Before you embark on your trip

• Contact your card issuing bank and let them know you’ll be traveling so they will not consider the transactions suspicious.
• Check the expiry dates on your cards to make sure they are not due to expire during your trip.
• Check the amount of credit available to you during the trip as well as your account balance if you plan on using your debit card.
• Banks have restrictions on daily withdrawals that apply even when you are abroad. Check with them so you’ll know how much you can take out each day. If you use the ATMs/cash points for pocket money and charge the major expenses, such as hotels, to your payment cards, your withdrawal limit won’t be a problem.
• Make a record of credit card account numbers and telephone numbers for reporting lost or stolen cards. In fact, it’s a good idea to make a copy of everything in your wallet, including credit card numbers, and keep that in a safe place.
• Use a Visa card to purchase your tickets. This will ensure that you have a receipt as proof of purchase in case you lose your tickets or if the trip is cancelled. Check Visa’s currency conversion website to give you an indication of the rate you may receive abroad using your Visa card. In most instances, it may offer a more competitive rate than changing either cash or travellers cheques at bureaux de change or at your hotel.

During Your Trip

• The easiest way to get local currency is through Visa/Plus ATM network machines in 170 countries. Check the arrival and baggage claim areas at international airports for the Visa/Plus ATM signs for easy access to local currency when you arrive in a foreign country or visit the ATM Locator to find an ATM in the city you are visiting.
• If your Visa card is either lost or stolen, Visa is only a phone call away. Visa’s Customer Care Services are as close as the nearest telephone. No need for agents, bureaux or face-to-face reporting. Simply call the toll free (free of charge) number Visa provides in each country and you’re linked to the service.
• If your card carries the emergency replacement feature, Visa will replace a lost card while you travel within one working day.
• Never leave cards unattended at work, in the hotel room, at the pool, the tennis courts, or in a vehicle–locked or unlocked.
• Use the safe or security box provided by the hotel for your valuables and do not carry all your valuables with you on tours, to the pool, etc.
• Always keep your sales slip as proof of purchase for customs, as a means of reconciling your account when you get home, and as proof of purchase in case of a dispute. Some merchants can now convert your bill into your home currency. This means the merchant–and not Visa–is converting the currency. As a consumer you may wish to know the exact price in your home currency at the point of sale–but you should also know you may be charged extra for this service by the merchant. Visa requires merchants offering this service to inform you of the exchange rate including any applicable commission being charged.
• Print out or download Visa’s convenient currency exchange rate chart to give you an easy-to-understand reference point for prices when you are getting used to buying things in a different currency.

WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION

Keep your receipts and read your monthly statements carefully. If you see a charge you don’t recognize or if you notice any inconsistencies, contact your credit card provider right away.

Please be informed that www.accessbankplc.com remains the only authentic and genuine website of Access Bank Plc, whose registered head office is at 14/15 Prince Alaba Abiodun, Oniru Road, Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria.

However, we have uncovered several fictitious websites of some unscrupulous persons sending emails, letters, internet lottery schemes and telephone calls to unsuspecting members of the public by impersonating Directors or staff of the Bank and claiming:

• To have access to huge US dollar deposits in the Bank held in the names of deceased persons
• Huge US Dollar contract sums due for payment

Also be advised that Access Bank Plc and/or her officers will in no way be liable for any loss by you or any other party with regards to this information or the content of this e-mail.