FHurdle

I don't have a debit card and really don't want one. My wife and a cousin had huge sums of money drained out of their checking accounts due to debit card fraud, and it didn't simply get put back in overnight. It was a big multi-week hassle. In addition, my wife had her debit card eaten at an ATM in Italy, and if I hadn't had a goodly amount of cash with me our vacation would have been ruined.

My policy has been to pay a three to five percent premium and simply buy euros before going to Europe. This is cheaper than many debit cards. In addition, I've always taken a good chunk of U.S. currency as backup.

Well, on my most recent trip I found that outside very major cities it is virtually impossible to change currency in Europe. In Colmar, France, for example, no one will change money except for the Postal Bank. They told me I could leave the money and come back in 10 days to get my euros (no joke).

Make no mistake, I will continue to take a pocket full of euros with me to Europe. I'd rather have them in hand when I arrive and not have to depend on airport ATMs which might or might not work. But before my next trip I'm signing up for some type of debit card, maybe through Paypal or elsewhere. I don't want one connected to my checking account.

I don't like the idea of relying solely on ATM cards because of the hassle of trying to find a machine that works and accepts my card. But it's even a bigger hassle to try to find a place to change currency. So in the future I'll still have my wad of cash money, but I'll also have a debit card handy.

hetismij2

Good idea.
As you found out many bank branches in Europe don't carry cash, other than in the ATM. And that generally is refilled by a central security service.

Thanks for telling us of your experience

kybourbon

>>>My policy has been to pay a three to five percent premium and simply buy euros before going to Europe. This is cheaper than many debit cards.<<<

Very skeptical of this claim. Where can you get euro in the US with only a 3-5% premium? I've looked at the various companies and they do not give you the interbank rate as my ATM card does (you do know you can get ATM only cards that aren't debit cards?). They also have a 7-10% mark-up on top of the lousy exchange rate (much higher than the interbank rate).

Dai

F: Like you, I did not want a debit card because I had also heard personally of a couple of people who had thousands drained from their debit/Visa card. One woman, this happened to her while she was traveling. She used her debit card to pay for something but discovered upon her return that one of the merchants in China had charged several thousand dollars against her card for something that was actually less than 100 dollars.

As a result, I get an ATM card with NO Master Card nor Visa logo. Just a plain ATM card (like everyone used to have in the old days) That way I could <i>still</i> get cash from European ATM's. I can't <i>purchase</i> anything with my card, but I don't care. I either pay cash or use my Capital One credit card. I bring two plain ATM cards, one from two different banks. Works like a charm for me.

Pegontheroad

I always bring two ATM cards and usually two credit cards, all of which I carry in my money belt. I have never had to use the credit cards to obtain cash. I just charge hotels and major expenses on them.

I've never had trouble finding an ATM, nor has an ATM gobbled up a card. I usually have leftover euros from my last trip, so I start out with enough cash for a shuttle bus or taxi from the airport.

Given your experiences, I think a paypal card is a good idea.

Michael

<i> I don't want one connected to my checking account.</i>

To minimize potential losses through fraud, create a separate checking account that contains only your travel money--although in our case that would mean more money (about $8000 for two months abroad) than we usually have in our normal checking account.

Kathie

Like some others here, I think you are paying a lot more for your Euros than you think you are. By using ATMs, I get the interbank rate (check www.xe.com for current rates), I pay only a 1% foreign exchange premium and no ATM fees. The account I draw from is just for foreign travel, it doesn't draw from my regular checking account.

On our recent trip to Paris, we found we used very little cash and were able to charge almost everything to our credit cards that have no foreign exchange premium. We did get cash from an ATM at the airport and did not need to get cash again.

You have to do what you are most comfortable with, but I'd suggest you do a bit more research about your options.

Ackislander

I do what Dai does for the same reason.

bettyk

No debit cards for me. We use only ATM cards (my husband I each have our own card with different numbers that are linked to the same checking account) and credit cards that we use whenever possible for hotels, restaurants, gas, etc.

