Best Credit/Debit Card?
Always on the lookout for a bargain and wary of my past experiences with travellers cheques, debit cards and exchange rates, I decided to for once prepare myself for my upcoming adventure and do some research into the best credit or debit card for travelling around Europe. Here are the results:
Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard
Available here, the Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard was the card I was almost about to sign up for - unlimited overseas transactions and ATM withdrawals for free, no monthly or annual fee, as well as some other nice perks. The only problem I found was that Wizard was recently taken over by Aussie (they used to be owned completely by GE Money) and since the takeover their terms and promotion of the free overseas transactions has "gone missing" - something that used to be a big selling point for them. That, combined with several unconfirmed reports of issues (Wizard blocking cards that have a positive balance; no insurance on any positive balance you have if you lose your card; and so on) made me continue looking. That and I never really wanted a credit card in the first place.
NAB Visa Debit Card - Gold Banking
When I stumbled upon this card (make sure you select the Gold Banking option) I thought there had to be some catch. As with the Wizard card they had no fees for overseas banking, great exchange rates and it's a debit not a credit card! It's also a Visa, which means I can keep my current Westpac debit Mastercard hidden away for emergencies and effectively have my bases covered. The only catch with this card is that there's a $10 monthly fee, quite a bit for Australia but when most Debit cards charge approx. 1.5% + $5.00 per ATM withdrawal, it's not such a bad deal. They will also waive the fee if you deposit $5,000 each month into the account and the balance is irrelevant, meaning you can transfer $5,000 in on one day and send it straight out the next and still pay nothing for your account. For the two months I'm travelling though, $10,000 is approximately my budget so there shouldn't be any issues. I'll simply cancel or downgrade the card when I return!
I hope this helps someone else who's frustrated with bank fees while travelling. In the meantime, I've yet to buy any insurance and I'm open to suggestions!
