Travel DR/CR Cards

[lyndarra]

Since Velocity is no longer supporting Global Wallet, which I found very handy, what's the go to for cashless foreign currency transacxtions? I have seen, in the past, that 28 Degrees has a few supporters.  I'll be having a look at that one.

[lissie]

Wise.com - its a game changer - this is written from a NZ perspective - but some of it may apply to you Wise Debit Card Review - MoneyHub NZ 

 

I've used it for a few years - really like how I get an alert immediately an transaction occurs. I also find it takes under 2 hours  in working hours to transfer money to it from my bank accouint 

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 hours ago, lyndarra said:

Since Velocity is no longer supporting Global Wallet, which I found very handy, what's the go to for cashless foreign currency transacxtions? I have seen, in the past, that 28 Degrees has a few supporters.  I'll be having a look at that one.

Latitude 28 Degrees is great. No foreign transaction fees and they don't sting you on the exchange rate either.

 

We also use a Citibank Plus debit card. NAB have just taken over the operation of Citibank business in Australia so I don't know whether this will be as good as it used to be in the past. 

[arxcards]

I still use 28 degrees for travel, and generally for online purchases which could be processed overseas.

 

My only disclaimer is that it is only of benefit if you zero your outstanding balance every month, as there are lots of lower interest options if you are going to carry an outstanding balance from month to month.

[aussielozzie18]

I have been using the 28 degrees cc for a few years now with no issues.

DS has just ordered the Wise card so appreciate what you posted @lissie

[NSWP]

I don't have a credit card, just use a ANZ Visa Debit Card, no problem in using in OZ and overseas, ATM's, hotels, restaurants etc, Universal access. I just notify bank if I am overseas.

[SuitesRbest]

I have always used 28 degrees, works well..

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

I don't have a credit card, just use a ANZ Visa Debit Card, no problem in using in OZ and overseas, ATM's, hotels, restaurants etc, Universal access. I just notify bank if I am overseas.

But what foreign transaction fees do you pay, and are the exchange rates they use close to market rate at the time of the transaction or loaded by 2-3 cents per dollar in favour of the bank. We've saved thousands of dollars over the last few years purely by changing what credit and debit cards we use overseas.

[MicCanberra]

For overseas travel and transactions we use the 28 degrees card for the purchases and Citibank for cash advances at ATM's if required 

[NSWP]

4 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But what foreign transaction fees do you pay, and are the exchange rates they use close to market rate at the time of the transaction or loaded by 2-3 cents per dollar in favour of the bank. We've saved thousands of dollars over the last few years purely by changing what credit and debit cards we use overseas.

Not noticed that Jules.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

For overseas travel and transactions we use the 28 degrees card for the purchases and Citibank for cash advances at ATM's if required 

For a few serious trips, we had separate 28 degree accounts. One was preloaded $1000 into credit and used if we needed ATM cash, the other was used for purchases. It worked really well at the time, and was a better rate for our US cash than getting all of it at at home.

[MicCanberra]

8 hours ago, arxcards said:

For a few serious trips, we had separate 28 degree accounts. One was preloaded $1000 into credit and used if we needed ATM cash, the other was used for purchases. It worked really well at the time, and was a better rate for our US cash than getting all of it at at home.

We have also loaded extra credit onto the card if our expenses are likely to exceed the limit and / or we would still be away for the first months payment.

[Bizziecruzer]

10 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We have also loaded extra credit onto the card if our expenses are likely to exceed the limit and / or we would still be away for the first months payment.

There's no opportunity to have cash in 28 degree credit card now. Can only make a payment when there's an outstanding amount.  This change occurred some time ago.

[lyndarra]

18 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But what foreign transaction fees do you pay, and are the exchange rates they use close to market rate at the time of the transaction or loaded by 2-3 cents per dollar in favour of the bank. We've saved thousands of dollars over the last few years purely by changing what credit and debit cards we use overseas.

I had a recent purchase from USA on my NAB Visa. Exchange rate used used was 0.71 which is about right. They charged a transaction fee of 3%.

I liked the  Velocity Global Wallet because I could load it with different currencies and use as a debit card. If don't find something similar I may just stick to my Visa card. I also have a Mastercard as backup incase something happens to the Visa.

[MicCanberra]

I must have missed that notification, my card is still in credit now as we made a higher payment than what was required  last time.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Bizziecruzer said:

There's no opportunity to have cash in 28 degree credit card now. Can only make a payment when there's an outstanding amount.  This change occurred some time ago.

Yes, they have always discouraged loading the card into credit, and they won't allow you to pre-load new accounts. We just overpaid the outstanding amount by $1000 last time.

[Bizziecruzer]

I pay online and it won't let deposit more than the outstanding amount.

[arxcards]

40 minutes ago, Bizziecruzer said:

I pay online and it won't let deposit more than the outstanding amount.

Using their facility?

I pay via Bpay online via my bank. There is a small transaction fee that goes on the 28 degree account, but I like to do all my bills once a month from the same spot.

[MicCanberra]

8 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Using their facility?

I pay via Bpay online via my bank. There is a small transaction fee that goes on the 28 degree account, but I like to do all my bills once a month from the same spot.

We do likewise, costs 95 cents.

[Ondine]

6 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I had a recent purchase from USA on my NAB Visa. Exchange rate used used was 0.71 which is about right. They charged a transaction fee of 3%.

I liked the  Velocity Global Wallet because I could load it with different currencies and use as a debit card. If don't find something similar I may just stick to my Visa card. I also have a Mastercard as backup incase something happens to the Visa.

 

ING everyday debit card rebates the overseas transaction fees.  They won't give you a credit card unless you are still working but I just make sure I have enough money in the debit account to cover whatever I am buying.  I used it when I booked Virgin's Resilient Lady because that incurred an overseas transaction fee of several hundred dollars.  Very glad I did.  Rather annoyed because Virgin don't charge any fee for use of a credit card however their payments are processed as an overseas transaction.

[Port Power]

I have a Bankwest credit card. No overseas transaction fee.  Back in 2020 I loaded it with $1,000 (as other posters have also done) so I would not be caught out if unable to pay in full while out of internet reach.  I could also then withdraw cash from a foreign ATM without incurring a cash advance fee. Just a modest ATM charge, I think $2, but I only withdrew cash once on the whole trip.

 

I am heading to Europe in October for a 24 day river cruise, so I will check if I can still pre-load by making a depositing soon.  Not that much cash is needed from recent reading: pay by card everywhere.

Edited June 27, 2022 by Port Power