MelJ

My grandson (17) leaves Tuesday with a group and his folks gave him a debit card (no credit card) to use for purchases. Do restaurants and stores take these as easily as they do in the states? For ATM use, can you suggest a bank that is large and has lots of ATM machines that he can look for (we'll then check to make sure they take the brand of card).

He's a little well traveled. Been to England, France and Italy with us so we're not concerned about the trip, except for making sure he has money.

Thanks for your help!

Grassshopper

Come to think of it, mine doesn't always work at grocery stores. I just get cash from a nearby ATM.

tt7

He should be able to use a debit card without much problem (though perhaps depending on who it was issued by). One thing to watch out for though is any fees that are charged. Most banks charge a fee if you use a card from a different bank (and usually it's both banks - that is, the one whose card you're using and the one whose ATM you are using). This is particularly true if you are using the card "overseas" - and the fees for using the card overseas may be more than they are domestically.

For example, Bank of America charges no fee if I use my B of A ATM card in a B of A ATM. If I use it in some other banks ATM in the US, they'll charge me a fee ($2?), as will the bank whose ATM I use. If I use the card in Australia, the B of A fee goes up to $5 (plus whatever fee the local bank may charge).

I never use (= don't need to) my B of A ATM card (which I guess is effectively a debit card issued with a Visa logo) for purchases but I assume I would be charged a fee by B of A if I did so (and probably $5 every time). If you use the debit card for lots of small purchases (in Australia), you may find yourself getting hit with a fee every time (which if you use it to buy a $3 cup of coffee suddenly makes everything much more expensive).

Australia has 4 major banks - Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) and NAB (National Australia Bank). Finding banks and ATMs shouldn't be a problem as they are everywhere (and usually easily identifiable by their colour schemes - Commonwealth is yellow, Westpac is red, ANZ is a blue sort of colour and NAB is red (though a different shade from Westpac).

Bank of America has an arrangement with Westpac whereby they don't charge each others customers a fee for using their ATMs, so if you use a B of A ATM/debit card in a Westpac ATM, there's no fee either end. Use it in any other ATM though and B of A will charge a $5 fee (plus whatever the local bank may charge).

You may want to check who issued his debit card and then see if they have a relationship with any of the Australian banks (and, if they do, tell him to use only that bank's ATMs). As said, watch out for fees for using the debit card for small purchases - much better to get (moderate amounts of) cash from time to time from a (fee-free) ATM and spend that.

tt7

Now that I think about it, debit card use in Australia is so widespread that it's generally referred to as "eftpos" (electronic funds transfer point of sale). Debit card use is so widespread that I have now got used to saying "credit and pin" when I hand over my credit card so that the merchant knows that (a) it's a credit card, not a debit card (so they presumably have to push a different button on the machine) and (b) I'll input my pin rather than needing a manual signature.

MissGreen

Our Australian ATM cards work in almost any bank. We just get charged a $3 transaction fee to use another bank instead of your bank's atm.

MelJ

You folks are terrific. It sounds as if it works as it does here in the U.S., that is, a larger charge if used at an ATM other than the "home" bank.

I'll also let him know about the term "eftos."

Thanks very much. Anyone with info to add, please feel free. I'll check back.

longhorn55

Your grandson needs to notify the financial institution that issues the debit/credit/ATM cards the dates of his travel so that they don't flag his card for possible fraudulent use.

MelJ

Longhorn--yup, already told him that (we travel Europe frequently and always do this.) Thanks!