Taylor Gonzalez79 said:Stipe, I’ve got a question for you—or honestly, anyone else who might know. It looks like my Visa Electron card over at Bank of America is blocked for online betting. I actually swung by the branch a few days ago to see what was up, but the line was just way too long, so I gave up. Is it possible to get that card unblocked, and what’s the deal with the process? Like, can I maybe just handle it over the phone?
Well, every single card has its own specific policy, I guess.
With JPMorgan Chase, if they block you (and man, they definitely do that sometimes), you can usually get it sorted out over the phone.
JPMorgan Chase tends to be pretty suspicious at first whenever there are a couple of international transactions (mostly because they don't bother checking things like expekt.com 😁 ), but after a quick call—or sometimes they even call you—they unblock it and you're good to go.
Another annoying thing about JPMorgan Chase is this bad habit they have, which is super irritating (and pricey) where they constantly swap currencies from dollars back to euros and then back again.
Our local bettors rarely ever touch Bank of America. For questions about unblocking stuff, you probably have a toll-free number on the card itself or on their website. Also, at Bank of America, they might (totally unnecessarily and logically weird) give you a hard time saying it has to go through a "foreign currency account" instead of a "checking account."
I've actually had really good luck with those toll-free numbers before. Of course, the golden rule is always to not poke the bear where you shouldn't. 😁 Because sometimes you'll get three different answers from three different people at three different desks, and then the fourth person—who happens to be the shift manager—gives you a fourth version, and you're just left wondering what's real.
And it's always a smart move to ask if anyone else has dealt with that specific issue. For example, when you're doing an MB verification for a debit (or credit) card, the first amount you see in your online banking—the one MB pulled—might actually be wrong. It takes a few days for that amount to adjust by a few cents, and then you get the actual amount you need to enter for verification. But honestly, most of the customer support folks at the bank or MB probably won't know that, but the regular bettors definitely do.
Around here, Bank of America debit cards are pretty popular and they do their job really well, so I would totally recommend those to you. You don't have to deal with all that "blocking" nonsense, you have a dedicated phone line for card services, and transactions just work.
-Stipe
