Using your card anywhere comes with risks. But when travelling in a foreign country, it’s important to take extra precautionary measures. By following some simple safety tips, you can minimise the risk and maximise your fun.
Let us know when you’re travelling
For your safety, we pay special attention to suspicious transactions, or those that appear out of the ordinary. So it’s important to contact our 24hr Client Care Centre on 0860 10 20 43 (+27 21 941 1377 if you’re not in South Africa) to let us know the dates and where you’ll be travelling to (remember to also mention any layovers). This way, we won’t flag your transactions as suspicious and contact you unnecessarily when you make purchases overseas.
Make sure you’re reachable
If you rely on SMS notifications to keep track of your card transactions, ensure that you enable roaming. If not, you won’t be able to receive SMS notifications, OTPs or calls from us if we need to contact you. Alternatively, if you have access to WiFi, you can monitor your transactions on our app.
Be cautious when using your card
Some countries, such as India and Indonesia, are not yet EMV compliant. This means they have not implemented a chip-and-PIN system for cards and there is no chargeback right to the merchant. These vulnerabilities make card skimming popular, so it’s crucial that you inform us when travelling to these high-risk countries.
Be cautious when using foreign ATMs
Using an ATM is fairly simple, but in a foreign country it could become complicated. ATMs often don’t look the same and may operate in a different language. This makes it difficult to spot any warning messages or suspicious devices such as card skimming machines on the ATM.
Prevent card skimming
If you suspect card skimming or have misplaced your card, limit the risk by lowering your limits on our banking app to R0. You can increase these limits again once you have found your card and are sure that it is safe to use. Also take special note of these precautions when using your card:
- Never lose sight of your card
- Watch out for suspicious devices at ATMs or card machines
- Keep your PIN secret at all times
Confirm your travel insurance
If you’re a client under the age of 75, and you purchase and pay for the full cost of your flight ticket with your Capitec credit card, you’ll automatically receive free basic travel insurance. You may also opt in for comprehensive top-up cover at your own cost if you need additional cover – just call us and we’ll help you.
No currency conversion fees
You pay zero currency conversion fees when using your Capitec card to pay for card machine purchases worldwide wherever you see the Mastercard® logo. Our credit card also offers 55 days interest free, so you’ll pay zero interest as long as you settle the outstanding balance before the interest-free period ends.
Read more about protecting your card while abroad here.
