We’re sure many of you guys have been overseas and have tried to use your credit cards. In some instances, your card works just fine and goes through, but in some instances the card gets declined even though there are no outstanding payments. This is usually done by credit card companies who might be concerned that the use overseas could be fraudulent, which we guess is fair.
However in the future to prevent inconveniences while at the same time protecting their customer, Visa has recently announced (via Engadget) a new security measure that will basically track your location to determine if it is indeed you, the credit card owner, who is using the card and not someone who might have stolen it.
How this works is that Visa will track your location via your phone and cross-checks it with the transaction. So for example if your credit card is registered to you in the US but you made a trip to China and you’re trying to use the card, Visa will ping your phone’s location, discover that you’re in China, and authorize the card for your purchase.
This feature is expected to be bundled with the bank’s mobile apps which will start rolling out in April later this year. It is a good idea although the downside is that it requires you to connect to a mobile or WiFi network to update your position. Alternatively we guess you could always call your bank to let them know you’re travelling and this shouldn’t an issue.