I’ll be travelling to India and will require cash withdrawals while there. Could you suggest the most suitable debit card for this purpose to save ATM fees and get best conversion rates.
Best Australian Debit Card to Use In India
sakg on 23/09/2025 - 19:22
Last edited 23/09/2025 - 19:41 by 1 other user
Last edited 23/09/2025 - 19:41 by 1 other user
Comments
Been to India on a few business trips and had the same experience. ATMs there simply don't play well with overseas cards, and most of them don't even hold any cash. They're just not used much, even in shopping malls, so do not rely on them for cash withdrawals.
Get a WISE card, both physical and digital ones, and use it as per normal to pay in most places and if lucky withdraw cash in some ATMs, alongside a wad of cash notes for Tuktuks and street stalls.
India's also relatively cheap enough that you dont really need to worry about conversion rates. You're not converting tens of thousands of dollars to lose out much.
WISE worked really well in India and most mid to higher end places accepted card.
It might be worth bringing some cash. Some hotels and homestays offered currency conversion very close to the actual exchange rate.
Some ATMs did not accept overseas cards
What about Wise?
Always take some AUD cash with you.
Avoids all the issues pointed out here.
This information might be helpful for you
https://www.thecurrencyshop.com.au/guides/currency-exchanges…
I visited Bangalore last year and Chennai this year and was able to use my Wise card at ATMs to get cash out without any issues.
Best Australian Debit Card to Use In India
Naan. Use a Credit Card.
hey dad great joke
I wouldn't recommend withdrawing from random ATMs due to the prevalence of skimmers. I would only use the ones inside a branch while they're open.
I would only use the ones inside a branch while they're open.
Woudn't surprise me if the banks there also use skimmers.
Wearing disposable gloves before touching anything is the best way to avoid ATM in India.
Use UPI
This needs an Indian bank account that is linked to an Indian or Australian phone number
Use ING orange everyday. I have used several times with no issues and gives you best rates.
I’ll be travelling to India and will require cash withdrawals while there.
Cash is quite rarely used in india. Its mostly UPI pay which is an indian payment system and its not easy to get it. If you manage to get it sorted, you can use it everywhere in india.
Check this : https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi-global/upi-one-worldUPI is very easy to set up and use, just that it needs an Indian bank account that is linked to an Indian or Australian phone number
Some retailers are very picky about cards but so far I have never had any issues with my Up card. As a few others have said, if you can set it up, UPI is the way to go.
I am travelling most of the time & use three different debit cards which don't have international withdrawal or transaction fees - in case a card doesn't work at a particular ATM or becomes corrupted. The three are Macquarie, MeGo & Wise (limited to $350 in fee free withdrawals per month).
I usually spend three months in India each year. My experience is that in bigger cities there are no issues withdrawing from ATMs located in or outside banks. Often security guards are present. However, in smaller towns I have experienced problems due to an ATM malfunctioning or running out of cash.
There is a limit of Rs.10,000 ($170) per withdrawal at most ATMs in India. Some ATMs charge a Rs. 250 fee for withdrawals with an overseas card, e.g. HDFC, Canara & Axis. I avoid these banks. PNB doesn't accept overseas cards & maybe other banks also don't.
ATMs I regularly use are SBI (India's biggest bank), Bank of India, Indian Bank, Central Bank & Baroda Bank. It is generally considered safe to withdraw money at airport ATMs, so I would suggest making a few withdrawals on arrival from a fee free ATM. Mostly, an ATM will inform you if a fee is to be charged for a withdrawal.
We were in India (Mumbai and Goa) last year and had a lot of trouble getting cash. One day we tried 7 ATMs and only one provided cash. Some ATMs did not accept overseas cards, others had no cash in them, others just did not work. So it is not just a matter of looking for cheapest card. Luckily we had 7 different credit and debit cards and tried them all until one worked. The Latitude credit card and U Bank debit seemed to work best.