Using a bank card overseas.

[Ludwig]

I'm going to Europe soon and I just wanted to check if I can use my bank card overseas. It's a commonwealth bank one, do I need a debit card or credit card or do normal cards work ok too?

[Prawn_86]

As far as i am aware standard EFTPOS cards do not work overseas, that's why you see all the debit cards advertising their products for travel. I'm fairly sure you need to have Visa or Mastercard etc to be able to link into the Cirrus and other payment/cash networks.

It probably wouldnt be a bad idea to have a back-up credit card for emergencies anyway.

Hope that helps.

[Traveller]

You can use your back card to withdraw money from ATMs although you will usually be charged a fee to do this ($5+). It would be a good idea to also take a mastercard or visa credit card as they are widely accepted and a good backup in case your other card gets lost, stolen, or eaten by a machine (happened to me in Bolivia).

[kennas]

I've used an ANZ Visa card around the world. Works anywhere just fine, with a decent withdrawal fee..

[white_crane]

I used a NAB Visa debit card when I was in Europe recently. To avoid high fees, all I did was pay $10/month for a gold banking account - no transaction fees or foreign currency conversion fees etc.. Then I just cancelled that account when I returned. I had a Visa credit card as backup.

[buddinghealth]

I didnt realise NAB did that, might change to NAB as their accounts don't have monthly fees anymore or have I got that wrong?! I use Westpac and the fees are not too bad but you never get the same exchange rate as you see advertised.

[white_crane]

I didnt realise NAB did that, might change to NAB as their accounts don't have monthly fees anymore or have I got that wrong?! I use Westpac and the fees are not too bad but you never get the same exchange rate as you see advertised.

Sorry for the late reply.

The NAB's basic savings accounts no longer have monthly fees.

Just to be clear. To avoid the foreign currency conversion etc fees (NAB) when overseas, do the following:
Open a gold banking account
Get a gold visa debit attached to that account
Use the visa debit to withdraw money from ATM's etc.
I will cost you $10/month for the gold banking account. On your return home, simply cancel the gold banking account.

[traveler]

Hello,
in Europe are most popular every kind of VISA, MASTERCARD and DINERS. In the almost all countries you can pay with these cards.

[white_crane]

A Travel Money Card is a safe, convenient and simple way to access your money overseas.

The only problem with travel money cards/cash passports is that they are limited to a certain few currencies.