I am travelling to various European countries that have different currencies, I will load a travel card with Australian dollars. Can I use this currency & it will be converted in each country or should I load the various currencies. I feel more comfortable with just AU dollars instead of some British pounds, some Euros, some Turkish Lira & Hungarian HUF. I need advice please.
Thank you.
You was use ???? 🤔
Sorry…I am using it…. lol.
Did he stutter…
Watch out.. he’ll get angry
[Gif] (https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTZjMDliOTUyNnBkcXdtcT…)
Why you finna axe him about his grammar?
His grandpa asked me to…
Be wise, grab a Wise card. Great exchange rates, very low fees.
Worth looking at HSBC Everyday Global Account as well.
Hsbc sneakily uses their own hsbc exchange rate instead of typical visa/mastercard rates which other fee free card uses. Hsbc exchange rate is significantly worse than visa, mastercard or wise/revolut.
There's exceptions to this…
HSBC only uses their own exchange rates for the 10 currencies that can be loaded onto the card. If you're transacting in another currency, they will use the VISA mid market rate.
In general, HSBC ATMs overseas are fee free for the HSBC everyday global debit card but certain countries are not. I tried finding this list but it seems to have disappeared on the product website.
So yeah, it's a situational product.
Personally, I find it better to use domestically for the 2% cashback - lol
@Mugsy: What are the 10 currencies? I've tried atm withdrawals in IDR and NZD and both used hsbc rate.
is there a way to get a free card if you already have wise?
Yes, just request one in the app.
yeah but its $6 :( cheaper than I remember
@abuch47: Ah, I hadn't realised that. When I ordered mine it was free. I'm just back from the UK and the only time I missed having a card was for ATM withdrawals. I used my watch or phone for everything else. There are a few NFC capable ATMs around apparently, but none that I could find.
Avoid Wise or Revolut and get a bankwest/ubank/Macquarie debit card instead.
The only reason you'd go with wise or revolut is if you wanted to pre-load AUD to try and 'beat' the exchange rate by timing the 'market' right.
Both Wise/Revolut have fees associated with overseas ATMs after $350/m (which will be pretty easy to hit in asia). By contrast, the debit cards are always free.
Wise charges a card load fee depending on the currency, plus also has a physical card fee.
Mugsy summarises it better than I could: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/920012#comment-16826558
Comparison video of cards (also thanks to Mugsy): https://youtu.be/5KjgrNJTe1s?t=580
got all 3x bankwest (debit card with homeloan), ubank (back up), Macquarie is my go to (great net banking, app, and exchange rates). Loaded it up before leaving Australia and recently used Macquarie debit card on my trip to Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and US.. Worked a treat!
Also I think Bendigo bank is still doing a $0 fee credit card with travel insurance benefit, $0 FX fees
https://www.bendigobank.com.au/personal/credit-cards/ready/
Can you receive international transfers in USD or other currencies without paying a $14 fee like at ING?
I was thinking of Wise for travel, and also for receiving US payments without fees. Interested to know if the cards you've listed can accept deposits without fees. Thanks.
Fair point. If you need to receive foreign payments, wise might be the better option
Can't find anything about a $14 fee with ING anywhere. What is that fee for?
@evasive: It's a fee levied by the intermediary organisation ing uses. They can't receive the funds directly so go through a third party. That party charges $14, and ing passes it on. So, it's not their fee as such.
Onky 2 withdrawls a month ip to 350?
Wise multi-currency card with the best exchange rates. You can get both a physical and digital one linked to a pot of money you topup as you wish. Enable/disable them on the fly, and works contactless everywhere. Well worth it.
You can get both a physical and digital one
Doesn't the digital one have extra fees?
No.
Macquarie card is free
Yep, absolutely no transaction fees charged, either at a machine or ATM withdrawals, and they use the Mastercard Wholesale Exchange rate which is as good as it gets, and I’ve always found to be a better deal than the rates that revolut or wise offered.
do you know if Macquarie offers better rates than Wise or Revolut?
