Mastercard ATM problems: Warning!

The ATM card issued by my bank (Charter One) is a Mastercard. I have
always used it as an ATM card in Europe with no problems. Last week I
was in Rome, Italy, and went to use it to get cash, and was told by
the ATM machine "Card not valid for international transactions." I
tried many different ATM machines, and kept getting the same type of
message. Fortunately, I had brought some travelers checks along, so I
cashed those.

I got back yesterday, and called my bank to ask if they had any idea
why I had problems. "Oh, yes" said the customer service rep. "We've
blocked the use of Mastercard in a number of countries!" Apparently,
due to fraud problems, the Mastercards can't be used in many
countries, including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, China, and
a dozen others. In some countries the restriction was for PIN
applications only (like ATM machines), in other countries (incuding
all the ones I listed above) the cards couldn't be used for anything,
even as a credit card. It wasn't clear if this was a Charter One
policy, or a Mastercard policy; one rep said it was a general
Mastercard policy, another rep didn't know.

Therefo If you are planning a trip to Europe or Asia, and plan on
using a Mastercard ATM card (or any ATM card for that matter), call
your bank first, and confirm that you can use it. And have a backup
plan for getting cash, such as traveler checks or an alternate ATM
card.

Message to Charter One: Thanks for not bothering to let your customers
know about this policy!!!

Happy trails.
Dan