Robbed and Stranded; Cardholder Turns to MasterCard

Picture it: you’re traveling in a foreign country when your wallet is stolen. You’re stuck in a hotel with no money, no credit cards and no identification. And you don’t know anyone. What would you do?

That was the reality for one of our cardholders who was in China, with no way home. But he thought to call his bank, which got in touch with an agent at MasterCard Emergency Services, who swung into action.

She connected with the cardholder to get more information and figure out a plan of action – but there were problems with the phone line and the call dropped! Imagine – finding the number for your bank, then getting transferred to MasterCard and then the call is cut off … great.  Now what?  Well, our agent was prepared. She called back immediately and determined he would need emergency cash (yes, MasterCard will do that for you) and established a secure way for him to collect it. Then she faxed the request for emergency money to his bank, receiving a response in just one hour! Since he didn’t have his ID anymore, the agent created a security question that only he would know the answer to. They were in different time zones – but she said, if he wanted, she would call him every two hours, just in case something else came up. He opted for a follow up phone call later in the day.

Said the agent, “We did not reach out to him until later that evening because of the time difference as he had requested but when we did he answered on the first call! The cardholder was able to get what he needed to return to his original destination in less than 24 hours!”  That’s right. He got his money, and returned home in less than one day.

Our agents never know what’s going to be on the other end of the line when they pick up a call – but they’re ready for it. Being able to help cardholders around the world through our network of services? Priceless.

There may be thousands of businesses out there that can plan and deliver what you’re looking for. But did you know that your MasterCard card may carry this benefit for no additional fee? Give us a call to find out if your MasterCard card carries this benefit. Who knows?