Foreign currency

Coming from the USA...do we use a bank debit card with a pin OR do we use a credit card with a pin to access the ATMs for currency of the country we are in?

We use our credit cards for hotels, meals, etc but we may need extra cash for transportation ,gratuities & small purchases at a drug store, etc.

Coming from the USA...do we use a bank debit card with a pin OR do we use a credit card with a pin to access the ATMs for currency of the country we are in?

 

We use our credit cards for hotels, meals, etc but we may need extra cash for transportation ,gratuities & small purchases at a drug store, etc.

Use your ATM card that you use in the US.

Use your ATM card that you use in the US.

Thanks FritzG...appreciate .

I think the reason we Americans still have $1 bills is because the people in charge of minting and printing our currency in the Treasury Department are idiots. On two separate occasions they issued $1 coins without discontinuing our $1 paper money; the coins were a total failure. Also, every one of our bills is exactly the same size no matter what the denomination; apparently, the Treasury hates blind people and wants to make life as difficult as possible for them. They're now about to replace Alexander Hamilton (the man who created the Bank of the United States and actually liked paper money) on the $10 bill, instead of replacing Andrew Jackson (who hated paper money) on the $20. Go figure...

I think the reason we Americans still have $1 bills is because the people in charge of minting and printing our currency in the Treasury Department are idiots. On two separate occasions they issued $1 coins without discontinuing our $1 paper money; the coins were a total failure.

I can't quite grasp why exactly that makes your Mint staffed with idiots. Is it because they applied the idea of giving the people what they want? And if so, why is that a bad idea?

You can be sure, however, that there is no way the British government would risk asking people what they want before making changes. Whether it's moving towns from one country to another, making the use of pounds and ounces a criminal offence, or even joining a political union, we have a political consensus that makes sure the politicians aren't going to risk asking the populace what they want. They might get a wrong answer.

Don't disapprove of the USA, just because they take democracy seriously.

Rant over.

Use your ATM card that you use in the US.

Use your ATM Debit card with a pin. Be sure to call your bank before you leave and tell them the countries you will be in and that you might be using ATM machines. We also take a couple of credit cards and call them also and let them know which countries we will be in. We have traveled out of the quite a bit over the past 3 years and have used the new chip card. Many places would take only the chip card, you push the card in and leave it until the transaction goes through, no swiping of the card there. We are able to swipe ours here and or push it it in and hold it in the front of the machine.

Use your ATM Debit card with a pin. Be sure to call your bank before you leave and tell them the countries you will be in and that you might be using ATM machines. We also take a couple of credit cards and call them also and let them know which countries we will be in. We have traveled out of the quite a bit over the past 3 years and have used the new chip card. Many places would take only the chip card, you push the card in and leave it until the transaction goes through, no swiping of the card there. We are able to swipe ours here and or push it it in and hold it in the front of the machine.

Thanks for the info. We always do the travel notifications. We have the new chip cards. I do have to change my pin for the debit card since it presently uses 6 numbers & I believe I read somewhere that I need a 4 number pin in Europe

Thanks for the info. We always do the travel notifications. We have the new chip cards. I do have to change my pin for the debit card since it presently uses 6 numbers & I believe I read somewhere that I need a 4 number pin in Europe

You are correct. Only 4 digit pins are used throughout Europe and Britain.

I'll tell you. Last month I spent 8 days in London both pre and post a Mediterranean cruise I had two £10 bank notes neatly folder in my wallet from a previous trip. When I returned home, and believe me I don't live high on the hog, the bank notes were still in my wallet. Not once in 8 days was it necessary to use cash. Credit cards for everything large or small. Period. My only complaint is that in the UK, they still insist on comparing signatures on cards with signatures on receipts for trivial amounts. In the USA, most merchants do not bother collecting signatures for purchases under $50 and hardly look at them for larger amounts. A total waste of time which provides absolutelhy no security as some 16 year old student working at Boots for the summer wouldn't know or care about the difference. Even self service machines in chain stores waste everybody's time by not completing a credit card transaction for small amounts but telling yoju to wait for a clerk to come over, enter his or her code to print a receipt and without even looking at it, sticking it in the machine. (American credit cards while many have the chip do not support pins except in rare cases; it's chip and signature all the way).

As far as the $1 bill, it is of course ludicrous but where the US has gone wrong on that, they have yet to produce an impressive looking $1 coin. You get either a £1 or £2 coin in the UK and just be feel it is impossible to confuse it with any other coin. But then again, we still use Farenheit degrees and imperial measurements unlike 99.9% of the rest of the world and insist on using different frequencies for our mobile phones. The price for medical care in the USA is through the roof because we refuse to join the rest of the world and have a single payer system (Americanspay 3 or 4 times what others pay for the same drugs because Congress in its finite wisdom at the request of George Bush refused to allow the equivalent of the NHL in the USA called Medicare (only for those over 65) negotiate drug prices witn drug manufacturers so guess who are left holding the bag. Yes...this is American exceptionalism...exception to things the rest of the world takes for granted and being told how great things are in the USA as compared to elsewhere. When people trael, they find out how ridiculous this is (how many Americans when they hear the afternoon high will be 25 degrees start looking for their winter gaments?) But that's for other blogs.

My only complaint is that in the UK, they still insist on comparing signatures on cards with signatures on receipts for trivial amounts. In the USA, most merchants do not bother collecting signatures for purchases under $50 and hardly look at them for larger amounts. A total waste of time which provides absolutelhy no security as some 16 year old student working at Boots for the summer wouldn't know or care about the difference.

It's not true that checking signatures provides no security. Maybe not in America, but in the UK, if the signature on the card bears no resemblance to the signature on the bill, the card company won't honour the payment.

It's not true that checking signatures provides no security. Maybe not in America, but in the UK, if the signature on the card bears no resemblance to the signature on the bill, the card company won't honour the payment.

With the number of counterfeit cards floating around, that might be very hard to prove. I never sign a sales slip the way I signed my card and have never had a clerk say boo.

 

I never sign a sales slip the way I signed my card and have never had a clerk say boo.

And that exactly sums up why thieves were able to get over $200 of goods paid for on the credit card they had stolen from me - along with other valuables - when I was robbed in the U.S about 20 years ago.

The thieves managed to use my card in three separate stores within 10 minutes, the time it took me to make the call back to the UK to my CC company to tell them to cancel my card.

The CC co. later sent me copies of the sales slips used, before crediting the $200 back to my account, and none of the signatures remotely resembled my own. I was astounded that the differences hadn't been noted and the card declined in the store. This was before Chip and Pin in Europe, and at that time here, the signatures on card and sales slip were always closely checked.

You are correct. Only 4 digit pins are used throughout Europe and Britain.

Not correct.

I have used my debit/credit/atm card all over europe with a 6 digit pin.

Not correct.

I have used my debit/credit/atm card all over europe with a 6 digit pin.

Not our experience with US credit ATM cards......

Don't disapprove of the USA, just because they take democracy seriously.

Gee, I don't know how to begin to explain this to you, but I was actually born here in the USA (my first ancestors arrived in 1740), and I know exactly how democracy in my country works. Or doesn't. You don't. (We actually are a republic---small R---rather than a democracy. You should look it up sometime.)