Two Factor Authentication

We came across the same thing when booking for Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Our tickets wouldn't go through, but when we ordered tickets for Pompeii in Italy, the two factor authentication magically worked, we got a text from the credit card and were able to get the tickets. We called our credit card company and they didn't know anything about it.

In Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy that hasn’t been our experience, so it wouldn’t seem to be an EU requirement.

It is an EU requirement - under PSD2, any online transaction over €50 where the payment service provider is based in the EU requires multi factor authentication There are some loopholes where the payment provider is not EU based.

MFA is widespread outside the EU as well - my bank certainly uses it, and the vast majority of online transactions I do require it. Incidentally, many banks are retiring MFA by text message (which is less secure) and using app-based authentication instead.

Another reason to consider carefully your phone service in Europe very carefully. No text to your US number could mean no money.

Very good info Simon. Might explain my recent troubles buying a Swiss Rail Pass. I tried to buy it from SBB.com, and was not able to. SBB's transaction provider (Datatrans), could not connect securely enough to two of my cards, I guess. They did get one of my M/C's to send me a 2FA text, but the transaction still failed. I guess Datatrans is Swiss based? Then I went through RailEurope, and no problem, no 2FA. So maybe RailEurope uses a U.S. based transaction provider.

And come to think of it, last fall, in Germany, I did have the occasional credit card not accepted for a meal over $50. I'd use another card and no problem. Maybe this topic will come up here more often.

I used my Visa card a few times around Budapest one day last week. Worked fine. Used it at the next vendor. No go. The tourist person before me and the tourist person after me used a card on the same machine, no problem. With mine we tried to tap, insert and swipe and no luck. Worked fine in the next store. So, maybe carrying a little cash isnt a bad idea (I used another card with no issues).

"I did have the occasional credit card not accepted for a meal over $50. I'd use another card and no problem"

Not.specifically an MFA issue (that's for online 'card not present' transactions only) but a good reminder to bring multiple cards.

You need to talk to your credit card, if they are clueless, then look for a new card for travel. Some cards can add the 3DS option, others not, some include it as part of their security plan. You may need to set it up, basically indicate the phone number or email to receive the notice.

I have one card that I got specifically for travel. It is Chip and PIN with PIN priority, and has 3DS as an MFA. when I buy anything online, from a European site (and some US) over some dollar amount, I get notice from the website for verification, a text from my credit card, and a code I have to put in.

Also, while tap has alleviated many issues Americans have with cards in Europe, a PIN is still handy and eases transactions

Don’t all credit cards ask you to set up a PIN number?

I ran into this issue several times in Barcelona.

The first time was trying to pre-buy tickets online to save a Euros at Casa Batllo. The website asked me for my telephone number to send me a 2fa text. I had an Orange Holiday esim which has a European telephone number but that was no good for 2FA. I did not have that European number listed with my bank. Plus I do not believe thee bank would send a text to a non-North American number. Luckily, there was no lineup and the cashier was nice enough to give me the online discount for the tickets. I could always use my credit card in person without having to deal with 2fa; the issue only arose when trying to use the credit card online.

We next went to the Casa Mila and ran into the same issue. This time when the website asked me for my telephone number, I noticed that I could scroll further down in the 2FA menu and it gave me the option to send the verification code to my email address, which I did.

It is best to deal with this 2FA issue before you leave on a trip. Many just pay extra for the international roaming so they can receive texts on their regular cell number overseas; unfortunately, my cell provider does not have roaming except for the United States or possibly Mexico.

Contact you bank and credit card company before you depart on your vacation to find out the various alternatives available to you. In my situation, it turned out that email was an option. Although many people don't like doing this, I now also ask my bank to temporarily disable the 2fa requirement in my other credit card that does not use email as an alternative. To me, it is more important to be able to make payments than to worry about less security. Apparently, some may permit use of google authenticator but I have not tried this yet. Another option is to use a VOIP number from Fongo or TextNow which give you a free Canadian or US telephone number which allows you to receive phone calls and texts overseas. You have to pay for the 2fa option and I have read that the service can be glitchy.

Good luck.

I just learned a bit more about my inability to buy Swiss Travel Passes. We just called the M//C number to inquire about account balance (we like to prepay money before a trip), and found there was a fraud hold on the card. The problem was my numerous attempts to buy the pass from SBB.com. That caused the fraud alert. And a second problem I found was that they had only my landline phone number, so they were trying to text a 2FA message to me. Of course it failed. So make sure your old credit cards don't have an old landline number associated with them.

travelerguy, life has become too complicated.

yep it has (my original message was just "yep" but the forum software said my message had to be at least 10 characters). I rest my case.

Don’t all credit cards ask you to set up a PIN number?

The vast majority of cards in the US only have a PIN for a cash advance at an ATM, good to have for emergencies, but useless for purchases, especially at an unmanned ticket machine, Gas Pump, and other kiosks. Tap-to-pay has alleviated issues for purchases up to 50 euro or so, and at a manned POS, a slip is printed out for you to sign, but having a PIN has made my life easier.