Cash advances saves the day

Because not everyone wants to live in a cashless world.

Believe me, it's never fun finding yourself suddenly left without any cash in a strange place. The worst time it happened to me was in the late nineties when I tried to withdraw some money from an ATM in Marrakesh. Finding a suitable ATM was hard enough, but when I finally did, I then discovered that a bitter ex-girlfriend had cleared out my bank account. Life as a street bum in Morocco beckoned until my mum finally accepted my reverse-charges call and wired me some money. Thanks mum.

My situation was largely of my own making. There were things I probably should have left unsaid when I broke up with that particular girl; and I certainly shouldn't have left her with ongoing access to my account. Fortunately my mum was able to sort it out after a few anxious days, but if I'd known about Secure Sentinel's cash advance service I'd have saved myself – and my dear mum – a lot of anxiety.

So, how could my situation have been improved? To find out more, I spoke with a few Secure Sentinel customers who found themselves broke in a foreign country through no fault of their own. Here's how they dealt with it:

Robert Jackson of NSW lost his wallet in the UK two days before he was due to fly to the United States. It contained all his cash and credit cards as well as his driver's licence.

'I'm not ashamed to admit I was in a panic,' he told me. 'I was about to fly to New York, one of the most expensive cities in the world, with no money and no way to pay for anything.'

Robert contacted Secure Sentinel as soon as he realised his wallet was missing and was immediately sent $500 to tide him over and a replacement credit card was delivered before he left the UK.

'I couldn't believe the speed with which everything was organised,' he said. 'Secure Sentinel got me out of one helluva hole.'

Chris Nisen of Townsville recounted a scary story about waking up one morning in France to discover that thieves had broken into his motor home while he slept. Worse, they made off with all his cash and credit cards.

'When I scraped together all the loose coins lying around the van I couldn't even buy a croissant,' he said ruefully.

Chris made a reverse charges call to Secure Sentinel to report the loss. His cards were cancelled and an emergency cash advance arranged.

'I've got to say I was skeptical when Secure Sentinel said the money would be available within three hours,' he said. 'But two and half hours later they called me on my mobile to say the money was waiting at the main post office in Nimes.'

Terry Johnston of Cooks Hill still shudders when he remembers the night he found himself without a cent to his name in the border town of Lao Cai in northern Vietnam. In the crush to board the overnight sleeper train to Hanoi his pocket was picked and the wallet containing his credit card and cash stolen.

'I was penniless in a foreign country,' he recalled. 'It was a horrifying moment.'

Terry called Secure Sentinel when he arrived in the Vietnamese capital at 7am the next morning. His credit card was immediately cancelled and a cash advance sent to the local Western Union office.

'The first thing I did was buy a cappuccino to ease my somewhat frayed nerves,' he recalled with a laugh. 'Thanks to Secure Sentinel the whole experience was relatively painless.'

An emergency cash advance is just one of the benefits of being a Secure Sentinel member. If needed and you qualify, Secure Sentinel can arrange for up to $1,000 emergency cash to be sent to you via Western Union, wherever you are in the world so you can continue to enjoy your holiday in the event of loss or theft. For more information about Secure Sentinel's emergency cash advance and card replacement services, call 1800 022 043 or click here.