My tip: Get withdrawals from ATMs abroad and a payment card for free

If there's one thing that many people fear when traveling, it's using a payment card abroad to withdraw from ATMs or to make payments. Read this article and you'll find that if you act wisely, you don't have to limit yourself or even be afraid of using a payment card abroad. 

Attention, the article has not been updated for a few years, it is possible that some things are different today!

However, it is clear that you should be careful when using the card abroad - there are several potential risks: 

• someone steals your payment card
• or "just" copy your payment details (and will be able to buy e.g. online)
• you lose your card during your travels
• the bank will charge you high fees when withdrawing from an ATM
• you will withdraw local money with an unfavorable exchange rate
• and so on and so forth.

There are a lot of these problems, and if you want to avoid them, just follow a few simple principles:

1. Never pay with a card in a business that doesn't "seem" to you from the first moment.
2. Never let business staff (or anyone else) go anywhere with your card.
3. Never leave your card unattended anywhere (I'm paranoid about this and carefully hide the card even in hotels unless I'm taking it with me).
4. If you don't have free ATM withdrawals (see my tip below), find out in advance how much the withdrawal will cost you - sometimes you may be unpleasantly surprised by both the fee and the often not very favorable exchange rate that the bank will give you. 

Payment by card and withdrawals from ATMs abroad are free

It worked very well for me have multiple payment cards on the go. I got one by default with my account and I mark the other as "traveler", because I always only have as many funds on it as I need at the given moment. In this regard, service by name has worked best for me Revolut (I recommend opening it on your mobile and immediately downloading their app).

You can't stop progress, not even in the field of finance, and the English startup Revolut solves exactly what we travelers often burn and brings several advantages:

• you have a constant overview of your finances
• you can remotely "lock" or "unlock" the payment card (block the card)
• offers account management in several different currencies with as many funds as you need
• you can manage all things related to the card online - e.g. change the PIN remotely
• allows you to send money to other people and delivers it instantly

How does Revolut work?

It's quite simple - just download the mentioned app, create a profile and upload some money here from your existing account. To begin with, it can be, for example, 100 euros, as I did in the beginning.

The magic of the app is that once you create a profile, you have an account in three currencies (euros, dollars and pounds) between which you can transfer funds at will and free of charge. Then when you pay in Barcelona, ​​the exact amount charged by the merchant will be deducted from your account without any additional fees or conversion from/to another currency.

The great thing is that the mobile application is really sophisticated and all the information is updated in real time - for example, when you make a purchase somewhere, the name of the merchant is written into the application within a few seconds or, for example, when you transfer money from one currency to another, you see how the resulting amount changes by a few hundredths every second according to the development of the exchange rate. The application uses the interbank rate, so you are always guaranteed the best conversion rate at any given moment.  

What are the most used cases when you can use Revolut services? 

Sending money

Revolut makes it possible sending money to anyone via SMS, email, WhatsApp or a unique link. If the recipient of the money does not use the application, he can simply download it and withdraw the money after entering his account number (or keep it in the application for later payment.). The recipient will receive the money within seconds after you send it!

Payment

With application you can pay both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. Immediately after creating an account and logging into the application, a payment card will be created for you, which you can use for purchases on the Internet. The card is currently only virtual (you can see the payment card number in the image in the application), however you can have the card issued for free and have it sent to your address.

The card arrived for me within a week of ordering and it was a pleasant surprise - on the one hand, it was fast, and on the other hand, you will receive a nice blue-violet MasterCard in an ingenious package. And that brings us to the third possibility of using Revolut. 

Withdrawals from ATMs

Once you have a physical card, you can boldly proceed with ATM withdrawals in addition to purchases. These are free worldwide even if you withdraw in a currency other than the one in which your accounts are kept (GBP, USD, EUR), you still get a fair exchange rate better than in the bank (tried several times). 

Where's the catch? 

There is none yet. Yet. Opening an account, "loading" it, transfers between currencies, issuing a card, all this is free. Revolut is a company that appeared on the market this year, and its representatives promise that it will not charge its clients any fees for at least one year after opening the account. After 12 months, be prepared for some small fees. Early indications are of 1% of the 'top-up' amount over £500, with a maximum charge of £120 per year. Well, we'll see how it all develops. Until then, I recommend giving the app a try, it's definitely worth it!