I've done extensive research on this and Mac FX is not better than Revolut FX.
So no fees from atm provider as well? Generally no Atm withdrawal fees from Australian bank but overseas provider can still charge his own fees.
The provider can always charge a fee. No Australian bank will rebate international ATM withdrawal fees anymore.
Though some banks will have special arrangements to not be charged a fee from certain international ATM operators, but typically, certain ATM operators will be fee free for either VISA or Mastercard debit cards. Needs a bit of research in advance (e.g. Japanese 7bank ATMs are fee free for Mastercards between 7am and 7pm, I think. And AEON bank are fee free for VISA debit cards there).
@Mugsy: Great. Thanks for your reply. I will explore which one don't charge international Atm fees in India.
That is the answer. Macquarie card and a Wise card as a backup.
Wise is good but have a limit on cash withdrawals before fees kick in.
I second that. I used my macquarie card when i went to greece. Best exchange rate and no fees for purchases or withdrawals from an atm.
Macquarie card is good.
I also have the an old ex-Citibank NAB Visa Debit card for backup.
May look at Wise for a 2nd back up in future.
A back up came handy in the USA when I left the card in the ATM.
Dad uses the combo of Macquarie and ex-Citi NAB Classic too. It's worked real well on about 1.5yrs of travel so far (he and mum are abroad every second month).
Your comment about leaving the card in the ATM reminded me of my family's first trip overseas. On the morning before our tour got underway, I got out some cash and then Dad decided to get some out too. The card got stuck!
Our tour was about to leave too. Luckily the hotel staff was able to get the card out for Dad.
These days, he carries around two debit cards from the same bank. The second is tucked away in his luggage. If he loses his main card, he jumps in the app, locks and cancels the main card, and moves his money to the second card to use. No waiting for a replacement to be sent to him or trying to figure out where he will be in X days.
I have a second Macquarie debit card for the same purpose.
Your parents are living the dream. I hope to do that too once the kids get jobs.
I can't blame the ATM for losing my bank card. It was my fault. In Australia, you can't take your money until you take your card from the machine. Some countries are opposite.
I took the cash and carefully counted the foreign cash and then tucked it away safely in my pocket. Walking away checking my surroundings, I left the card in the ATM never to be seen again.
Great idea about getting a second Macquarie card.
I have an ex-Citibank nab card. Is Macquarie exactly the same or is it slightly better? I might get one as a backup, but want to understand which one should be the primary card.
IMHO, Macquarie is better as they have a better app for day to day use and an authenticator app to avoid the need for SMS OTPs.
The ex-Citi NAB Classic works great as the back up in the 1 out of 500 times Macquarie may not be accepted.
To be honest it’s much like muchness but Macquarie has better internet banking.
I compared the rates at exactly the same ATM a few minutes apart, only a few cents different on a $200 withdrawal.
I used ME banks one last time it was good.
Macquarie with another bank backup. Wise and Revolut are not banks. Good luck with them if something goes wrong. Credit cards probably offer a bit more protection than debit cards too.
Revolut is definitely a bank….
They are overseas but Revolut Australia is not a bank or authorised deposit taking institution regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
Wild statement based on your assumption. I have used my Wise card all over the world. Someone must have got my card details somehow because after I got home from my Thailand trip, I started noticing all these random transactions in Thailand in places that I didn’t visit. I raised a case with Wise, they immediately cancelled my card, issued me a new one and then refunded me the sum total of all the money from the transactions that I didn’t make. Wise are great!
Could just use something like a ubank card - no international transaction fees and no need to lock in your AUD to some foreign currency that you might not use up. I also have a wise card, but there's quite a few catches with it - money conversion fees, charges to withdraw over $350 in a month, midmarket exchange rate.
There's an issue with ubank in that the process to reset one's password requires inputting your debit card number… so if someone steals your debit card, they're one step closer to being able to reset your password and take over your account.
