BajaNomad

Maintaining US based credit cards when living in Mexico

oladulce - 5-30-2009 at 11:53 AM

I'm trying to consider all the possible "bugs" that may arise with having US based credit cards while living in Mexico.

I will be relying on online banking and bill paying almost exclusively and need to maintain a couple of credit cards for things like insurance premium payments, sat internet fees, airline tickets, etc.

Our US residence address will be a South Dakota mailing service but I just realized that credit card companies often use your phone number on record to confirm your iD and activate new cards etc. I hadn't planned on having a US cell phone because we'll only return to the US a few times per year, but maybe it will be necessary.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Any other potential snafus with finances particularly, you can think of that I should handle now?

thanks

BMG - 5-30-2009 at 12:22 PM

This hasn't been an issue for us since we still have a U.S. business number and cell number. I've never had a problem activating a card no matter what phone I'm calling from in or out of the country so I don't think it will be a problem for you, especially if you are in the U.S. a few times a year.

If you do want a U.S. number, one thing that might work for you is eFax. You can get a Pro account for $19.95 mo. This allows you to receive faxes through your email account. You can also send faxes through you computer. The Pro account includes a voice mail service.

People or businesses can call you on that number and leave a voice message. You'll get an email with the message in a sound file that you can listen to and save on your computer if you want.

Another possible advantage for you is that you could get a South Dakota number if you want (or any other state).

This is not a phone service so you can't make calls from that number but for anyone calling the number, it's no different than any other phone number and voice mail.

fishsticker - 5-30-2009 at 12:48 PM

Use a ATM card and have your bank pay your bills. We have our internet, direct tv, and our insurance all paid from the bank and have been doing it for15 yrs now with no problems. I dont use a credit card anymore in Mex as even though I have told them I reside in Mex they still cut it off after a few uses and I had to call them all the time to get on again. No problem with the ATM. With the ATM it easier to get pesos from a ATM machine.

fishsticker - 5-30-2009 at 12:50 PM

You can get a US phone no. from Magic Jack for 20.00 a yr and all your calls incoming and outgoing are free.

DENNIS - 5-30-2009 at 01:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fishsticker
You can get a US phone no. from Magic Jack for 20.00 a yr and all your calls incoming and outgoing are free.


Almost free. Twenty bucks is Twenty bucks. :lol:
I use MJ and you're right. It's a good deal. Thanks.

bajabound2005 - 5-30-2009 at 01:11 PM

we have our US cards; get online statements and pay the bills on line through our bank. We have a Vonage # and call from that and is the number of records that comes through on caller ID when we call anyone. Not everyone calls from their home phone...and I think when you do call there's an option for that. They will probably ask you a few more "security" questions, but no big deal.

wiltonh - 5-30-2009 at 02:46 PM

This turned out to be a big issue for me last winter. I was down for three months and about 5 weeks in I get an email from my credit card company saying that a credit card agrigrator had lost 100 million credit cards. All three of mine we in that group.

They froze the accounts and sent new credit cards to my US address. This did me no good at all in Mexico.

I switched over to using debit only and got by just fine.

Normally I do everything in cash drawn from a bank machine but there were some online transactions that I normally would have done with a credit card. One took Paypal and the other took the debit card. Using debit on line is dangerous so I moved most of the money out of the account and then made the purchase.

When I got back to the states, I found that one of the credit cards had been lost in the mail so it was still a mess. All three credit cards were with the same bank, which was probably a mistake.

A lot of people now take Paypal and that is a very good alternative to a credit card.

Wilton

bajabound2005 - 5-30-2009 at 04:22 PM

Oh -- and make sure your bank (or credit card issuer) knows you're in Mexico if you'll be using the cards here. Otherwise they may freeze your card for "fraud" until you can get a phone call into them to verify.

bacquito - 5-30-2009 at 04:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by morgaine7
Another possible hitch, which has never happened to me but has happened to friends, is that some credit card companies freeze the account if they notice "unusual activity" like international charges. :rolleyes: You might want to inform them that you are frequently in Mexico to prevent this happening.


Kate


Yes, this has happened to me numerous times. Now I call ahead of time and tell the Visa Rep, that I will be traveling in Mexico. But, it can cause a problem.

vandenberg - 5-30-2009 at 04:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajabound2005
Oh -- and make sure your bank (or credit card issuer) knows you're in Mexico if you'll be using the cards here. Otherwise they may freeze your card for "fraud" until you can get a phone call into them to verify.


That's a common problem. We notify the company ahead of time that we're going to make purchases in Mexico, even tell them we live here, and after 3 to 4 purchases the card will be frozen. So, you better carry cash also to be able to prevent some embarrassment in some store.

vandenberg - 5-30-2009 at 05:55 PM

Kate,
Since they all do it, you would soon be out of cards.
However,we're talking about making multiple purchases in one day, sometimes in substantial amounts. Just last month Capitol One shut the card down after just 4 purchases in La Paz. And they were supposedly aware of the fact we live here. We use that particular card because it's one of the few left that don't charge a fee for out of country use.

oladulce - 5-30-2009 at 05:57 PM

Prior to a vacation I notify our credit card companies of our travel dates and countries we'll be visiting to avoid having them freeze activity on the cards. Never had a problem with our VISA or MC frequent flyer airline cards.

Once we move to Mexico I don't anticipate using the cards at all for everyday costs in the country, although there may be situations that I haven't thought of where they'd come in handy. I hadn't considered the cards as back up, but that's a good point Kate.

