Information on the positive and negative features of all the money options available for travelers including cash, foreign debit cards, local debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid travel cards and traveler’s cheques. Plus, money transfers are explained as are the rules and regulations of carrying cash into a foreign country when travelling. You can type any content you want here. You can also use button provided above to adjust your links
Cash Options
Credit Cards
Whilst being highly useful, few banks advertise their overseas charges on Credit Cards and fewer still are suitable to keeping costs low while you are overseas. This section will help you to not only decide what’s right for you, but what will work best while you travel.
Travellers Cheque
There is nothing worse than stepping off the plane hungry, thirsty and needing a trolley to carry your backpack and bags only to realise you have no local currency to cover these small costs. In some more remote regions of the world the Automatic Teller may seem like a thing of the future. To avoid this situation, make sure you carry at least a small amount of local cash when travelling to a foreign country. Foreign currency can be exchanged at money exchange branches and bureaux de change locations before you leave home or at the airport terminal.
Just remember, cash is non-replaceable so carrying large sums of money into a foreign country is not only risky but banned by some countries. To check the restrictions on the amount of physical currency you are allowed to carry into the country you are travelling to, visit (insert link to foreign money restrictions page below).
Convenience costs and although using your debit card at overseas ATMs/cash point machines is definitely easier than organising foreign money exchange or traveler’s cheques, it is also much more expensive. In fact, British cardholders alone are expected to pay over £500 million in hidden charges and handling fees when using their cards in Europe this year. Daily Limits also apply.
Bank fees charged for using foreign ATMs/cash point machines are much higher than when using them at home and the exact amount usually goes unnoticed until you return from holiday or receive your next bank statement. Warnings now appear on most UK cash point machines stating that additional transaction charges from the home financial institution will apply, but the exact amount is rarely shown.
The most common charge applied to transactions at foreign ATMs/cash point machines is known as the ‘loading fee’, levied at a 2.75% commission rate on the total cost of your credit or debit card transaction. Providers refer to it as an ‘exchange rate administration fee’. When cash is withdrawn from foreign ATMs/cash point machines an additional charge is applied. This is levied by the card issuer and averages at 2% for credit cards and 1.5% for debit cards. Nationwide, Saga and Liverpool Victoria are among the providers that do not apply a loading fee, so keep your eyes peeled for these cash point machines when you are in the UK.
In addition, many overseas retailers now give customers the choice of paying in their home currency or the local currency. Be warned, if you opt with the home currency, a dynamic currency conversion fee will be applied which is typically 4% of the total.
Getting get a local debit card is easy if you have a bank account in that country. See more information on how to open a local bank account in the UK to avoid espensive exchange rate administration fees and foreign cash point machine transaction fees. (insert link to UK bank accounts)