But I concur with the concept of using a debit card with no international transaction fees. Keeps things simple.
I've just checked - it seems UBank requires you to first transfer funds from the higher interest Save account to the NO interest Spend account before spending, in which case overseas you'd have to first move funds from Save to Spend, before you could withdraw from an ATM
I had a problem overseas the first time I tried that, as I didn't have a mobile phone internet at the ATM, adding frustration to annoyance
So that would be a deal breaker for me - many are quitting UBank for Macquarie since UBank's Save account will pay ZERO interest wef 1/10/25 unless you increase the total balance, after interest, by $1 each month - essentially rendering it like a term deposit you don't touch or you lose the interest for that month.
While I happily used a Macquarie Bank card to tap'n'pay in Japan in many places (I didn't use ATMs), I hit the wall when hotels required the physical card, which I had forgotten to bring - so
make sure you bring your physical card and don't rely on your phone app tap'n'pay like my mistake.
@Hangryuman
it seems UBank requires you to first transfer funds from the higher interest Save account to the NO interest Spend account before spending, in which case overseas you'd have to first move funds from Save to Spend, before you could withdraw from an ATM
This really seems to be something of a fairly minor inconvenience.
When specifically using Ubank for overseas travel, to avoid fees, as this thread is about, there appear to be two ways of using it:
1. Load the Ubank Spend account from an external source - this goes straight onto the debit card itself via whatever method you like,
2. Transfer from the Ubank Save account to the Spend account.
Both of these methods take…. a minute or two at most. And if you are travelling, surely putting a few $k into the Spend account in advance makes sense?
As for the interest you'd be 'missing out' on… seriously? On $2000 that might be 20c a day or so. A small price to pay to avoid the many $$$ transaction, ATM, and currency conversion fees.
the first time I tried that, as I didn't have a mobile phone internet at the ATM, adding frustration to annoyance
Sadly, that's on you. Ubank have been communicating the change since 2024. I have received emails, plus it has appeared on the front page of the app and internet banking.
used a Macquarie Bank card to tap'n'pay in Japan in many places (I didn't use ATMs), I hit the wall when hotels required the physical card, which I had forgotten to bring
Again, your lack of preparation does not render a product a 'deal breaker'.
It's also pretty standard practice for most banks to permanently restrict a savings account's ability to move money out of the bank directly; requiring it to be moved into the transaction account first before it can be transferred externally to the bank. With scams more prevalent than ever, I am not surprised.
Macquarie are one of the last remaining banks to still allow for this… pros and cons. If one direct debits directly from their savings account, I would want a second savings account to store the bulk of my funds and limit how much scammers can drain from my bank accounts.
'As for the interest you'd be 'missing out' on… seriously? On $2000 that might be 20c a day or so'
say 24c
'Sadly, that's on you. Ubank have been communicating the change since 2024. I have received emails, plus it has appeared on the front page of the app and internet banking'
sounds like you work for UBank …
'Again, your lack of preparation does not render a product a 'deal breaker'.'
no - but the recent UBank change wef 1 Oct 2025 to NO interest unless you have an increased balance after interest at the end of each month - is … for me.
Suggest BankWest credit card. No FX fees, no monthly fees. Good Mastercard rates.
Do not need to add any currencies, just always pay in local currencies.
Agreed, I've recently done this in Greece and it worked well.
Also used thier Virtual cards for some extra piece of mind, low value and if they get comprimised I could fall back to the real one.
Hey thanks, I've had a Bankwest card for years and hadn't heard they had added virtual cards.
I've read on OzBargain that sometimes Revolut virtual cards can't be used for some payments, have you ever had that problem with Bankwest virtual cards?
Hi, used it in mutiple places for a variety of payments in Greece and Qatar and never had an issue. I have heard some places don't take Google Wallet payments, insist on physical card, but I've never come across any.
