So I have the 28 Degrees Mastercard. If you put money onto this credit card (ie put it into debit) then at an overseas ATM withdrawing cash you wouldn't be charged any % fee for "currency exchange". However about 2 years ago that changed so now you have to pay a 3% fee when withdrawing cash from an overseas ATM. Then I found the Citibank Debit card. This is a visa (or mastercard cant remember which now) that doesn't charge a % currency exchange fee when withdrawing your funds at an overseas ATM. But from March this card will now charge a 2.5% fee. Both cards don't charge the % fee when making purchases overseas using the cards (ie. anything but cash from an ATM). Does anyone know a credit/debit card that doesn't charge a % fee to withdraw money from an overseas ATM? I cant seem to find any that exist now! Thanks, GS.
Often much much worse. Depending on where you are going if you can get a local account a Forex changing service or even having a foreign currency account locally you can charge using such a service and then attach it to a card like that you might be in business.
I've used Citibank Australia debit card for overseas ATM withdrawals. No fees on most ATMs. 28 Degrees for overseas credit transactions.
Exactly. Depending on where you are going I use cash and the difference between the buying and selling rate is less than 1% on my destination.
Sadly the Citibank Debit from March will have a 2.5% fee for ATM withdrawals so the hunt for a new card begins!
Westpac travel money card https://www.westpac.com.au/travel-centre/travel-money-card/currencies-fees-rates/
BankWest has a zero dollar MasterCard with no overseas transaction fees, but I think they still charge atm fees, http://www.bankwest.com.au/personal...ds/zero-mastercard-no-annual-fee-credit-cards Also ANZ has the new travel adventures card with free overseas transaction but cost $225 per year, you do however get a free domestic flight on virgin and two lounge passes, they have one of the best complimentary flights available of any current card easily worth the annual fee for example Bris/Syd/MEL to Perth return or Brisbane to Darwin etc. Plus reward points, keep an eye out for promos too with 40k and 60k virgin points being offered recently. https://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/rewards/travel-adventures/ This does not help your atm problem but may be of some use, for walk around money I just take cash, Travelex online has a pretty good rate, and if you want to get the money quickly travel money oz will price match the Travelex online rate. For anything else restaurants, shopping, souvenirs, hotels etc. I just use the credit card. Travel cards have pretty bad FX rates but do give you the opportunity to 'lock in' a good rate so if your travelling in 6-12 months from now, you could buy your foreign currency and load it onto the card at today's rates, then when/if the dollar tanks and you are overseas you will be spending at the better rate, most travellers already have these cards, Qantas membership card = Qantas Cash and Velocity card = Global Wallet, both can be loaded and once again look out for promos, you will also earn frequent flyer points with using them to offset the cost somewhat, but be careful the velocity global wallet once activated will charge you if your not using after a 12 month period.
I haven't researched it, but I would have thought it will be much like buying a sim for the particular country. Of course there are travel sims, but I find local prepaid is always cheaper. I guess one obvious caveat is, not all countries might have prepaid cards.
Even here in Australia one can buy a prepaid Visa card from a local supermarket but it comes at a cost, for a $100 card there is a $5.95 activation fee so not too cheap, they only work well if you get some sort of kickback in the form of a promo I.e. Bonus flybuys or Woolworths rewards
I guess it is really dependent on the country you are going to and how wide spread card usage is. Plus I guess, prepaid card might not have all the safeguards of a proper bank issued credit card.
!1% between buying and selling cash rate in Australia is shockingly high. Some European banks I can see 3% between buying and selling cash rates on AUD, and even less at some money exchange kiosks. No wonder banks hate cash as stoping them to steal your money legally.
Well I have found the official mastercard/visa exchange rate between the USD/AUD to usually be around a half cent. ie. if the AUD is 0.75 then mastercard/visa official rate would be 0.745 which is good enough for me. The issue comes when the providers of the cards (the banks) add a 3% "currency conversion fee" ontop of this rate when you access cash from an ATM. A few still offer the official mastercard/visa exchange rate for purchases (eg at a store or online) but accessing cash at an ATM they all charge around 3% now. Citibank Debit will be changing in March to a 2.5% fee on ATM withdrawals in a foreign currency and that was the last card that offered the official mastercard/visa rate when accessing cash from an ATM. Yes you had to pay between $2-$5 to the ATM provider but when you are smart enough to take out your daily maximum of $1,000 then a $2-$5 ATM provider fee is irrelevant. Now the banks charge a 3% flat fee so taking out your OWN money (this isnt a cash advance) it can cost up to $30 a time. All the cards mentioned in the links above have a foreign currency conversion fee of around 3% when you take cash out at an ATM. Seems none exist anymore where you can get the official mastercard/visa exchange rate at an ATM overseas.
not the ANZ according to their T&Cs 3. ANZ will waive the overseas transaction fee on foreign currency transactions and transactions where the merchant or financial institution accepting the card is located outside Australia. ANZ will also waive the cash advance fee if you use your ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures account to withdraw actual cash from a branch or ATM located overseas. A cash advance fee will apply to any other cash advances on your account. ATM operator fees may apply. that last bit only applies if ANZ gets charged a fee much like how 28 Degrees used to be and also how the Citi card is now, i.e not all ATMs are free for Citibank overseas there is a comprehensive list on ozbargain I just can't find it right now, not that it matters as you say they are changing soon anyway
Last year I used ING Direct Orange card which was linked to my online saver. No conversion fee. Paid only foreign atm charge plus $2.50 card fee for withdrawals of $1400. This was in Thailand.
It looks like you are right silver kook and the ING account will be the best option to get cash out overseas. https://www.ingdirect.com.au/everyday-banking.html You do get charged 2.5% on a purchase but apparently you don't get charged it on a cash withdrawal, only a $2.5 atm fee
