Holiday Credit Card Advice

8th June 2007

With this years holiday season rapidly approaching, APACS, the UK payments association, and travel association ABTA have published an advice guide on using your credit card abroad. Almost £20 billion was spent abroad by consumers on plastic cards, with UK cards used more than 10 times every second in overseas transactions last year.

"Using your debit or credit card is a convenient and safe way to pay when you’re overseas. However, everyone should be aware that there may be fees or costs connected with using your card in a foreign cash machine or shop. Additionally, card criminals often look to catch us with our defences down when we are on holiday, so we need to take some simple, sensible precautions to help minimise the chances of becoming a victim of fraud" said Sandra Quinn director of communication for APACS.

The guide includes the following advice to ensure that using your credit card abroad is hassle free:-

1) Ensure that your credit card company has up to date contact details for yourself, including a mobile telephone number.

2) Safeguard your PIN all the time, shield your PIN when typing it in and never give it to anyone even if they claim to be from the police or your bank.

3) Make sure that you have the 24 hour emergency contact numbers for your credit cards with you on holiday, so that you can contact your credit card company should you need to.

4) After your return from holiday always check your credit card statement carefully for any transactions that you do not recognize.