We tell you our experience with differente payment methods
When we travel, most of us have doubts about the money to take for the trip. Do I take all the money from the trip in cash? Is it better to bring a card to pay during my trip abroad? Do I take part of my travel money in cash and another on a card?
If you have ever asked yourself any of these questions, today we will try to solve them.
On a recent trip by some of our colleages from Eurochange abroad (to the United States), we decided to test the different payment options that currently exist to see which was the most reliable option for a trip. This is their experience.
Cash, bank card or prepaid card?
“For our trip we prepared the money in the following way: we took a part of the money, like 1/3 of the total, in cash (to pay the expenses of meals, purchases, displacements,…) and we put the other part, something more than 2/3 of the total, in a prepaid card like Revolut / Bnext that are very popular among travelers (to make the largest payments, hotels,…), in addition to carrying our two bank cards: a debit card (which we carry by default in the wallet) and the credit one (to pay for the rental car and if any unforeseen event arises). ”
Everything was going well until the problem came…
“During the first days we made several payments in cash and with the prepaid card. In two places (an ice cream shop and a vending machine) we tried to pay with the prepaid card but the operation was not authorized. We didn't give it any importance since we thought it was due to a reading problem on the devices, not a problem on the card. In other places we had paid with the same card without problem. So since they were small amounts, we managed to pay in cash.
The problem came when we went to rent our car to continue the trip. In this case it was mandatory to give a credit card and the company did not accept payments or deposits in cash. We already had a previous reservation, but even so, they had to pass the card through the reader to confirm it.
They passed the credit card and told us that the payment was not authorised. We tried again and they told us the same. We tried with the bank debit card with the same response. We asked them to try once more with the prepaid card and it was neither authorised.
So after several attempts (queuing at the counter and approaching dangerously at the maximum time to reach the next destination on our trip) we called the bank. In the bank they inform us of something we did not know:
The cards we use can have three types of technology: magnetic stripe, chip or contactless. Depending on the card they have one, two or all three options. In Europe, the two safest technologies are used: the chip or the contactless. And European cards usually have anti-fraud protection so that payments cannot be made with the magnetic strip, since it is very easy to counterfeit. If this protection is not deactivated, the card does not work with the magnetic stripe, as was our case.
The matter is that in the United States they not only continue using the magnetic stripe, but the most common is that payment systems read only the magnetic stripe. In fact in very few places they had machines to read the chip or to make the payment with contactless.
Then we realized that the times that we had cancelled transactions with the prepaid card was in the same situation, in POS terminals that read only the magnetic stripe. Please, remember that in 90% of the establishments they had only magnetic stripe readers with no option to read the chip or contactless. ”
Outcome
“Finally, after several warnings of how dangerous it was in a 15-minute call from abroad, in our bank they deactivated the protection of the magnetic stripe for the rest of the days of the trip with which we could use the credit card to rent the car.
For the prepaid card we had no option to contact anyone, since there is no Customer Service phone number or other direct way to contact with someone who could help us. So we could only use it in the few places we saw that had dataphones for the chip. We had the option to get 200 Dollars a day from the ATMs, but since we wanted to use it for large payments, we decided not to have more headaches, not having to get money every day to pay for the hotels afterwards and spend it where we could.
We kept saving the cash as a treasure to use it in all the places where they did not accept card or where we could not pay with the prepaid card. We didn’t want to abuse the credit card, but in the end we had to use it for some more expenses. When we returned home we still had a good part of the balance in foreign currency on the prepaid card that we had to change back to Euros, thus losing a part of the money invested.”
Conclusion and advice
“After our experience, we believe that the most reliable way to travel is with cash. We are not going to be technophobes and give up the use of cards, but the truth is that cash was no problem, it is where we got a better price, since we were looking at a price to change it when the price was more favorable, and we spent it all (except for some coins that we kept as souvenir).
The prepaid card is not bad, but we do not believe that we will use it again as the most reliable option and put most of our budget there. We will keep it as a second option to use just in case. Will continue to carry the credit card, whether we have to rent a car or not, since this time it saved us. The problem is that the rate that the bank applied to us, not being the worst, was not very good either. But you don't know that until you get the payment to the card.”
Eurochange tips
We hope you find our partners' experience useful in deciding how to organize your currency exchange. Check before traveling with your bank to be informed of prices, commissions and if you may have problems with your cards. Confirm if the alternative options will be useful, as sometimes they are not what you expect. And for any questions you have about currency exchange in cash, we will be happy to help you.
