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Have you ever been charged ridiculously high commissions when withdrawing money from an ATM abroad or even for paying with your card in a foreign currency?
Do you want to know how to avoid those unfair commissions? Then you must read this post!
When you are abroad, often ATMs will charge you 2€ (or even 5) to withdraw money, even if you only took 20 €… and on top of that, usually your bank applies a really bad currency exchange rate!
If you haven’t done it yet, next time you buy something in a foreign currency with your traditional card, check the commission AND the exchange rate they applied. Once Santander charged us nearly 12€ for a 400€ payment! Can you believe that? Others do the same, but hide it in really low exchange rates.
If you don’t want banks to take your money every time you need to buy something or withdraw from an ATM abroad, read this post to know how to avoid it!
Now we always travel with Revolut and BNext (only available for Spanish residents), along with the traditional bank cards (just in case). We also had the card from FerratumBank, but they don’t work in Spain any more.
#1 - Revolut
Revolut is the most popular card for travellers wherever it’s available! It started as a pre-paid card linked to an account owned by Revolut in the UK, but now it’s a real personal bank account, with Latvian IBAN (this means it’s covered by the Latvian deposit guarantee scheme up to 100 000 €, complying with EU regulations).
You should now that to use Revolut you must be a legal resident of a EU or EEA country, UK, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Japan or USA. The list of countries covered by Revolut has increased steadily, so hopefully it will be available in other places soon.
Revolut has three different pricing plans. The free version is enough for most people, these are its conditions:
- Money withdrawals with no commission: up to 200 EUR/USD/GBP monthly worldwide (up to 5 monthly withdrawals). Revolut applies the interbank exchange rate (which is the best you can find).
- You can pay in over 150 currencies at the interbank rate with no commission up to 1000 EUR/USD/GBP monthly (above 1000, the commission is 0.5%).
- You can have accounts in 30 different currencies.
Revolut also has 2 premium plans (7.99 and 13.99 € monthly). In these, the limits for withdrawals and payments with no commission are raised. They also include other services like access to VIP rooms in airports or damage waivers for car rentals.
Honestly, these premium plans are only worth paying if you really travel a lot, and spend a lot when you travel.
Pros:
- Revolut is the card with the best exchange rate you can get – the interbank rate is slightly better compared to VISA or MasterCard.
- You can easily exchange money between different currencies, and you can keep money in accounts in different currencies (they are actually the same account / IBAN). This can help you mitigate exchange rate risks in long trips or when you need to make payments in different currencies in your everyday life.
Cons:
- The monthly withdrawal limit of 200 € with no commission is not much when you travel, especially if you’re in a country where bank cards are not widely accepted. (It used to be 100€, so at least they’ve got better).
- The monthly limit for payments with no commission of 1000 € could also be better. Anyway a 0.5% commission is much better than what your usual bank will give you.
#2 - N26
N26 is a German neobank, whose services are only available for residents in the eurozone.
Their bank account includes a free card that allows you to withdraw 5 times per month without commission in any ATM in the eurozone.
We haven’t used N26 because avoiding abusive currency exchange rates or currency exchange commissions is what we most need. N26 removes these in their premium plan “N26 You”… for 9.90 € monthly (not worth it).
It can be a good option for you to travel in the eurozone, though.
#3 - Rebellion Pay (only Spanish residents)
Rebellion Pay is a Spanish neobank whose card is great for travelling. It’s downside – it’s only available if you live in Spain.
With the Rebellion card, you can make 4 monthly ATM withdrawals with no commission, up to 500 €, anywhere in the world.
There is no commission for payments in foreign currencies – with no limits. This is a clear advantage to the other cards we are analysing in this post.
Rebellion applies the MasterCard exchange rate. This is not as good as Revolut’s interbank rate but the difference is quite small.
Pros:
- Rebellion is the only card that allows you do pay in foreign currencies with no commission, without monthly limits in its free plan.
- Up to 4 monthly withdrawals (up to 500 €) anywhere you go.
Cons:
- Only available for Spanish residents.
#4 - BNext (only Spanish and Mexican residents)
BNext is a project similar to Revolut, developed in Spain. It is a bit behind Revolut in services, but it’s main disadvantage is that it’s only available in Spain and Mexico.
If you’re lucky enough to live in any of these countries, BNext is a great card to avoid commissions abroad… when you’ve finished off Revolut’s monthly limits.
BNext offers a MasterCard that allows you 3 monthly withdrawals with no commission up to 500 €.
BNext is not useful any more to travel outside the EU, as currency exchange commissions are now like any regular MasterCard (0.1% in non-euro EU currencies and 0.44 € + 0.9% in any other currencies).
Pros:
- 3 monthly withdrawals with no commission up to 500 € from ATMs all over the world.
Puntos débiles:
- Only available in Spain and Mexico.
Careful, some ATMs will still charge you commissions
Fortunately, the ATM will warn you of these and you can always say no. This is something you have to learn every time you travel to a new country.