Wise and up bank have been flawless. Even the one time pins are done via app and not SMS. The whole loading/converting money before hand is bs unless your changing tens of thousands of dollars and predicts how the economy is going to be in a couple of months…
If only someone had asked this question before!
What Travel Card Is Best for Travelling Overseas?
Yourki?
Ourki..
Monki
cba world debit
or ultimate rewards
both of them suck donkey dongers rewards and cost wise, but yeah at least they are international fee free if you already have them then use otherwise much better choices available.
Number 1 thing - DONT load up a travel card.
Look at ING (has monthly hoops) and REVOLUT (weekday spend only)
You just need to get say 100 Euros and 100 pounds out of an ATM once each, and use your card everywhere. You hardly need cash anywhere
ING Bank, if you meet the $1000 monthly deposit from pay/government payments then no international fees charged. Just remember to use app and log your destinations or they will block card as fraud ( it's for your safety ). Hope that helps.
With ING card, the daily withdrawal limit from overseas ATMs is $100, unless you talk them into changing the limit for you.
Are you sure? Just did a quick google search and I can't find anywhere that says there is a limit.
Not sure.
I remember there was a limit from some card, so I asked Google if it was the ING card, and Google AI popped up and confirmed it. Now asking the exact same question doesn't make Google AI pop up, so either it was an AI "hallucination", or Google AI was reading from an old copy of the the terms and conditions.
I've just had a look, and I can't find a $100 limit either. I can see a $2200 daily limit "For cash out transactions at ATMs, Bank@Post and eftpos", which probably covers overseas ATMs as well.
So apologies, either I mis-remembered and Google AI mis-remembered too, or the limit was ancient history. There is a daily limit, but it's considerably higher than $100.
As mentioned Wise card.
Just take a couple of Foreign ATM and Transaction fee free Australian Debit cards (one as a backup). ING, Ubank, Bankwest and others have these. The foreign exchange is at competitive Visa/Mastercard rates.
If something goes wrong with your bank you, are backed by the Australian government (not the same for Revolut or Wise).
With Australian Banks you are not limited to a small amount of cash withdrawals before there are fees like on Wise.
With Australian Banks you can get guaranteed interest for your funds held as deposit, With Wise you only get a return on certain currencies and your principle is at risk.
Even better: while overseas, wherever you can, use a credit card with no charges for overseas purchases. Use the debit cards only when you need to withdraw local cash from an overseas ATM, and as a backup to the credit card.
This way, your debit card balance will stay higher, as you're putting most expenditures onto the credit card. Better to have more money available, in case of emergencies.
If you can, have two of the debit cards mentioned above, one Visa and the other Mastercard. Some overseas ATMs only allow one card network to have fee-free withdrawals.
Next time I'm planning to bring my CBA Ultimate Awards Mastercard credit card for no overseas fees (my previous Platinum had nasty $3 + % fees for each transaction) - I have a Wealth mortgage package so don't pay the annual fees for the new card.
And I plan to use my Macquarie Bank account for quick transfer topups as necessary as my CBA card has a $6K credit limit, and if I risk exceeding that (other regular bills like mortgages), I can quickly topup the CBA credit card to restore the available credit balance.
I'm told the debit card is best for no-fee ATM withdrawals - for all other spending, better to use a credit card.
Agree I use credit card for all purchases, and the debit card for any ATM withdrawals. But didn't mention it as this post was specifically about preloading travel cards.
It's best to have a variety of payment methods, with multiple banks, and a bit of foreign cash as backup. You never know when a bank is going to stuff up and bar one of your payment methods, or have a day-long "outage".
@Russ: Yes, fully agree.
I take 28 degrees, & Bendigo as the foreign fee free credit cards, and ING, UB, & Bankwest as the foreign fee free debit cards. That mix includes both Visa and Mastercard in case some machines are finicky.
I had some issues with some ATMs in China and Korea (despite showing both logos), so having options was good.
