Credit Card Use

[mocha9]

Going to Georgetown, Grand Cayman in February. Can we use credit cards instead if US currency so we won't receive change in CI currency? If we can use a credit card, is there usually a minimum amount that has to be spent before a credit card can be used. Thanks for any help.

[cb at sea]

You may use your credit card. Even if you use cash, you are unlikely to receive CI change, if you have close to the price in US dollars! I don't believe there is a minimum, but I would assume that may differ from store to store.

 

If you would rather use cash, just don't try to buy something for $3 with a $100 bill! Try to have as close to the price as you can. They will give you US dollars/change back.

[Zada]

As home to nearly 600 banks, using a credit card shouldn't be a problem. You may want to do a couple of things first, however. 1) let your CC company know you will be traveling and let them know where (and the duration). This can help prevent frustrating account locks. 2) check to see if your CC charges foreign currency fees. Some cards do, some don't. AmEx for example has fairly high fees while cap One doesn't have any.

[mocha9]

Thanks for the info on credit cards. I didn't realize the card companies would charge a fee. Will use Capital One and not Am Ex.

[drew sailbum]

MasterCard and Visa are very widely accepted in the Cayman Islands. Discover and American Express less so.

 

Assuming you do not have a debit card drawn on a Cayman Islands bank account then....

 

All credit card charges are first converted to US dollars

by the merchant

before running the card.

 

Even so, many credit card companies apply a foreign transaction fee even though the credit card company is not doing the currency conversion. Check with your card provider. Capitol One advertises that they do not do this with some (maybe all?) of the cards they issue.

 

If your credit card account is denominated in another currency (Euros, Canadian dollars, UK pounds, etc...) then your charge will be converted by the credit card company or issuing bank from US dollars to your home currency at prevailing rates.

Cayman merchants can require a minimum purchase to use a card. I've seen signs from about CI$3 to CI$10 as a minimum fairly frequently.

 

Some merchants in tourist focused businesses will provide change in US currency. That is very much the exception! The vast majority of businesses deal primarily in CI$. Most businesses will accept US$ but simply do not have a float of small US$ bills to make change. Change in US coins is very rare.