Michael

<i>No debit cards for me. We use only ATM cards (my husband I each have our own card with different numbers that are linked to the same checking account)</i>

Same with us, but I discovered that this ATM card works as a debit card in the Netherlands. That's the only time we used it that way, and only if the credit card did not work.

nytraveler

Well I would never carry all that cash.

What about credit cards? We use them whenever possible to get points. And we always take a couple of debit cards (how would we survive without them - I haven;t been in a bank in as least 8 months)? Use them not only to get cash but to pay in many stores and supermarket.

indyhiker

I also just use an ATM (not debit) card when I travel and it's linked to an account with limited funds. No way would I want to carry all that cash.

Andrew

I too bring two ATM cards with me to Europe when I travel. The primary is just a credit union ATM card, with funds only in a special account I used for travel. (And no currency version fees or charge per use.) I also have a backup debit card (used for ATM) I can use in emergencies, but I have not needed it on the last two trips.

I do carry a few hundred USD with me to change to Euros just in case, but I have never needed that, either. But I almost always hit the ATM at the arrival airport anyway to get Euros, and if for some reason neither of my ATM cards would work, I would surely be able to change USD at the airport. I still see no need at all to buy Euros in advance.

tuscanlifeedit

I have a question. Our bank issued cards are connected with our checking accounts. We could use them as debit cards, but we never have and don't want to. We only use them as ATM cards.

So should we get new ATM cards that CAN'T be used as debit cards, even though we never have and never will used our cards for debit purposes?

We are ATM-only-non-debit cards safer than our only-use-in-ATMS cards that we could use as debit cards but don't?

Should I talk to the bank about this?

Kathie

tuscan, I asked my bank to trade the ATM/Debit card for an ATM only card. Ten years ago my wallet was stolen out of my desk at work and my ATM/debit card was used at several places. While the money was refunded to my account, I decided I wanted an ATM only card. You just don't have the same protections with a debit card as you do with a credit card. And a savvy thief could clean out your bank account. Just because you don't use your Debit card as a debit card doesn't keep a their from doing so.

tuscanlifeedit

Kathie, thanks.

I'm going to talk to the bank tomorrow.

Leburta

When my local bank went from servicing their own cards, which had no additional charges, to a Visa serviced card, I asked that the card be locked so that I could only use it at an ATM and with a pin. It cannot be used as either a debit or credit card. I much prefer using my own money than getting cash advances on a credit card, but like others worried about the debit card and fraud. I try to transfer any large sums of money out of my checking account before I travel, just in case, but feel fairly secure with the ATM only card.

greg

Whether you can get an ATM only card for your checking account depends on your bank policy. Several of my banks issue only debit cards for checking account holders.
Also, there is no need to keep all the trip money in your checking account at the same time. You can initially fund it so that it is good for so many ATM withdrawals. You can pre-program transfers from other accounts not accessible from the ATM/debit card into ATM accessible account as you go along. What can get stolen are only what you have transferred up to that point. If you have reliable access to online banking,you can do even more sophisticated money transfer to reduce the amount of cash sitting in your checking account.

sparkchaser

<i>I don't like the idea of relying solely on ATM cards because of the hassle of trying to find a machine that works and accepts my card. </i>

Seems like it was more of a hassle not being able to find a money changer outside of the cities.

If you can't get an ATM-only card, look into opening a separate account for travel and use a debit card with that.

Andrew

FYI, in my credit union account (the "travel only" account), I had only a savings account, not a checking account, when I opened the account. That's why I got only an ATM card and not a "Debit" card I think - I did not ask for it that way, but I liked it better that way with only the ATM card. I did not even need to call them to give them overseas travel plans, they claimed, because it is a PIN-protected account (a Debit card can be used for purchases because of the Visa certification - and presumably it's Visa that cares about my travel plans and potential fraud.)