Travel Tips for Tower Members
Important Numbers
Member Service Center
301-497-7000
800-787-8328

Fraud Service Center
for Credit Cards
888-918-7313 In the U.S.
727-299-2449 Call collect from outside the U.S.

Fraud Service Center
for Debit Cards
888-241-2440 In the U.S.
909-941-1034 Call collect from outside the U.S.

Helpful Sites for Travelers
U.S. Department of State
http://www.state.gov/

U.S. Passport Agency
http://travel.state.gov/

Transportation Security Administration
http://www.tsa.gov/

Related Links
Tower's debit card
Bill Payment
Awareness & Prevention Center

Getting ready for travel? Before you take that next international business trip, family vacation, or Caribbean cruise for two, let us help you with some basic tips and precautions.

Inform Tower Before Your Trip

To protect against theft and unauthorized use of your Tower credit and debit cards, Tower monitors your card activity 24 hours a day.
If we notice suspicious activity on one of your cards, we’ll need a
way to contact you while you’re on the road—just to confirm if the activity is authorized.

  • Call the Member Service Center to let us know the dates of your trip and where you’ll be traveling.
  • Give us your cell phone number or out of town contact information so a representative on behalf of Tower’s Fraud Service Center can call you if we cite a potential problem.
  • Add your e-mail address to your contact information, if you
    will have e-mail access during your trip.

If you receive a message from a Tower representative about possible unauthorized card use, please respond to our phone call in a timely manner. We will place a temporary hold on your card for future transactions if we do not hear from you. If you find that your card has been temporarily suspended, simply call to remove the hold.

More Tips

  • Take with you Tower’s Fraud Service Center toll-free U.S. numbers and collect call numbers if going overseas in the event one of your cards is lost or stolen. Call immediately to request your card be disabled so no further transactions will be authorized.
  • Sign up for Tower’s Home Banking for safe, easy 24-hour access to your accounts—anytime, anywhere—at your convenience. You’ll always know the exact dollar amount available to you in your accounts by keeping track of your debit card purchases and transactions online. You can even pay your bills with FREE online Bill Payment while traveling.
  • Photocopy the front and back of all your cards and IDs. Take copies with you and keep them in a separate place. If your cards are lost or stolen, you can immediately pull out the copies and cancel the cards.
Credit Card Tips

Take both a Tower MasterCard® credit card and a debit card with you so you have another form of payment in case one card is lost or stolen.

Check the expiration date of your credit card before leaving on your trip to make sure it is valid for your travel dates.

Choose to pay either the total new balance or the minimum payment for the month(s) out of town. Never miss a credit card payment when you set up Automatic Payments from your Prime Share savings or Regular Checking account before your trip.

With MasterCard’s zero liability policy, have peace of mind knowing you won't be responsible for purchases in the event of unauthorized use of your Tower credit card.

Debit Card Tips

Check the expiration date of your debit card before leaving on your trip to make sure it is valid for your travel dates.

Memorize your debit card’s PIN. If signature-transactions fail, use PIN-based transactions.

Save money when you use CO-OP Network ATMs if you’re in the U.S.—surcharge-free.
If out of the country, use ATMs with recognizable logos, such as the MasterCard logo.

With MasterCard’s zero liability policy, have peace of mind knowing you won't be responsible for purchases in the event of unauthorized use of your Tower credit card.

Some overseas ATMs will only allow access to your checking or savings account.
Note: A 1% International Assessment Fee will be added to any credit card transaction with a foreign merchant, whether originally made in U.S. dollars or converted from a foreign currency. Note: An International Assessment Fee of up to 1% will be added to any debit card transaction with a foreign merchant, whether originally made in U.S. dollars or converted from a foreign currency.

Just In Case

Purchase Travelers Cheques. Even with the availability of ATMs and plastic, it still makes sense to visit a Tower branch before your trip and purchase American Express® Travelers Cheques. They can be your only option if a vendor won’t accept your credit or debit card, or if the ATM network is down where you are visiting. Simply sign the Cheques when you purchase them and be sure to keep a note of the serial numbers so that you are protected in the event they are lost or stolen.