Card Services

Activating Your New Card | Traveling Abroad/Shopping Outside Texas | Card Limits | Fraud Monitoring | Reasons Your Card May be Declined | Lost or Stolen Cards | Reactivating Your Card

Activating Your New Card

Activation thru Online Banking

First log in to your Online Banking account. Once in Online Banking, go to Card Center in the top menu and click on the Activate Card link. From there click the drop down menu and select the correct card to activate then click continue.

Activation thru Phone Banking

Call Phone Bankinh at 512-302-4444  and follow the instructions.

Activation thru Visa Voice Response Unit (VRU)

Call either Card Services at 512-407-3181 or the direct VRU line at 1-844-688-4727 and follow the prompts.


Traveling Abroad/Shopping Outside Texas

To help prevent fraud, ATFCU limits VISA card transactions outside of Texas/US. VISA Debit and Visa Credit Cards are limited to $1500 per transaction outside of Texas, and have a $500 limit per transaction outside the US. If you are going to be traveling or shopping online with a merchant outside Texas/US, limits can temporarily be lifted.

The "Remove Out of State Restrictions" or "Remove Online Purchase Restrictions" feature can be set up to 3 months in advance and is valid for up to 1 month. You may contact Austin Telco at (512) 302-5555 to temporarily lift the limit, login to the ATFCU Mobile App and select Card Center, or lift it from home using Online Banking. Once you are logged in to your Online Banking account, select "Card Center" and then select "Remove Out of State Restrictions" if traveling outside of Texas/US or "Remove Online Purchase Restrictions" if shopping online with a merchant outside of Texas/US.

Please note that lifting the restriction does not deactivate the fraud monitoring on your card. VISA/FALCON may contact you to verify suspicious charges while Out-of-State restriction is lifted. If you get a call from Visa, please verify the charges as soon as possible to prevent a block on your card. See below for additional information regarding fraud monitoring.


Card Limits

Card limit information is listed in the EFT Agreement or you can contact Austin Telco at 512-302-5555 ext. 7190.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Card Limits

I am making a large purchase today and am not comfortable carrying cash.

We can temporarily raise the signature-based limit to allow the charge. You may contact the credit union 512-302-5555 for assistance. Please note that we are only able to lift this restriction during normal business hours. (Some restrictions and/or verifications may apply)

Can I raise the POS or ATM transaction limit?

Unfortunately, PIN-based (or POS) and ATM transaction limits cannot be lifted. If you need to make a larger transaction, feel free to drop by any branch to make a cash withdrawal. You may also make a cash advance with any merchant that offers this service to VISA card holders.

Why are you putting a limit on me spending my own money?

The limits are placed for security reasons. If your card is stolen, the fraudulent transactions will stop once a certain limit is reached, mitigating loss to yourself and the credit union.


Fraud Monitoring

In addition to partnering with VISA to provide our members card services, Austin Telco also partners with VISA/FALCON to provide superior fraud monitoring. FALCON Fraud Manager is designed to detect unauthorized charges to your debit card and prevent fraudulent activity should your card be lost or stolen. FALCON is automatically alerted if there is suspicious activity on your debit card. These alerts may result in a VISA/FALCON Fraud Representative contacting you by phone to validate your recent transactions. If they are unable to reach you by phone, your card may be temporarily blocked.


Reasons Your Card May be Declined

  1. NSF. There are not enough available funds to complete the transaction. A deposit must be made or the transaction amount must be lowered in order for the charge to go through.

  2. Card Expiration Date Mismatch. The expiration date is being entered incorrectly by either the cardholder or the merchant. The credit union can be contacted to verify the expiration date over the phone.

  3. CVV Verification Mismatch. The 3-digit CVV code on the back of the card is being entered incorrectly. ATFCU representatives are unable to verify the CVV code. If the code is unreadable, we can re-issue the card.

  4. Invalid PIN Entry. The wrong PIN is being used. Multiple attempts using the wrong PIN may result in a temporary block on your card. The PIN can be reset at any branch, or a new automatically-generated PIN can be mailed by request over the phone.

  5. Transaction Blocked. A transaction that exceeds one or more of the limits listed above is being attempted. Feel free to contact the credit union at (512) 302-5555 for assistance.

  6. Suspected Fraud. Visa/Falcon has detected suspicious activity on your card and must be contacted to verify the charges. If you can verify the activity with VISA then any block on the card will be lifted and you can continue to use your card. If you continue to experience issues, please contact us during business hours at 512-302-5555.

Lost or Stolen Cards

If your ATFCU VISA Debit Card or VISA Credit Card has been lost or stolen, it can be canceled 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the event you are uncertain which cards have been lost or stolen, please cancel all debit and credit cards immediately and call the Credit Union the next business day.

To deactivate your card using Online Banking

First login to your Online Banking account. Once in Online Banking, go to Card Center in the top menu and click on Deactivate Visa Card. Verify the card you want to deactivate and click continue then submit on the next screen.

To deactivate your card using Austin Telco Phone Banking

Simply dial (512) 302-4444 or (800) 252-1410, select option 1 and follow the voice prompts. You will be instructed to enter your card number, or your account number if you don't know your card number. You will be asked to confirm your choice and exit from the system. You will then be prompted to cancel the VISA Credit Card or VISA Debit Card. After the card has been confirmed, you will be asked for the card holder’s 9-digit Social Security number.


Reactivating Your Card

Cards that were canceled, and later found not to be lost or stolen, can be re-activated in person the next business day.