Do not get stranded without cash when leaving Namibia

“There is nothing more disconcerting than finding yourself stranded and without access to your finances during a holiday trip abroad” said Elaine Klazen of Standard Bank this week, reminding Namibian card holders that it is in their best interest to inform the bank of their travel itinerary before leaving Namibia to travel abroad.

Some credit card holders forget to follow procedures when they travel and find themselves destitute in a foreign country, according to Klazen.

“It is imperative for our credit card holders to notify us that they are travelling out of the country for security purposes. They have to put in a travel note stating that they are travelling outside the borders of the country, where to, and for how long. They can do so through their private banker or through the Customer Contact Centre,” Klazen said.

She added that the bank is always monitoring their customers banking activity in a bid to combat fraud. When there is activity on the account that deviates from the account holder’s normal pattern the bank immediately intervenes.

“If the bank has not received a travel note from you, we will assume that transactions from outside the country are being done so fraudulently. The bank will then attempt to verify whether it is really you or not and if we can not get hold of you, your account will be blocked until we can verify that it is indeed you. This is why the travel note is so important,” she said.

It is also important for credit card holders to note that their cards still maintain their daily ATM withdrawal limit and that limit is in Namibia dollars and not the designated country’s currency. The daily limit for the Silver credit card is N$2000; the gold card is N$3000, and corporate and private cards are N$5000. There is no limit on Point of Sale purchases.

Standard Bank Namibia credit cards are MasterCards and can be used at 16 million outlets worldwide.