Life lesson - In case you're not aware

Boater, you are confusing me. Now you are saying the same thing as I did below. The rules that V or MC can enforce have to do with payment processing for the most simplistic reason of not putting the power to accept or decline in the hands of the merchants - most likely to avoid paying processing fees on low sales or redlining for whatever reason. V and MC want their vehicles to be "accepted anywhere" There are a few other reasons but that's about the crux of it. Risk scoring models are not held at the V or MC level. They are held at the issuer level. And that is what this thread is about. And yes it is perfectly legal to decline a transaction based on geography if that geography plays into the risk model itself - red flags for theft, fraud etc. You can override it by calling them and letting them know you are travelling. This thread is not about payment processing. It's about an account blockage because the user deviated from their "normal" behavior. The merchant isn't denying the transaction, it's a FEW (fraud early warning) flag trip defined at the issuer. Plain and simple. Legal in every right and in some cases mandated by the OCC. But V and MC do not hold the power of these models, it's at the issuer level - or at least defined there.