Your bank may not allow you to use ATMs in Croatia!

confused

if the Treasury blocked Croatian atms how will changing banks change anything?

It turns out not all banks follow this same "block" policy as my current bank. I called another bank in town and they said Croatia would be fine. Also a number of larger banks evidently do not have the same ridiculous policy as my current bank. No idea why they feel the need to be so restrictive.

I searched the internet and zero appears that says this is a US government issue.

There is evidently a list maintained by the Treasury Dept's OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) restricting certain banking procedures in certain locations due to fraud, terrorism, etc.

I too have done some web research into this and it sounds like it's a regulation that some banks follow and others don't. Basically a needless restriction that cost us money, time, headaches, and stress, and could have affected our safety if we hadn't had a fallback.

Basically: carry plenty of USD or euros into Croatia just in case, and don't count on being able to withdraw cash!

P.S. I promise I'm not a terrorist, just a grey-haired lady who is usually over-prepared and was thrown for a loop by this ridiculous restriction on a European country.

A sort of wild guess is not less than 2 million US tourists went to Croatia last year. So, we have a situation that potentially affects 2 million Americans each year and not one news story. If only 10% felt the impact that would be 200,000. Amazing.

The best help you can give others is to tell them the name of your bank. That way those who also use it are advised. I did contact my bank, Bank of America, no issues. They are the second largest bank in the US so that should protect quite a few tourists. You said you checked with a few other banks. Which were those so at least some folks will have some confidence.

Name the bank. This is a bank imposed problem, not a US government problem.

@alysonewald, If the purpose of your post is to potentially help other travelers, then you really need to specifically identify which bank you are referring to.

Otherwise, your post can’t help anyone, and is rather pointless.

No post is pointless. Its just barely morning in the states. Wait.

It is somewhat common for banks to block countries for ATM use due to concerns with fraud. It is not a regulation or requirement though, the Treasury department simply sends out fraud alerts, like the state departments travel alerts, and banks can do as they wish with it. There are sanctions put in place on some countries (North Korea, Iran, etc) where the "block" is mandatory, but not Croatia in this case. Back a few years ago, Spain came up as a "Blocked" country, and was reported here. As I recall, the people having issues were using smaller banks and credit unions.

Here's a TripAdvisor post from several years ago with a similar issue. The relevant posts begin at #4.

https://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g294453-i1554-k13932673-ATM_reminder-Croatia.html

Apparently an issue with MasterCard, but not Visa.
Incredible that an EU member nation has been added to the list of the other blackballed countries.

Yea, that TA one is all over the map, too. I will withhold judgment. I am not convinced of the truth of Visa vs Master Card, Croatia Bank vs other EU bank vs US bank, US government vs gwad knows why. I am pretty comfortable that the term "blackballed" is hyperbole.

I am sort of leaning towards this is a limited individual US bank thing or with the millions of US citizens that go to Croatia this would be in the headlines and RS would be advising people on his tour in Croatia. In the last 5 years I have used my ATM card in every Balkan country except N. Macedonia. No problems. We have had I dont know how many RS forum members go, many doing trip reports.

But I am also not saying the OPs experience wasn't real. Of course it was and it must have been maddening.

OP, did you try EuroNet?

Another good argument, always travel with cash?

Hello good people,

Thanks for your care for myself and other travelers. I didn't name my bank originally simply because it is a relatively small midwestern bank chain, operating in only a few states, and I doubt many of their customers are travelers to Croatia.

However, I apologize for the oversight, as of course it may be useful for others to have that info. It is called Equity Bank, and is owned by Equity Bancshares, Inc. out of Kansas. It's not a credit union, but it certainly is not a large bank. It recently acquired my previously local small bank, the Bank of Kirksville (Missouri).

The four or five Equity Bank employees I spoke with throughout this ordeal told me that it would not have helped to inform them before travel that I was going to Croatia specifically. All they could have done beforehand was warn me that my ATM card would not work there. It was beyond their power to lift the block for my card or anyone's card. One employee "elevated" me to some sort of high status customer, in hopes that would help, but to no avail.

I am a savvy enough traveller to have had about $400 with me, but many sobe hosts and some shops require cash payments, even those operating through Booking.com. And $400 would only cover 3-4 nights of our rooms and such, even if I was willing to spend it all and go the rest of the trip without any cash at all on me, which felt too risky, especially since I was traveling with my teen daughter.

I mean, even snazzy restaurants on the walls of the Korcula old town sometimes require payment in cash.

So yes, do by all means check with your bank before you go, and don't just say "Europe" because they will nod their heads and assure you it's fine, as mine did. If I'd known, at least I could have had more USD on me ready to cover all our rooms.

Live and learn.

Sorry, forgot to reply that yes, I tried Euronet ATMs, as well as several Croatian bank ATMs right at the bank doors. I was fairly desperate and drove my daughter crazy running over to every ATM I saw, clicking through the numerous buttons that offered to convert the currency and swindle me further... but none of them worked.

And it is indeed a Mastercard ATM card.

Quick update. I went in person to one of the main branches of Equity Bank and spoke with an employee there. I posed the question to her: if I were to travel to Croatia soon, would my card work at ATMs there?

She consulted with a higher-up, got access to the "BSA Blocklist," and said unfortunately no, it would not work, and there is nothing we can do to make it work.

Other countries on the BSA blocklist include: Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Russia, among a number of countries that are currently at war or otherwise in extremis.

However, if I wanted to go to Hungary or Ukraine, the bank could give pre-approval beforehand, and my card would work there.

It is unclear to me how countries are chosen for this list and how banks decide whether to allow transactions there.

Caveat emptor.

I would also not expect Slovenia to be on the list in addition to Croatia. They both are countries that are in the EU and NATO and have been for years.

Totally bizarre.

If I can make a suggestion, I would strongly suggest that the next time you travel overseas that you bring at least two, or even better, three different credit cards from three different banks just to be on the safe side.

I usually pay for everything with Apple Pay and I have about 11 or 12 credit cards on that. That may be extreme for many people, but certainly a minimum of two and three would help you in a situation like that.

Yes, I too was surprised that Slovenia was on the list as well. I think they've been in the euro zone for like decades.

I did have four different credit cards with me. Three of them I either didn't have the right PIN and couldn't change it remotely, or had not set up a PIN and they wanted to mail it to me in the States. Only one would let me set up a PIN on the phone.

Lots of learning opportunities! :-)

NATO? Dont forget Turkey is in NATO.

Anyway. I googled the problem and got very, very few meaningful hits. So I tend to believe this is more about the OP's bank than a major issue for tourists. Still, if one bank does it and thats your bank it could be a realy nightmare. To make matters worse, there is no place I can find to read the supposed lists, so researching this in advance is somewhat iffy at best.

Those concerned and I presume we should all have some awareness on the subject; maybe a post "I am going to Croatia and Serbia (or where ever) and I have Chase Bank. Anyone with Chase used the local ATMs recently?"

I havent been to Croatia or Serbia or Albania in 4 years so my experience there is dated. But have been to Montenegro and Bosnia and Ukraine in the last year and Bank of America worked just fine.