<prompt> Human: So Im in Japan studying abroad and going to be living here for the next few months. Issue: Japan is primarily a cash society and places dont generally take credit cards. I have a travel visa card that Ive been using to take out cash. When I opened the account and the guy was explaining everything to me, I left with the impression that I could take out up to 200 a day. Cool. Well after my first week and a half here I ran out of cash and tried to take out some more. Card declined. Hmmm. So I call and theyre like actually 200 is the maximum amount of cash you can EVER take out until you pay it off. Which takes several days to process. They said that I could apply to increase my limit, but since Im under 21 they would have to mail a form to my parents. Which would also take awhile. Also it isnt guaranteed to be accepted. They say I have 80 still available to take out in cash. So I put my card in the ATM again aaand it only gives cash in increments of 10,000 yen, which is more than that. So thats not going to work. So Im like well okay this sucks, good thing I have a debit card! So I whip it out and try using that at the ATM and it says my PIN is wrong. Which it isnt as far as I know? Ive used it in the states just fine. So I call the international help number on the back of my debit card. Aaaand theyre closed. Great. They operate on ET and Im kind of in Japan. So now Im getting increasingly concerned. I go back to my apartment and attempt to pay off the credit card and do the online chat help thing. She says that my card isnt restricted or anything so I must be entering my pin wrong. Which Im not. She says well sometimes foreign atms only take the first four digits. But my pin is only 4 digits...Well you should try another ATM. Problem. That was the closest ATM to my apartment that will accept foreign cards, which is already fairly far to walk. I dont have a car or money for bus fare. So Id have to walk like 5 miles. And its typhoon season so its POURING. Cant you just reset my pin? Well I can mail a new one to you or you can go to the nearest bank of america branch. But I can only mail it to the address you have on file, which is my parents house in the states. And oh wait youre in Japan so I guess there arent any branches there... At this point I start crying and she says that theres nothing she can do.So I dont get to eat tonight because I have no money. I dont know when Ill be able to obtain money. After a long exhausting week when I was finally going to do something nice for myself and go out shopping and get real food that doesnt require microwaving I instead get to sit in my apartment and be miserable and hungry. First thing Im doing when I get back is closing my account.  <response>: I sympathise with your situation, but regarding PIN resets theres a very good reason they cant just reset your PIN. The person on the phonecomputer cant do it, and isnt allowed to know your PIN. It has to go to the address on file to avoid potential ID theft. And in your case, thats your parents place anyway- you could have them open it and read it to you once they get it... Certain cards also wont interact with certain ATMs. A lot of the time it interprets it as you pressing cheque on a card with only a linked savings account, for example, and the PIN error message shows. So while it may seem like a cop out, trying another ATM is often a genuine fix. As for the unsuitability of the travel card you applied for, there I have nothing but sympathy. Bank personnel should definitely know and explain their products better. A work around that may be available is having people forward you through a money remittance like Western Union? Also, Visa International has emergency cash options available for people who lose cards abroad; depending on how frustrating your situation becomes you could report your card lost to your bank and try to explore this option. Though this is far from ideal. For now I would say, though it may be difficult, find a merchant with a credit facility. Sorry youre going through this.Source for all this: have handled about a million calls from people in similar situations, and usually been able to work out some solution to their issues. 