Good example of my last point Gone4Good. Most banks 'fudge' the transaction date I believe.
I spent around 15 years living in various places and accessing my money via my Debit and credit cards. When someone lives in that way (as you do), you tend to educate yourself in how it all works. Or at least you do if you have half a brain.
The average traveller on the other hand doesn't tend to take the time to find out that much about it all. And to be fair, they don't really need to. Someone who converts a few thousand once a year on a vacation doesn't necessarily need or want to put in the effort to save a few hundred dollars. It is the person who travels internationally for extended periods of time or very frequently and thus is exchanging 10s of thousands of dollars plus, over time that it will really matter to.
A quick and simple calculation can show why. If I used my debit and credit cards to withdraw/spend $20k per year for 15 years, that would total $300k. If using the right cards saved me 3% on exchange, that would total $9k. Saving only $600 per year would not make or break me but $9k is a useful amount of money.
As you are someone who moves 'perpetually' according to your signature line, I would also mention although you probably realize, that the best cards today are not necessarily the best tomorrow. We have to keep checking what is new in the market at least annually.
I used to have a card with Nationwide who I mentioned above and who even ate the 1% that Visa charges. Now that was the card to have if you travelled/lived internationally and accessed your money using a card. Unfortunately, people who 'used' them screwed that up for everyone else.
My question to you Gone4Good is how you are finding it if you are using a card that is not a true 'chip and pin' card. I've had true chip and pin cards for probably 20 years now and so I have never had any issues but I do read about people from the USA who do not have true chip and pin cards running into issues. The USA is now the only country that is not on chip and pin.
I spent around 15 years living in various places and accessing my money via my Debit and credit cards. When someone lives in that way (as you do), you tend to educate yourself in how it all works. Or at least you do if you have half a brain.
The average traveller on the other hand doesn't tend to take the time to find out that much about it all. And to be fair, they don't really need to. Someone who converts a few thousand once a year on a vacation doesn't necessarily need or want to put in the effort to save a few hundred dollars. It is the person who travels internationally for extended periods of time or very frequently and thus is exchanging 10s of thousands of dollars plus, over time that it will really matter to.
A quick and simple calculation can show why. If I used my debit and credit cards to withdraw/spend $20k per year for 15 years, that would total $300k. If using the right cards saved me 3% on exchange, that would total $9k. Saving only $600 per year would not make or break me but $9k is a useful amount of money.
As you are someone who moves 'perpetually' according to your signature line, I would also mention although you probably realize, that the best cards today are not necessarily the best tomorrow. We have to keep checking what is new in the market at least annually.
I used to have a card with Nationwide who I mentioned above and who even ate the 1% that Visa charges. Now that was the card to have if you travelled/lived internationally and accessed your money using a card. Unfortunately, people who 'used' them screwed that up for everyone else.
My question to you Gone4Good is how you are finding it if you are using a card that is not a true 'chip and pin' card. I've had true chip and pin cards for probably 20 years now and so I have never had any issues but I do read about people from the USA who do not have true chip and pin cards running into issues. The USA is now the only country that is not on chip and pin.
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