Home Home, Law & Money
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨

Ever Been To New York, Or Worked/Know Alot About Banks/Finances?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I am going to new york in the summer, and i dont want to take just a set amount of dollars, instead i would prefur to take a bank card and with draw money when i want whilst im out there.

is this possible, and if so, with what type of account. im 17 if it matters.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    do you have a maestro or cirrus card - you can just go into any bank and withdraw money from a cash point like normal - but you do get charged by your bank for doing this - normally about £1 per withdrawl so you might want to think tactically about how much you take out each day or do a few days at a time rather than taking out lots of withdrawls.

    You can also use this card in shops as normal though its not always so sucessfull as some US bank cards use photo's rather than signatures or pins.

    Alternatively you can get pre paid visa and master cards which you load up with a money before you go and then use like a normal credit card. The money is attatched to the card rather than the person so anyone can use it and you dont' need to be over 18.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depending on who you bank with, you will be charged either a flat fee for withdrawls or or a percentage of the withdrawl amount.

    This may seem unfair as in the UK we can draw out for free, but even in the UK, it still costs banks a lot of money per year for customers to draw money out of other banks' cash machines. E.g. you have a NatWest account, but take out money at an HSBC machine, NW will have to pay HSBC for use of their machine, to cover their cash processing and insurance costs.

    Best idea would be to, as Wyetry says, get a pre-paid card or simply use travellers' cheques.

    Also note that if you card is Visa Electron on Solo, I can virtually guarantee that it will not work over there. Best check with your bank before you go what the charges are, if any, and what they'd recommend.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nationwide flex accounts don't charge for withdrawals abroad, AND you get a pretty good exchange rate- i've been getting 9.9 compared to the 9.2 my boyfriend's had on his account.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's true - but some bank cash machines will charge you anyway (we've just been in Cambodia and Vietnam and were charged about 1GBP for the privelige of using a cash point!)
Sign In or Register to comment.