US and Citibank Plus Questions

coffeemornings on 25/11/2019 - 18:28

Hi all,

It’s me again. I drop by this forum a while ago for advice on handling money in the US (hotels and flights all paid for). Citibank seems like the way to go.

I have applied for my Citibank Plus account and received my
MasterCard debit card. I have also activated my Smart Wallet.

I am a little confused around the use of the Smart Wallet. I read somewhere that if you withdraw cash from ATM or pay in USD using your Citibank Plus debut card, you’ll be charged the fx exchange fee of 2.5% plus exchange rate of Mastercard.

Does that mean it’s better for me to convert my
AUD into USD now in the Citibank Plus account? Or, should I keep the money in AUD, and be using the debit card to pay in restaurants in USD and withdraw USD at ATMs? (That means Citibank will concert
AUD to USD each time I use the card)

Thanks.

Travel

Related Stores

Citibank Australia
Citibank Australia

Comments

  • Numlock on 25/11/2019 - 18:49
    -2

    Citibank seems like the way to go.

    28 degrees is the way to go.

    • coffeemornings on 25/11/2019 - 18:53

      Haha. Thanks. I would have taken up 28 degrees. But I’m trying to minimise the number of credit cards I have.

      I do have the ANZ travel card, but don’t like spending on credit card when I’m overseas generally.

    • PissLUR on 25/11/2019 - 18:57

      you cant solely use 28D for overseas travel. no free-fee option for atm cash withdrawals.

  • PissLUR on 25/11/2019 - 19:00

    dont use citibank' smart wallet. stick with the citibank plus' debit card.

    consider having a back-up card too.. ING or Macquire debit cards.

  • SimbaGirl on 25/11/2019 - 19:12
    +1

    Citibank Plus is just a normal Australian bank account, so your funds will always be in AUD, you can't convert them to USD. Citibank will do the conversion when you withdraw money from an ATM or make purchases with your debit card whilst you're in the US. If you're ever given the option of paying in AUD or USD when in the States, ALWAYS select USD (and that goes for any overseas country, always opt to be charged in the local currency). See this article for an explanation of dynamic currency conversion - https://www.canstar.com.au/travel-credit-and-debit-cards/wha…

    • coffeemornings on 26/11/2019 - 19:09

      Thanks! That’s fantastic.

      That does mean I can have the AUD in my
      Citibank Plus account and withdraw/purchase in USD using my debit card in US? Will there ever be occasions where one isn’t allowed to purchase/withdraw the local currency (USD) in this case?

      • RockyRaccoon on 27/11/2019 - 12:42
        +1

        Shouldnt be any restrictions. Also keep in mind you can withdraw cash at most 7/11's as they have citibank terminals/atms. No cash fees apply

      • SimbaGirl on 27/11/2019 - 20:16
        +1

        As RockyRaccoon said, there shouldn’t be any restrictions - in the three visits I’ve made to the US, I don’t recall ever being offered to purchase in AUD when buying something, it was always just put through as USD. It is a trap for the unwary though, so something to keep an eye out for. And yes, the 711 ATMs are a very convenient way to withdraw cash.

        That’s right, your AUD sits in your Citibank account and you just use your card to purchase or withdraw. It can take a few days for a purchase transaction to be settled/finalised on your account, so the conversion is is done at the Mastercard rate on THAT day, not the day you actually made the purchase (usually not much difference unless there’s a big move in the AUD/USD rate). If withdrawing cash, obviously the conversion is done straight away.

  • monarocv8 on 25/11/2019 - 20:12

    I used the Citibank Global Currency account while in the US. It's like many travel money cards, where you need to load USD from your AUD account into the USD account (the transfer has pretty good rates against AusPost or Qantas Travel Money), and then your Debit card transactions come out of that bucket without any conversion fees (because it's already drawing on a USD account).
    I mainly use SGD and I find the rate is better when trasferring AUD->SGD rather than withdrawing cash from your AUD account using an ATM and allowing them to do the rate conversion. Transferring AUD->USD via the Citibank app is instant and you can do it while you're waiting in a queue at the ATM.
    The only negative for me is I had a "hold" transaction for "pay at pump" petrol in the US. It didn't get processed until I got to Canada and was using CAD - and hence it came from the wrong "bucket". This is probably a non-issue now that they have the Smart Wallet, and of course not an issue if you are only going to the US.

  • Numlock on 25/11/2019 - 20:18

    Costco don't like Mastercard

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