by Simon Gompertz Working Lunch's business correspondent

Be prepared for your card to be rejected when you're abroad this summer.

Sid King has joined the growing ranks of travellers who have been left red in the face and unable to pay a bill because their cards didn't work.

He had taken a group of friends to a restaurant in Spain, but had to ask one of his guests to foot the bill after his Barclays Premier Card was blocked by the bank's fraud detection system.

Humiliated

"I was humiliated," Sid told Working Lunch. "In a shop you can just hand the goods back. I could hardly ask my friends to return the meal."

But the worst of it was that the card had already been rejected on the same day in a perfume shop. Sid had rung Barclaycard after that incident and been assured that everything would be all right.

Fraud detection systems can't tell who's using a card genuinely

Credit and chargecard companies have installed elaborate computer programmes which are designed to spot fraudulent transactions. But in many cases the systems cannot tell the difference between a fraudster and a genuine cardholder making an unusual purchase.

In Sid's case, the system didn't expect a customer from Hertfordshire to be buying a meal in Spain.

Referral

"We're looking to check that the person using the card is the right person," explains Barclaycard's Ian Barber. "The transaction will never be declined - it may be referred."

A referral is a request to the shopkeeper to ring to reassure the card company.

The transaction will never be declined - it may be referred

Ian Barber, Barclaycard

But a holidaymaker cannot expect shopkeepers or restaurant owners in a foreign country to make a telephone call to verify his or her identity.

So whether a card is 'referred' rather than 'declined' it can still end up being rejected.

Warning

Sid King has his card so he can bring it out for an unusual purpose in an unusual place. The rejection makes him question the point of having it. "It negates the use of the card," he says.

Customers can now warn Barclaycard about their travel plans before they go on holiday.

The company says it has recently installed software which allows an account to be tagged to allow for the fact that there may be unexpected transactions.

Viewers tales

After Sid King's case was featured on Working Lunch, other viewers rushed to share their own stories of card woe.

"I had the same problem with Barclaycard at both the Carrefour supermarket and Eurotunnel terminal in France on a recent day trip," says David from Kent. "It was highly embarassing to be encumbered with a trolley full of essentials to find that the card was refused."

Clive from Essex had trouble with his card in Paris

Other card issuers are pinpointed as well. Clive from Essex reports that his Goldfish card was returned as 'abandoned' by a restaurant waiter in Paris.

Julie from Surrey complains that after having her card rejected: "I returned home to find a letter asking me to confirm if the transactions were mine - a little like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted!"

Euro

Meanwhile, Brits are missing out on a price cut which has been brought in this month for card users from countries which have adopted the Euro.

Until now, most card companies charged a 2.75% fee on transactions outside the country where the card was issued. But a new European Union regulation has laid down that if a fee is not charged in a cardholder's home country, it should not be charged in other Eurozone countries either.

UK residents don't have to lose out. Working Lunch has been shopping around for British cards which waive the fee.

There are two, from Nationwide and Lombard Direct, which do not levy it all, wherever you go.

Hoare & Co, Liverpool Victoria and Saga waive the fee for transactions within the European Union. The Caravan Club has an affinity card which gives members the same saving.