Here’s the start of a series on ex-pat finance. This first one is more for Travelers, which I am right now.
For Cash:
If you have a Bank of America checking account, you can get cash from any Barclays ATM in the UK and other Banks internationally without a surcharge. Otherwise you should still just hit the ATM with your bank account even through you will pay for it. That’s because the time to deal with money exchange and checking rates are not worth it while you’re on vacation. You know you will get good rates from the ATM, so just go with it.
Credit Card:
There’s only one credit card company you should consider when you travel abroad: Capital One Cash. They don’t assess the ridiculous 3% fee usually assessed by your credit cards like Chase and Bank of America. That’s $3 for every $100! In London that could buy you…well…maybe something on the 99 pence menu at McDonalds. Regardless, you should just get a Capital One credit card and use it for travel.
a2dak says 9th July @ 19:03
Some Bank of America credit cards qualify for a waiver of the 3% fee. You might have to keep a small minimum in the account, AND you have to ask for it.