Nomad cards – Which bank cards do really work well abroad?
Other people collect game cards, I collect credit cards. But now I have tidied out.
After over a year and a half of traveling around the world and countless plastic cards and even more accounts on various online services, it is time to evaluate my experiences. I would like to share this with you. Maybe you are still at the beginning of a nomad life or you have planned a trip around the world.
I very often see that other digital nomads advertise the credit card of the DKB on their blogs. This may have been a good tool a few years ago, but I cannot recommend it anymore. In addition to the fact that the online banking and the TAN app are very cumbersome and brings a lot of bureaucracy when re-installing the phone, DKB sends you new credit cards out of the blue. And of course, the old one will be deactivated. That’s really annoying, when you are traveling somewhere in Asia and rely on the card. In addition, the free cash withdrawal abroad only applies for an amount above 50 Euros. But if you only have a stop-over in Bali, 50 Euros is way too much money. This amount lasts in Indonesia for days. Even with my stop-over in the very expensive Singapore 50 Euros were too much money for the short stay. It’s really stupid, if the public transport then doesn’t accept card payment. Thankfully Curvesaved my butt there:
Curve
Curve is a brilliant app including a Mastercard. You can use Curve’s Mastercard as a normal card, but the money will be debited from one of your other cards. In the app you can simply select from which other card it should currently being debited. For the other card provider, Curve looks like a normal turnover through card payment. So, I was able to avoid the stupid 50 Euro minimum withdrawal from DKB, and only got 20 Euros with my Curve card. Cash withdrawals may even be free up to a certain limit on Curve. Otherwise 1% fee will be charged on using the card. For foreign currencies abroad, the fair conversion rates of Curve can be used, which even saves a lot of money at some banks, so that the 1% fees are even cheaper.
N26
A truly recommendable bank for world travelers and home-stayers is N26. It is not only innovative and has good support, but also offers great conditions. So, you can actually withdraw money abroad for free with the N26 Black card and get all sorts of included insurance benefits. This program will cost you less than 10 Euros a month, which may be worth it after 2-3 withdrawals per month.
Crypto cards
The crypto currencies have a bright future. However, until the cryptos have prevailed and replaced our fiat money, we are dependent on an interface to be able to pay anywhere with cryptos. Since the beginning of this year, many card providers have had problems. A provider that actually works right now is Wirex. This provider also offers many other nice features besides crypto payment via Visa card.
More
The innovative company Revolut is also pioneering in the crypto market and is offering worldwide free payment and withdrawal. This one is also a good alternative to send money around the planet. Just get a second revolute card for your friends or family members and they can withdraw the money for free anywhere in the world, if you have previously deposited money to the Revolut account via crypto or bank transfer. Many of these services are also available for the financial infrastructure of your company.
One final lifehack
There is a general rule: If you withdraw from an ATM abroad, then always charge your account in the local currency that you withdraw. Because some machines ask you if they should do the conversion for you and charge your account in the its currency. In general, however, the ATMs have a much worse exchange rate than the banks, so you’ll be only ripped off if you agree.
Do you know even better cards? Are there any new brilliant providers? Please post it down in the comments and I will update this article!