Prepaid Debit cards for France / Spain

[Gary May]

Has anyone got experience of the pre-pay cards you can set up?
I've been debating on getting one and loading with Euros to avoid carrying loads of cash and numerous ATM / Bank fees! One I am swaying towards is called WeSwap - they basically transfer money between people like you & I and offer a decent rate in doing so. Link below (hopefully!)

https://www.weswap.com/en/moneycouk...ard&utm_medium=Comparison&utm_content=Prepaid

The card issued is a MasterCard and works the same as a debit card - except you cant overspend on what is loaded. They also give you £10 credit when you load up £50

There are no fees for ATM's if you withdraw a min £200/euro. Also no transaction fees.

Thoughts?

 

[Robo]

I used one from my Australian Bank and it worked well.
All comes down to what exchange rate they give you when you 'load' the card of course.
You can never really win

 

[Cmeckley]

I live in Spain in the summer (Galicia). Last summer (2016) my daughter's friends visited from the US with prepaid Visa-type gift cards and NONE of them worked in any of the stores we tried. Perhaps your UK ones are different. But I would caution anyone from the US reading this thread who is considering pre-paid, to be cautious. I suspect it had something to do with them not having a chip.

 

[Gary May]

I live in Spain in the summer (Galicia). Last summer (2016) my daughter's friends visited from the US with prepaid Visa-type gift cards and NONE of them worked in any of the stores we tried. Perhaps your UK ones are different. But I would caution anyone from the US reading this thread who is considering pre-paid, to be cautious. I suspect it had something to do with them not having a chip.

The UK ones are all Chip & Pin - have they introduced that in the States yet? But I think it's wise to have a back up card also.....or live like a TRUE Pilgrim

 

[Seeker43]

I don't know where you live. If it is in the USA you could open a SCHWAB bank account (as opposed to an investment one) and you can get an ATM card with that. There is no minimum for the account and there are NO fees when you withdraw money in whatever country you are in. They refund fees from the other bank (the one that you receive it from) also. It's a major advantage as you can withdraw as little as you like and as often as you like without penalties. I have used it it all over the world including at least 7 countries in Africa, including remote towns that had a working ATM. Anyway, just a suggestion for USA based folks. And, by the way, SCHWAB has the best, most courteous and kindest phone and digital help of any I've ever needed from any company. No, I don't work for them and have no investments.

 

[Char]

Hi
Saw the post and was wondering if the Bidvest multicurrency card (Mastercard) will work

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I live in Spain in the summer (Galicia). Last summer (2016) my daughter's friends visited from the US with prepaid Visa-type gift cards and NONE of them worked in any of the stores we tried. Perhaps your UK ones are different. But I would caution anyone from the US reading this thread who is considering pre-paid, to be cautious. I suspect it had something to do with them not having a chip.

I would be cautious about a chip and signature card also. U.S. banks have been very hesitant about issuing chip and pin cards. None want to be the first to spend money on it and not have it work right or not be wanted or used by the public. Maybe someone can tell us if American pre-paid cards with chip and signature instead of chip and pin will be accepted in Europe.

 

[Seeker43]

I would be cautious about a chip and signature card also. U.S. banks have been very hesitant about issuing chip and pin cards. None want to be the first to spend money on it and not have it work right or not be wanted or used by the public. Maybe someone can tell us if American pre-paid cards with chip and signature instead of chip and pin will be accepted in Europe.

I don't know about prepaid card. They are viewed as expensive and a bit of a rip off but DEBIT cards are "prepaid" in a sense and American banks use them pretty commonly. I think they may have lagged behind European ones initially because those cards require different readers both for banks and merchants.

 

[trecile]

I would be cautious about a chip and signature card also. U.S. banks have been very hesitant about issuing chip and pin cards. None want to be the first to spend money on it and not have it work right or not be wanted or used by the public. Maybe someone can tell us if American pre-paid cards with chip and signature instead of chip and pin will be accepted in Europe.

I wonder why they didn't work, unless they didn't have a chip at all. I haven't had any problem using my chip and signature card in Europe.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I haven't had any problem using my chip and signature card in Europe.

Thank you. I was wondering if they would work.

Here are three stories about the US and why we don't have chip and pin yet. The first is simpler to understand and the next two dig into a bit deeper (and cover different aspects from each other.)
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...credit-card-breach-chip-pin-technology-europe
http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...u_still_can_t_use_a_chip_card_everywhere.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/busines...east-secure-credit-cards-in-the-world/473199/

 

[April Jo]

You're probably not in Australia, but for anyone who is.... the Commonwealth Bank of Australia issues Travel Cards which are really just Debit Master Cards.

You specify which currencies you want (I chose AUD, GBP and Euros) and are valid for a couple of years. They issue you with TWO cards, for the same account, each with a different 4-digit PIN. That means if one card is lost or stolen, you can just make a phone call to cancel that particular card, and just use the second card. A good system.

No nasty fees, and a trusted family member can top it up online while you're away (the bank, of course, can't and don't recommend that!) but will have to be careful to specify which currency you want topped up. You can keep using the card once you get home.

 

[April Jo]

To state the obvious regarding my earlier post about CBA Travel Cards: you'd need to specify Australian Dollars as one of the loaded currencies on the card when you get the card issued: Then you can use it anywhere in Australia as well as overseas.

BTW I had no problems with this card at all, in Spain and England. Oh, apart from one pesky ATM in Santiago, but it looked as though it was one of the first ATMs ever invented, so I don't think it was my card's fault

Just a reminder though: don't rely on cards for hotels and meals etc, because lots of places in Spain seem to insist on cash...

 

[Jersey]

I live in Spain in the summer (Galicia). Last summer (2016) my daughter's friends visited from the US with prepaid Visa-type gift cards and NONE of them worked in any of the stores we tried. Perhaps your UK ones are different. But I would caution anyone from the US reading this thread who is considering pre-paid, to be cautious. I suspect it had something to do with them not having a chip.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm in Northern Jersey
Also plan on spending anywhere from 3 to six months a year in La Coruna in the coming few years. (This year six weeks but staying with friends )
May I ask how you went about a rental? Any advice on real estate rental sites or just look at Airbnb?