Question
Can anyone explain the following problem? When I arrived in Nice, France, and went to pickup my rental car, the agent said my Bank One visa card came back "not valid". Tried my wife's Bank One card, still not valid. I then gave them my MBNA visa card and it processed with no problem. I called Bank One and they said their records showed no attempt to use the card. On five other occasions my Bank One visa was refused as not valid. In one instance a hotel manager entered the nos. manually, still not valid. In each case th MBNA card was accepted without problem. In a dozen other cases the Bank One visa was accepted and processed without any problems. When I returned home I called Bank One and asked why would the merchants sometimes not accept their card but always would the MBNA card. Bank One could offer no explanation. I was lucky to have taken 2 different visa cards. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.
Answer
I can't explain the problem, but be thankful you ended up using the MBNA card. MBNA won't hit you with any surcharges for foreign exchange. That would not have been the case with Bank One.
Answer
I have had this problem with my UA Bank One Visa also - once in Belgium, but several times in the US making online purchases. In every case, my MBNA card works like a charm.
It makes me wonder....
Answer
Not sure it's only a Visa problem.
I use an American Express Centurion card, which comes with a 2nd card
in my name (to separate expenses).
I never had problem using the 1st card (main card), but the 2nd card is
usually refused in Paris as beeing "not valid". I checked the card at the American Express office, they could read in the magnetic stripe without problem.
It's possibly a software problem in the terminals reading the card, and
checking the formal correctness of the information recorded on the
magnetic stripe (check numbers etc.)
Answer
I ran into problems trying to use my Bank One BA Visa on the Internet to purchase from BA's web page (to get the 2 miles per dollar). When I called to complain they said that they've had so many problems with online charges that they now automatically decline them unless the customer calls. Perhaps your problem is something similar? It does seem a bit stupid that they would have a problem with online charges but allow charges abroad with no problem, so might this be a potential reason? (It might also explain what wanaflyforless experienced.)