Sick of Your Credit Card Being Declined While Traveling? Visa Offers New Service

Really clever idea! Makes me feel almost good about being tracked...

It may be clever, but, having had few difficulties using my credit cards in some pretty off-the-beaten path places, I'd say the implications far outweigh any benefit for me.  If Facebook gives me the willies, I don't even know how to describe straightforward tracking.  I'm not sure avoiding Visa's service will protect my hiding places alone, but not signing up is a step in that direction.

The credit card companies are shy about any purchases abroad of a substantial amount, because of they risk they pose.  Even if I call and let them know my step by step plans, I can still run into trouble with one or more cards.

I don't carry my cell phone on major international trips (yet) and don't like the idea of geotracking me.  If someone has stolen wallet, they could just as easily have stolen my identity.

PIN identifications works fairly well, but even that is not without glitches as I found out this trip (incredibly slow modum, probably incomplete transmission, declined).  It's one of the reasons I like to travel with cash and a debit card (with which there seem to be fewer problems).

Interestingly enough, slow modems and no wireless were the reasons the EMV chip-and-PIN system was invented. The idea is that the terminal compares the hardware-encoded PIN with what you entered, and the transaction is okayed, even if the bank is not available to verify. Higher-value transactions are often deferred until a connection can happen, though.