Wizard Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas

[gosling]

Hi

has anyone had trouble taking cash advances off their credit card while in South America?

We thought we had struck it lucky by obtaining a Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard before we left home for our south american holiday. No fees on international purchases or cash advances. ALthough the credit limit they give you is only $750 (!) we put the card into credit by $1000, so that we could take cash advances while OS and avoid the $5 fee for every withdrawal by using our regular eftpos cards. We even tested our cards before we left to cash advance to make sure things would run smoothly.

Only problem is our Wizard card has not worked once while we have been overseas to make cash advances. It has worked fine for purchases, in fact in Wizard's defence we have got significantly better exchange rates with them than with Commonwealth bank. But every ATM which we have attempted to withdraw from has said we don't have the funds available, even though our card is in credit. We have phoned Wizard in Australia and they claim nothing wrong at their end and can't do anything.

We have tried the cards about 10 or 12 times throughout Chile, Argentina and Peru.

Has anyone had a similar experience? any ideas on a plan of attack?

Thanks

[Kiwi Flyer]

Does your card have a Cirrus, Plus or Maestro symbol on it? Do the ATMs?

[aspro2]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer

Does your card have a Cirrus, Plus or Maestro symbol on it? Do the ATMs?

The Wizard card referred to doesn't have these symbols on the back, but it is intended to work at all machines accepting Mastercard, as far as I know.

I sympathise with gosling's plight, having experienced similar with an HSBC Visa card once -- a system glitch, though for a shorter period (4 days) than gosling has experienced.

The card certainly does offer good forex rates at least :?

Please make sure you update us if a solution/explanation is found, as there are a few of us here with this card.

[Lindsay Wilson]

My father got the Wizard card for his recent trip to South Africa with the same thought in mind and also put it into credit. Will have to ask him whether he had any problems (although he probably wouldn't have had the confidence to extract money from an ATM, but perhaps my mother taught him the rudimentary skills before he left )

[robertz]

Originally Posted by GEMoneySite

MasterCard Global Service
Get help quickly from anywhere in the world, around the clock, with;

a lost or stolen card,
an emergency replacement card,
emergency cash advances, and
locating an ATM Network accepting MasterCard® or Cirrus® brands.
Simply call (+1) 636 722 7111 to be put in touch with a representative who speaks your language.

Just had a quick look at the Wizard site. The card is provided by GE Money, so I would think the same rules apply.

What you need is to find an ATM with the Cirrus logo displayed.

With cash advances, it goes through a third party provider, rather than Mastercard. ie When a PIN is used to get cash.

If Wizard say everything is OK from their end, they should also be able to tell you which Banks ATM will work with their card.
Failing this, on the GE Money site it has Mastercard Global Service information for finding ATM around the world. Information above.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[kawoh]

your problem is not the ATM. Wizard put a lock on your a/c once you hit or got near that $750 or something or required some additional info. I'm sure if you call them they'll be able to explain it.

I did exactly the same b4 i went overseas and it got locked out. It's now been fine i've used it on our 200 transactions in the past month overseas incl 4 cash advances from various ATM's, all fine. Any ATM pretty much works that takes mastercards.

[gosling]

Thanks so much for all your advice.
WE will try to contact Wizard again in AUS and unlock the card. Weird though as the amounts we have been withdrawing are under the credit limit and even under the amount that the card is in credit!!
Will keep you posted on our progress.
FYI, we also rang mastercard global anf they checked the account was ok and said there was nothing they could do.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards
Sarah.

[gosling]

hi everyone. Thanks for all your help.
Well after numerous emails and responses on the wizard and mastercard websites, someone has managed to únlock our account.
It is now working fantastically, and so far no charges on the account. GReat as we can check on the internet what we have been charged as we go.

So Wizard is looking like a great option for travelling now.. jut hope no one else gets locked out for as long as we did.

Thanks again,

Sarah

[beardoc]

I'm interested in this card as well, because I want to apply for it, put it in substantial credit and use it to withdraw money from ATMs when over in the US, Canada and the UK.

It seems that the lock could be a major inconvenience if you are relying on this for travel - has anyone else had a problem with the lock, and is it possible to contact Wizard before you leave to make sure that there's no lock put on it whilst you're overseas? Would be difficult if it were to be put on whilst overseas. Of course, I'd call them to let them know my itinerary so that they can expect lots of overseas ATM withdrawals to happen.

Would this be enough to prevent them locking the account whilst I'm overseas?

[skywalka]

Why did they lock the card in the first place?