Most of the time they'd be used to buy stuff online for home construction and later on, home maintenance, that we'll drive back to the US to pick up, and for other annual fees and costs that I can't pay thru online Bill Pay from our bank/checking account.

Pay pal is another good idea for things that can't be paid directly thru 'Bill pay".

BigWooo says that unfortunately Vonnage won't work well with our Starband setup in BCS . I don't know enough about magic Jack to know if it would work with satellite internet. We get intermittent, poor reception with SKYPE.

efax is an interesting concept BMG. We had to send an important FAX from our campsite once using our laptop hooked up to our INMARSAT sat phone.
We thought we were so cool and high tech, and then got the phone bill for $40 for one page because of the painfully slow transmission speeds.

The Mail forwarding service we'll be using in SD will also receive faxes for us and scan and email them to us- Mail forwarding, fax service, and a "domicile" address in the US for $10 / month. Not our own phone number though and no voice mail.

I've been told that cell phone reception is very poor at Punta Pequeña and the only folks we can ever call are those with base stations. We don't have cell phones in the US and sounds like we have to learn more about them and if there are phones that we can use where we'll be living and in the US.

longlegsinlapaz - 5-30-2009 at 06:09 PM

I'm holding onto my MasterCard for my emergency back-up plan. I haven't used it for 3-4 years, but every time I DO, I've had a problem, despite the fact that I've told MasterCard at least a dozen times that I live full-time in La Paz & use my brothers address as a mailing address. When I went up to San Diego 3-4 years ago on a buying trip for const #2, I made several large purchases at Sears no problem, but when I moved on to Home Depot, I ended up arguing with MasterCard via phone for over 2 hours before they finally decided that I was volunteering more personal information than they'd requested & eventually approved my purchases. I TOLD them that I had more large purchases planned, so I hoped that they had resolved the issue once & for all. But by the time I got to the pool place, once again, they denied my card!:fire: Another call to the same supervisor I'd talked with from Home Depot resolved it, but only after about 30 more minutes of arguing!

My purchases were $3-4K, but well under my $14,XXX credit line, but one problem was that I couldn't tell them what the XXX of my credit limit was!:lol::lol:

I've only attempted to use MasterCard in Mexico ONCE...and it was denied!:fire: I resorted to my debit card. But there are times I'd prefer to have the "float time" of the billing cycle to get the $$ in my account....debit card doesn't work unless there's enough $$ in your account at the moment of transaction.

Needless to say, I now use my Debit card whenever possible!

Fred-o - 5-30-2009 at 06:19 PM

I'm with B of A (not real happy) and they freeze the account if I use it more than twice in one day. I have told them at least 6 times that I live in Mexico. The last time, they said: "Well why didn't you tell us that before?" Duh! We'll mark the account accordingly, and you won't have any more trouble. Right! Sure! (Until the next time it happens)

I opened a second ATM account in another state for backup. If they freeze the B of A card while I'm travelling in Mexico, but leave the message on my home phone in Punta Banda....I'm screwed.

Good ole' B of A....

LB - 5-30-2009 at 07:14 PM

Capital One has worked well for us. We have the international number and
every couple months let them know we are still here. But we only use it at
Costco, Home Depot Ect. Never at restaurants. Use Capitol One Savings
account at the ATM, just transfer money from bank or brokage accounts when needed. These are the only cards I use down in baja. Paid our dues on BA abd AM Express!!

Don Alley - 5-30-2009 at 07:56 PM

Have a backup. A few years ago our cash card was "replaced" with a "new and better" cash card, which was mailed to our Montana address, while our old one was canceled over a year before the expiration date. Bummer. But we had a backup.

All our cc bills are done online; however, I don't trust them. For example, we've been told (rumor?) that our B of A Alaska Airlines card will soon charge $10 for each out of country purchase. If that's true, they would probably notify us by mail to Montana, not online.

Freezing: We rarely use our cards in Mexico. But when we go on a trip up north, they will shut the card off. Every time. Even if we call ahead. And even after they turn it back on and say we'll have no more problems, they may shut it off again. Always good to have a backup.

Paypal come in handy sometimes too.

ncampion - 5-31-2009 at 08:38 AM

Has anyone considered getting a Mexican credit card for use in Mexico?

karenintx - 5-31-2009 at 09:03 AM

We use the Capital One C/C for the same reasons already mentioned. There is no international conversion fees. We have never experienced any problem and we have used it all over "The America's".

Since my husband was an Airline Captain...retired last October...it was important that he had a card that would not be "frozen or denied" while in South America. So when we received our cards, about 4 years ago, I called the phone number on the back of our card. I first explained our situation to the phone agent THEN asked to be transfered to the "Fraud Department". I explained to them our travel habits and how I go online at least five days a week to monitor our account. So far no problems. I really think it was talking with a person in the "Fraud Department" so they could understand how we would be using the card. It also helps them track fraud from their perspective.

I did the same with an other credit card we use as a back-up but since the Capitol One card has worked so well we have never had to use the other card. I suspect if we did use it, it would be frozen or denied just due to not using the card in such a long time.

Riom - 5-31-2009 at 09:18 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by ncampion
Has anyone considered getting a Mexican credit card for use in Mexico?


I have a couple of debit cards from Bancomer (one in Pesos, one in Dollars). Haven't used them much (prefer cash in Mexico) but the peso card worked fine for paying the property tax in San Felipe. It also worked fine for verifying a Mexican Paypal account.

Bancomer offered me a credit card also, but there's an annual fee and a very low credit limit initially, so I didn't accept.