What is the best Visa debit card for an 18 year old living abroad in Belgium for the next 3 months?
and traveling around the world for 4 months after. I need reasonable access to my money while traveling and good exchange rates. I know nothing about banks and bank cards, please help!! as in company i.e. HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays etc.
Belgium - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Use traveler checks instead. If not, use a credit card before debit. That way you can dispute a charge if you run into a problem. Debit is immediate payment. Credit cards sometimes offer better exchange rates.
2 :
Mastercard is more popular in Europe. In europe it's called the 'Access' card. I wouldn't hurt to have a visa also. Which is called a 'Barclaycard' in the UK
3 :
Visa or Mater Card are accepted or bank ATM can be used where you can get cash at a reasonable exchange rate But avoid travels cheques at all cost they are not widely accepted as in North America as its close to a cheque-less society in many places
4 :
If you have a bank account in your country, ask your bank company what cards you can have. Another option is open a bank account in Belgium and get bankcards. All European banks have debit cards. Ask for a card with MAESTRO-functionality. With this you can get money at ATM's and pay in most shops and hotels in Europe. http://www.maestrocard.com/ Most used credit cards in Europe are Visa and Mastercard. With both cards you can get money at ATM's and pay in a lot of shops and hotels in Europe, and in a lot of places in the rest of the world. American Express, Diners Club and others are in less places accepted. Most bank companies in Belgium do not issue Traveller cheques any more or they are very expensive. There is also a big difference in costs for using your card, depending on the bank issued the card, kind of transaction and country you are. It is best to know this on beforehand. It will be cheaper to cash a bigger amount in once than x times a small amount. If you want to open an account and/or get cards in a Belgium bank it is important to be more than 18 years old. I'm not sure you can open a bank account if you are less than 18 (underage) without written knowledge of your parents. The most common banks are: KBC www.kbc.be Dexia http://www.dexia.be/ BNP Paribas Fortis http://www.fortisbank.com/ ING http://www.ing.be/private/index.jsp They all have offices in every city and community around the country.
Read more discussions:
