Handling Money Internationally

Three things cover almost every trip: a card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee, a second card kept somewhere else, and enough local cash to be useful before you find an ATM. Arrange all three before you leave, because the one thing you cannot do abroad is open a bank account.

What You Need to Know

Money abroad has three parts: access, acceptance and cost. Access is whether you can get local currency at all. Acceptance is whether the place in front of you takes a card. Cost is what the whole thing charges you. They are separate problems and people usually plan only for the third.

Before you go

• Notify your bank and card issuer of the countries and dates. Many now detect travel automatically and many still do not.
• Check what your cards charge abroad: a foreign transaction fee, an ATM fee, or neither.
• Confirm your PIN is four digits and that you know it as digits rather than as a shape on a keypad. Some machines abroad have no letters.
• Check your card’s expiry against the trip, and ask for a replacement early if it is close.
• Take a second card from a different network, and store it separately.
• Save your bank’s international telephone number, which is not the freephone number on the back of the card.

On arrival

Use a bank ATM inside or attached to the terminal rather than an exchange counter, take enough for a day or two rather than the whole trip, and keep the receipt. If the machine offers to charge you in dollars, decline: that is dynamic currency conversion and it is covered in understanding foreign exchange rates.

Currencies that do not travel

Some currencies cannot legally be taken out of the country that issues them, and some cannot be bought outside it at all. Nine destinations describe currency or exchange controls in their local laws and circumstances. Where that applies, plan to convert what you have left before you leave rather than carrying it home as a souvenir you cannot spend.

What to Do Before Your Trip

• Call or notify both your bank and your card issuer with countries and dates.
• Establish which card is your primary, on cost, and which is the backup.
• Order a small amount of local currency only where the destination is genuinely hard to draw from.
• Check whether the destination runs on cash, which changes how much you carry.
• Check whether the currency has export restrictions.
• Photograph both cards, front and back, and store the images somewhere you can reach without your wallet.
• Write down the international number for each issuer on paper.

Important Considerations

A blocked card is the most likely problem

Fraud systems are cautious about a card that appears in a new country. Notifying the issuer reduces it but does not eliminate it, which is the entire argument for the second card in a different pocket. If a card is blocked, the international number on paper is what gets it unblocked.

Debit and credit behave differently

A credit card gives you a dispute process and does not touch your own balance while a fraudulent charge is investigated. A debit card takes real money out immediately and returns it more slowly. For everyday spending abroad, a credit card is the safer instrument; for ATM withdrawals a debit card is usually cheaper.

Where cards simply are not the answer

In 26 of the destinations covered, the economy is described as running largely on cash or as not widely accepting cards. That is not a small minority, and it includes places travelers assume are card-friendly because the hotels are. Markets, taxis, tips and small restaurants are cash almost everywhere.

Mobile payments are not universal

Phone-based payment works well in some countries and barely at all in others, and some of the systems that dominate locally do not accept foreign cards or foreign phone numbers. Treat it as a bonus rather than a plan.

Tips for Group Travelers

• Tell the group to notify their banks in the pre-departure note. Several will not have thought of it.
• Say what the destination expects: how much runs on cash, whether ATMs are reliable, whether tipping is expected.
• Agree who pays for shared items before departure, and how it is settled.
• Do not become the group’s bank. Carrying everyone’s cash concentrates the risk in one person.
• Carry a modest contingency for the traveler whose card fails, and agree in advance that it is a loan.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not telling the bank, and having the card blocked on day one.
• One card only, in one wallet.
• Buying currency at home at an airport counter rate.
• Assuming cards work everywhere because they worked at the hotel.
• Carrying a currency home that cannot legally leave the country.
• Not knowing the international number for the issuer when the card stops working.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I get currency before I leave?

Usually only a small amount, and often none. Rates at home-country exchange counters and airport desks are generally poor, and a bank ATM at your destination is normally cheaper. The exception is a destination where drawing cash is genuinely unreliable, in which case arriving with something is worth the worse rate.

Do I still need to tell my bank I am traveling?

Yes, even though many issuers now detect travel automatically. It costs a few minutes and removes the most common money problem abroad, which is a card blocked by a fraud system that has just seen a transaction in a new country. Do it for every card you are taking.

Credit card or debit card?

Both, for different jobs. A credit card for spending, because it has a dispute process and a fraudulent charge does not remove your own money while it is investigated. A debit card for ATM withdrawals, which is usually cheaper. Keep them in different places.

How much cash should I take?

Enough for arrival, meaning a taxi, a meal and a tip, plus more where the destination runs largely on cash. How much cash should you carry works through it properly. Carrying a whole trip’s spending in notes is neither necessary nor safe in most places.

Can I bring leftover currency home?

Usually, and not always. Nine of the destinations covered describe currency or exchange controls, and some currencies cannot legally leave the country or be exchanged outside it. Check before you go, and where it applies, convert what you have left before you reach the airport.

Related Travel Tips

• Money, currency and payments, the section this guide belongs to.
• Cash vs. Credit Cards Abroad. Which to use where.
• Foreign Transaction Fees. What the whole thing costs.
• Credit Card Security Abroad. What to do when a card is compromised.

Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel

Whether a destination runs on cash, whether its ATMs are dependable and what a day genuinely costs are local questions, and getting them wrong is an avoidable irritation on an otherwise good trip. LABUSA Travel briefs travelers on the money picture for where they are actually going.

Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor about a trip you are considering, or browse our destination guides for a specific country.

Verify Before You Travel

Fees, limits and card acceptance are set by your own bank and card issuer; confirm them directly before you travel. Currency and exchange controls are set by each country: check its embassy or consulate and the U.S. Department of State country information. Official exchange rates are published by the Federal Reserve and, for U.S. government reporting, by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. This page is general guidance, not financial advice.