I’m a teller at a branch of a small regional bank chain in Michigan. I get the joy of helping this middle-aged woman one day.
Me: “Hi, welcome to [Bank]! How can I help you today?”
Customer: “I need to put a travel notification on my account. I’ll be traveling abroad for the first time!”
Me: “Awesome! I can help you do that.”
She verifies her account information, and I get to the point where I need to put in her travel details.
Me: “What dates will you be traveling?”
Customer: “June third to the twelfth.”
Me: “Okay, and where will you be traveling?”
Customer: “Arizona and Utah!”
Me: “Okay… wait. Umm… ma’am, can you repeat that for me, please?”
Customer: “Arizona and Utah.”
Me: *Trying to be tactful* “Ma’am, you don’t need to put in a travel notice for travel within the United States. I see that you’re signed up for text message fraud alerts, so you might have to respond to the text if the system wants to confirm a transaction on your account. Is that what you meant by a travel notification?”
Customer: “My friend told me I need to put in a travel notification before my trip so my account didn’t get locked.”
Me: “Yes, that’s true for international travel, but Arizona and Utah are both US states.”
Customer: “But we have to fly there, so it’s abroad.”
Me: “Ma’am, ‘traveling abroad’ means traveling internationally, or outside the United States. If you’re traveling to another state, it’s not ‘abroad’.”
Customer: “Hmm. I don’t know about that. My friend travels a lot, so she knows what she’s talking about. I’ll just stop in at my regular branch and get someone who knows what they’re doing to put in my travel notification.”
I tried, folks. I really did. Hopefully, she enjoys her first trip “abroad” with her friend.
