTPOS etc.) which kinda defeats the point of a business bank account. Also, their website is butt ugly and makes me want to gouge my eyes out, and it's not just red\green colourblind me who recognizes that vomit green and bright red never make a good combination, it's everyone. Their cards also come in pink (EFTPOS), vomit green (debit Visa) and black (credit card). Apparently they think these colours are good. Go figure.



  • @boomzilla said:

    ...

    I'm happy that there are people there if I need them, but I'm happier that I can do 99% of my banking without needing to see or talk to them.

    Many years back I moved to an area where my current bank was not as common, and the closest bank at the time was over 20 minutes away (they have built a bank that is far closer).  However, this was not an issue at all since I could do almost all of my bank transactions online or through ATMs.  Pay check -  direct deposit, withdrawals - ATMs, bills - pay online, and I could view statements online.  It has been over 2 years since I last had to step into the bank and perform a transaction with a teller. 

    Banks may have their moments and some are bad, but overall banks have progressed quite a bit, a lot of the stuff I do now my parents could not have done when they were my age.



  • @TheCPUWizard said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @mightybaldking said:
    $1200 at the liquor store

    Jesus, dude.

    Something wrong with buying a case of good wine for a wedding?

    It might be a regional thing, but here in Washington State, liquor stores sell... liquor. And only liquor. Thus the name.

    If you want wine, you go to a wine store, or a good supermarket. (Top Foods in my home town has 4 aisles of wine.)


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @blakeyrat said:

    It might be a regional thing, but here in Washington State, liquor stores sell... liquor. And only liquor. Thus the name.

    You may be surprised to find out that different states have wildly different laws about what different types of stores sell. Also, wedding receptions with full bars are more fun than those with just beer and wine.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    It might be a regional thing, but here in Washington State, liquor stores sell... liquor. And only liquor. Thus the name.
    It's a regional thing. In most Austraian liquor stores here you can get beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks and other alcohol-related paraphernalia in one place (there's even a store called Beer, Wine and Spirits that does what it says on the tin), and in every state but South Australia supermarkets can also sell liquor as well.



  • @boomzilla said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    It might be a regional thing, but here in Washington State, liquor stores sell... liquor. And only liquor. Thus the name.

    You may be surprised to find out that different states have wildly different laws about what different types of stores sell. Also, wedding receptions with full bars are more fun than those with just beer and wine.

    DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

    Remember? I posted about that? Oh wait, Boomzilla = idiotville.

    Hey I just got retweeted by Ryan North, I'm gonna get like 40 million followers.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @blakeyrat said:

    @boomzilla said:
    @blakeyrat said:
    It might be a regional thing, but here in Washington State, liquor stores sell... liquor. And only liquor. Thus the name.

    You may be surprised to find out that different states have wildly different laws about what different types of stores sell. Also, wedding receptions with full bars are more fun than those with just beer and wine.

    DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

    Remember? I posted about that? Oh wait, Boomzilla = idiotville.

    Fascinating. So, when you post things that show a ridiculous lack of self awareness, others are idiots for pointing this out. Your previous posts were the entire reason why I found this amusing. I'm sorry, I didn't make that obvious enough for you in that post, so I'll explain it here in order to circumvent the memory problems you have admitted having regarding things you've posted about in the past.

    See, you love to rant about how clueless people are when they assume that all states are identical. And yet, you make equally clueless posts yourself. I suppose I missed some sarcasm in your post about Washington State liquor stores, but really, it just sounded like your typical parochial self showing itself. Possibly, given the hour, you simply haven't had your coffee and weren't able to connect the two thoughts.

    The pedantic dickweedery on the name of liquor stores was just a nice bonus. Do your garden stores sell little plots of land there, too?



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @boomzilla said:
    @blakeyrat said:
    It might be a regional thing, but here in Washington State, liquor stores sell... liquor. And only liquor. Thus the name.

    You may be surprised to find out that different states have wildly different laws about what different types of stores sell. Also, wedding receptions with full bars are more fun than those with just beer and wine.

    DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

    Remember? I posted about that? Oh wait, Boomzilla = idiotville.

    Hey I just got rettyweeted by Ryan North, I'm gonna get like 40 million followers.

     Yes, it is regional, in New York it only recently (a few years) became legal to sell Wine outside of Liquor store (beer has been available for ages). In some states alcoholic beverages of any type be purchased in state can only be purchased in state run stores (not privately owned).

    But that was not my point. Depending on the size of a wedding, $1200 for liquor can be quite a small amount [I recently attended a wedding reception with over 700 guests, you can bet the alchohol bill was MUCH higher]. Even at small gatherings (depending on the social group), wines costing upwards of $100/bottle are quite common, thus a single case of wine can easily exceed that amount.



  • @TheCPUWizard said:

    Even at small gatherings (depending on the social group), wines costing upwards of $100/bottle are quite common, thus a single case of wine can easily exceed that amount.

    I was trying to make the guy feel like an alcoholic which would lead to shame which would lead to further alcoholism. I've spent $1200 in one night at bars with a few friends. Regardless, if you are spending more than $40 for a bottle of wine you are getting ripped off. There is no difference in taste, you're merely paying for the label.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I've spent $1200 in one night at bars with a few friends.

    Shitwad Fuckballs! Really? In USD? Either you had quite a crowd there, or someone's got a TARDIS for a gut.[1]

    I think the most I've spent in an evening is only a coupla hundred. That included meals, entertainment and taxi home.

    [1] or I'm presuming that amount was spent on booze.. it may well have been a titty bar.



  • @Cassidy said:

    [1] or I'm presuming that amount was spent on booze.. it may well have been a titty bar.

    Knowing morbs, it's probably 14 year old Taiwanese boys ;)


Log in to reply