Responding to a knock on the door by a man dressed in what looked like a hotel uniform, a professor from Japan visiting New York with his wife was recently robbed at gunpoint of, among other things, $1,000 in traveler`s checks.
After making a police report, he called the issuer of the checks, answered some questions designed to verify the claim and was told that he could obtain $500 that night by walking a block to another hotel. The refund process–from the time of theft to partial reimbursement–took less than two hours. The professor received another $500 the next day.
This account, related by a spokesman for BankAmerica Corp., is an example of a new emphasis in selling traveler`s checks: trying to convince buyers that a particular company makes it easier and faster than others to get your money back if your checks are lost or stolen.
All major issuers have a toll-free number in the United States, and some encourage purchasers traveling outside the country to call collect. But while telephone reporting is widespread, there are some differences among traveler`s checks companies.
If you ask American Express why you should buy its checks, you will be told that acceptability is more important than a speedy refund, which is not to say that American Express is slack in making refunds.
In this highly competitive field, sales figures are jealously guarded, but estimates based on the number of checks printed give an idea of how the leading companies rank.
According to Spencer Nilson, publisher of the Los Angeles-based Nilson Report, a credit card and traveler`s check industry newsletter, worldwide sales this year should total $43 billion.
The share for American Express will be about 39 percent, more than twice that of the closest competitor, which is Visa traveler`s checks, issued by Barclay`s Bank, Chase Manhattan Bank and 30 or so other banks (15.5 percent). Third is BankAmerica (14.3 percent); followed by MasterCard, issued by Thomas Cook, Chemical Bank and 36 other financial institutions (14.5 percent); and Citicorp (13 percent). A number of other banks and financial institutions, both here and abroad, divide up the rest of the traveler`s check market.
If you are traveling in the United States, you will find that the differences in refund procedures are rather small. All offer at least several hundred dollars to tide you over until the full claim can be processed.
How long that takes depends on several factors. The two most important:
knowing the numbers of your checks and knowing how many you used before the loss occurred. The time required for a full refund will be affected also by where and when the loss occurred. It takes longer to process a claim from an out-of-the way place on a weekend than from a large city on a weekday.
If you`re traveling abroad, it might be advantageous to carry a check that offers emergency refunds at hotels and car-rental agencies, which are generally open at times when banks and travel offices are not. If you are traveling only to Britain, consider the Visa checks of Barclay`s Bank, which are free and add no service charge when they are cashed at one of Barclay`s 5,000 branches in Britain. The customary fee for other traveler`s checks is 1 percent, but sellers may waive it. It doesn`t hurt to shop around.
As for cashing traveler`s checks, you generally will encounter little difficulty at a hotel where you are registered, and you probably will have no trouble at banks and currency conversion offices, provided you have sufficient identification.
At restaurants and shops, the situation may be different. Since traveler`s checks have been counterfeited, merchants in high-crime areas may be reluctant to cash any traveler`s check at all, regardless of the issuing company, and merchants who have had an issuer decline to honor a check that later proved to be forged may retaliate by refusing to accept further checks of that company.
Some issuers will supply traveler`s checks in pounds, francs, yen or other major currencies, which may be helpful if you will be spending much of your time outside of big cities.
Here is a comparison of major issuers:
— American Express. Available at 60,000 outlets worldwide, including 72 automated teller machines in the United States and 5 in Canada. Refund procedure: In the continental United States call 800-221-7282 anytime; Hawaii and Alaska call 800-321-4950. Three-fourths of all claims, the company says, are verified, and authorization for refund is made within eight minutes. The purchaser is directed to the nearest refund point; in 72 cities in the United States and 10 in Canada, the refund may be delivered by courier, usually within three hours. Refunds also are obtainable from teller machines. Emergency refunds are available at Holiday Inns in the United States. Purchasers whose checks are lost or stolen outside North America are directed to one of American Express`s 1,000 offices or to 1 of about 100 participating Avis car rental offices in 34 countries.
Extras: free reporting of loss of credit cards to the issuers; cashing personal checks up to $200; issuing temporary identification cards (helpful if passport is stolen); arranging changes in travel plans; sending a cable or Mailgram to a third party.
— Visa. Available at 50,000 sellers in 170 countries; offered free by branches of Barclay`s Bank (a 1 percent fee generally applies for Visa traveler`s checks sold elsewhere). Refund procedure: In all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada, call 800-227-6811 anytime to report loss and be directed to nearest refund outlet. There are about 10,000 emergency outlets, including Western Union offices, Sheraton hotels and National, Tilden and EuroCar car rental offices, in addition to the 50,000 banks where full refunds may be obtained.
Extras: free credit card cancellation and cable or Mailgram notification of a third party.
— BankAmerica. Available at 30,000 outlets worldwide; free at Bank of America branches (1 percent fee usually applies elsewhere). Refund procedure: Call anytime 800-227-3460 (in Alaska, California and Hawaii: 415-622-3800 collect; abroad, refer to numbers in handbook supplied at time of purchase) to report loss and be directed to nearest refund office, of which there are 40,000. BankAmerica recently announced an agreement with Inter-Continental and Forum hotels to act as refund outlets around the world along with Hilton Hotels in the United States.
Extras: For $5, purchasers may have access to the SafeTravel Network, which includes medical insurance, 24-hour referral to English-speaking doctors and lawyers, lost-luggage insurance, trip-interruption insurance, emergency hospital deposits, interpreter service and rental-car discounts. (BankAmerica checks, incidentally, differ from others in that the person cashing one signs on the back and cannot see the original signature while signing.)
— MasterCard. Available at various banks and at 1,350 Thomas Cook offices. Refund procedure: For an emergency refund, call 800-223-9920, or, if one is listed in the phone book, the local number for MasterCard International, to be directed to 1 of 100,000 or so refund outlets, including participating Hertz offices. For full refund, apply at a bank that sells MasterCard traveler`s checks or a Thomas Cook office, if you bought the checks from Thomas Cook.
— Citicorp. Available at Citibank branches and various other financial institutions. Refund procedure: Consult local phone book for Citicorp Traveler`s Checks; if none listed, go to a bank issuing the checks; if none is open, call 24-hour Hot Line (800-645-6556 in most of the United States or 813-623-1709 collect in Alaska, Canada and elsewhere).
Extras: Purchasers receive various services, some free, others costing $4.95 for an individual, $8.95 for a family. Free services, available outside the United States, include medical referrals, legal assistance and interpreter service. Extra-fee services, which can be used anywhere, include emergency towing and road service, lost-baggage insurance, accident insurance and trip- interruption insurance. Should a Citicorp customer incur a charge for the phone call reporting lost or stolen checks, he will be reimbursed, according to a company official.
