I do like a nice bank.
Unsplash Anastasiia OstapovychI mean a bank is not the first thing on my mind when I arrive in a new country but it is a personal luxury of mine to sneak away from the group, find some alone time and indulge myself in a bit of local banking. There’s really nothing like it. To date I’ve banked in 4 continents and over 12 countries and I hope it doesn’t stop there.
Before traveling abroad, especially when the trip is for an extended amount of time its worth researching what banking options you have. If you are just jetting off for a short stay then cash or travelers checks will probably do the trick however if you plan on staying abroad for a decent amount of time then there are flexible banking options available that offer competitive exchange rates and no fees on withdrawals while abroad. In fact it really is quite easy.
Most banks will offer their own version of a pre-paid travel debit card with an array of benefits but they rarely compete with the companies that are solely set up to do this kind of travel friendly banking. At the moment there are endless options and the benefits are consequently becoming rather wonderful as a result of all the competition. Although it may seem like I should offer a list of the best options but I’m not going to do that as a strange protest against the standards of online journalism. What I will do is tell you about the option I chose and why I think that’s a good option.
The pre-paid card that I opted for is the Caxton FX currency card. They offer a selection of cards which cover various continents and each of them offer great value. I’m from the UK and initially got their euro traveler card that offered great exchange rates for the pound to the euro and allowed my travel throughout mainland Europe to be much simpler than I it could have been. Even for those countries further east that are not on the euro the card exchanges with decent exchange rates once again into the appropriate currency. Following the success of this when I came to the US I decided to try their Dollar currency card which again offered great exchange rates and allowed me to easily handle money for the first few weeks of my stay here before I was able to set up a proper bank account for my year abroad in the US. So if you’re going to bank abroad, do it the right way with peace of mind, you don’t want to be burdened by a lack of prudence and have to sneak away from your friends for a cheeky bank in a foreign place.
Cards such as those offered by Caxton then are not permanent options but they are perfect for traveling and banking in style. They make it so you don’t have to worry about loosing cash or getting ripped off by traveler’s checks. These pre-paid cards then are a traveler’s best friend and allow you to bank in ease and without trouble all over the world.
Also if you’re felling adventurous why not try banking with a friend, it’s just as easy and twice the fun. Happy banking.
Article written by Daniel Cooke.