Even with that many cards, I did find one hotel in Japan in May whose automated check in machine would not take any of the cards, so paid with the reserve Yen cash I took out from an ATM on arrival at the airport for just such an occasion.
@petestrash: Dad's had similar experiences with ATMs and hotels in China too.
Macquarie usually works but occasionally he pulls out the ex-Citi NAB Classic (when Mastercard fails, try VISA and vice versas).
He also has the HSBC Everyday Global (primarily for the 2% cashback). I've told him HSBC isn't the best exchange rate for CNY (though not the worst either) but I'm hesitant to add another bank to his debit cards as he'll get confused as to what each one is good for. HSBC still does the trick… he and mum are on holidays so I aim to not stress him out.
He has 3 banks to deal with and 4 debit cards (2 of which are with Macquarie)… that's an OK number of back ups.
Having used a Wise card across 6 European countries earlier this year, I'm now at the stage where the question for me is why tf wouldn't you use a Wise card?
Dead simple, convenient, good exchange rates, and with a bit of research, zero/minimal ATM fees.
For reference - GBP, EUR, NOK and CHF. Feb/March 2025. Needed cash only on three occasions, rest was tap. I still don't know what GBP, NOK and CHF banknotes look like.
Well, with Wise card you only get two free withdrawals per month, then they hit you with fees:
https://wise.com/au/pricing/card-fees
Or if you withdraw more than $350/month they hit you with fees.
Up Bank card doesn't have those fees, and is free. And I don't have to worry about what country I'm in or pre-purchasing the currency of that country, I just have my balance in AUD, walk up to an overseas ATM, and withdraw cash in that country's currency (choose to be charged in the local currency, if you're given that option).
The conversion is done on the fly by Up Bank, and within seconds of making the withdrawal it's showing in the Up App transactions list, along with the AUD amount I was charged. The exchange rate always within a fraction of a percent of what Google says the exchange rate is at the time of the transaction, I've even had a time or two when Up Bank gave me a slightly better rate than the Google rate.
And if I want to know the conversion rate beforehand, the Up App has a conversion utility that will tell me the current rates (Go to the screen titled "Up", scroll down to "travel", and turn on "Travel mode" to see the conversion utility).
Currently Google says 100 AUD = 55.65 Euro, the Up App says 100 AUD = 55.61 Euro. The difference is less than one-tenth of one percent.
Some ppl load up their Wise card to lock in a good exchange rate well before they travel.
Wise seems to have a good deal with many OS atm operators with the ATMs fee sometimes not charged. Perhaps because Wise can act as a debit card.
That's fine for people who want to play the money market, but locking in money also means you have to convert any left-over balance back to AUD after you return.
If you do purchase overseas currency and keep it, does it earn interest while it's sitting in your Wise account?
Edit: looks like Wise only pays interest on USD, GBP and Euro account balances. And it's less interest than the current home loan rates, and taxable, so best to keep that money on the home loan.
@Russ: For Australian accounts Wise only pays "interest" on AUD and USD and it is not interest, it is an investment into the Franklin Government Cash Fund
@surfingedge: And all your capital is at risk, not just that months return.
Granted, highly unlikely to lose it all given their investment strategy, but Wise are not a bank, and there are no government guarantees.
TBH the whole "Free ATM withdrawals" is almost a moot point these days.
We needed to use an ATM three times in the entire time we were there, and 2 of those times was to do with our AirBnB host in NL (she insisted on cash for a couple of things). If it wasn't for that the only time we used an ATM was once in France for a flea market - the stall holder did not have card facilities. Ironically she was about the only one in the entire market that didn't. If we had of purchased from another seller we would have been able to tap.
"Free ATM withdrawals" is almost a moot point these days.
Depends where you're traveling. Some countries, for example Japan, have lots of stores that don't take credit cards.
@Russ: Yep, very true. I've never been to JP but watch a lot of travel vids, it's amazing a culture that was once at the bleeding edge of tech hasn't moved away for tech. From what I gather it's more of a cultural shift rather than tech availability.
I was commenting in the context of OP's original post re: various countries in Europe.
@fouhay: There is at least one good reason to keep cash: it makes budgeting much easier. When your wallet is getting close to empty, you definitely reconsider non-essential purchases.
Another is that it counters against banks gouging small business. At least in Australia, it's quite expensive to have a card machine. Without a cash alternative, you can bet those costs will increase.
@fouhay: For Japan it's definitely a matter of cultural shift. Many traditions are deeply rooted in their culture and change isn't as easily embraced.
Though, I believe covid did encourage uptake of electronic payments, though, not on the scale that China embraced that change.
As for the no ATM withdrawal fees from your debit card, better to have it than not IMHO (especially if it's part of your day to day debit cards). This way, one can just take what they are already using on any trip. One less thing to worry about.
I've got Dad set up with HSBC, Macquarie and his ex-Citi NAB Classic for domestic use:
- HSBC for sub $100 card taps for the 2% cashback
- Mac for fee free cash withdrawals
- NAB for bank@post cash and mobile cheque deposits
On holidays:
- Mac is his day to day card with the NAB Classic as back up
- His NAB Platinum VISA debit card pays for flights to activate complimentary travel insurance
- HSBC is another back up
Mac and NAB's app make it easy to lodge travel itineraries.
Wise for me, l use digital card with Google Pay, hard card generally for ATM withdrawals only. always keep both cards frozen/ locked, unlock when I'm about to pay and lock as soon as transaction completed. Unlike banks wise doesn't allow any transactions when you're card is locked. Just had my ANZ cc hacked after transaction with Agoda, 10 days into 5 month trip so hard card dead already. Banks still allow several types of transactions even when you're card is locked. That is about 6th card in a few years. I have a local mobile , VPN etc not WiFi, but still not safe so give up on CCards. Macquarie is my back up. Even bank security guy said he rarely uses his credit card when overseas for same reason. Wise digital card is great as you can cancel it instantly and get new one in 2 minutes.
Up Bank also gives you a digital card in addition to the plastic card, and the cards have completely different card numbers.
Just like you mention, you can block either card quickly, and you can generate a new digital card quickly.
Just had my ANZ cc hacked after transaction with Agoda
You're not using PayPal for internet transactions? You really should.
Sadly with some countries having bank mafias that collude and charge exorbitant fees per ATM withdrawal (thailand banks have been steadily increasing the ATM fees, its now around $12 AUD per ATM withdrawal). I really miss the days ING used to pay you back for those fees
ING are a shadow of what they use to be.
Anyone who can open up an American Charlse Schwab debit card should do that… they rebate foreign ATM fees.
For the rest of us, it pays to do a bit of research now as to which ATM operators in the destination country won't charge a fee. If there are any, they are usually fee free for a particular network (i.e. Mastercard or VISA).
$12 AUD per ATM withdrawal?
That's crazy considering the low living costs of Thailand.
I felt ripped off when being charged 220JPY (around AUD$2.30).
Yeah thai mafia banks have been renowned for jacking up the price and they all do it together, it has been going up very few years for the past couple of decades that i have been going there. Its guaranteed money for them considering the level of tourism, only way around it is to have a local account which i looked at getting, but its not easy as technically you need to be living there , so there are companies that can do the dirty work to get you an account but it costs a couple of hundred AUD to organise it and you have to be in the country for 30 days or some thing.
I was advised to always select local currency for ATM withdrawals
quote "never, under any circumstances, accept the AUD conversion when presented with this. It's called Dynamic Currency Conversion and it's essentially a scam. It's entire function is to charge a conversion rate with markup, and that free money scammed off the purchaser is split between various parties to the transaction (but not the consumer – the consumer is simply fleeced). It's absolute daylight robbery. Don't accept the AUD amount shown. Not ever. Local currency always."
I was use Revolut. can recommend.