Blocked spending on credit cards problematic
October 23, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards
Young travellers who take a parent’s credit card with them on their travels are finding it blocked for appearing fraudulent, gapyear.com has said.
Backpackers are often found to be spending abroad while their parents are simultaneously carrying out transactions on a copy of the same card at home which can lead to the provider stopping the card.
Tom Griffiths, founder of the travel website, said: “Because they visit a few countries in a limited amount of time, it looks like fraudulent behaviour.
“And, if they’re away from home, the credit card company tries to contact them but obviously they’re inaccessible, so their cards are being blocked. That’s a big problem at the moment [for] backpackers.”
He added that many parents give their children a credit card for cases of emergency as their “biggest fear” is them finding themselves without “access to cash” while away from home.
Furthermore, he said, there is now a specialised card coming in for backpackers and gap year travellers that is prepaid and allows transactions with no risk of blocking. It also removes the common problem building up “uncontrollable debt”.
According to gapyear.com 230,000 people take a gap year between the ages of 18 and 24, spending an average of £3-4,000.
