Best credit card for foreign transactions

[SauRoNZA]

Just remember to phone your bank before you leave so that they can authorise international use: you'll need to specify all the countries you'll be travelling through and the dates of travel.

What I do to cover myself is to take a selection of cards and I've never had any issues before. Mastercard worked fine in the UK, Visa worked fine in Romania, Dubai and the United States. They're the two biggest card types, so your biggest problem will be having enough money on the card than finding a place to spend the money

Didn't need to do that with FNB.

But previously with Virgin I did.

 

[Foxhound5366]

Didn't need to do that with FNB.

But previously with Virgin I did.

I'm with FNB and I did have to do that lol (for them and Standard Bank for that matter). Maybe FNB just let you go and you got lucky, but I think it increases your chances of getting your stuff blocked and you finding yourself on the wrong end of a sticky situation.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I'm with FNB and I did have to do that lol (for them and Standard Bank for that matter). Maybe FNB just let you go and you got lucky, but I think it increases your chances of getting your stuff blocked and you finding yourself on the wrong end of a sticky situation.

Guess it depends how crazy you go.

Or maybe having done it once didn’t need to do it again.

 

[SYNERGY]

Guess it depends how crazy you go.

Or maybe having done it once didn’t need to do it again.

You generally have to do it everytime you go. Otherwise, there is a chance the fraud department will freeze the card/account until they can contact you.

 

[SauRoNZA]

You generally have to do it everytime you go. Otherwise, there is a chance the fraud department will freeze the card/account until they can contact you.

I know what they generally say.

Not necessarily what they do.

 

[HavocXphere]

Capitec does seem to work out cheapest.

I'd strongly advise against relying on one card though. I'm carrying a couple cards - that's not me being fancy...just noticed that if you travel enough you encounter places that don't accept a specific card. (e.g. No Visa :wtf::wtf. And since I don't carry cash that can be awkward as hell.

The other thing to keep in mind is that some places don't like foreign cards. A visa card is supposed to be a visa card anywhere but in reality it doesn't work that way. Take a look at the next ZA toll road you drive through...there is a sign there saying RSA cards only. Same thing applies in reverse.

Also...since it's a business trip talk to your boss in advance & tell him you'll be expensing this at whatever is on your bank statement, not the invoice amount. I got a number of claims like that from my underlings...people travel and got absolutely fk'd on the rates but hey the business demanded that they travel so the business picks up the bill...incl the getting fk'd part. Point is you might want to mention this in advance.

Didn't need to do that with FNB.

"Need" is tricky here.

Most transactions should go through without alerting the bank in advance, but it's safer to do so anyway. They can actually adjust this on their systems - the details of what they adjust seem to vary & they don't all adjust the algos but as a minimum they seem to leave a note saying "Havoc goes to US"...so it gives the fraud dept something to work with. With ZA cards I certainly would...they seem rather sensitive...my dads SB gold card got flagged & blocked for foreign tx within a day so ended up handing him one of my cards.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Funny enough the bank didn’t care about swipes and stuff.

But GoG blocked my account for buying a digital Xbox code in Sri Lanka with a South African registered address.

I also have a Virgin Card for the MasterCard factor and just in case there is a problem with one bank but have to date never needed it.

I usually try and draw only a little bit of cash when I arrive and then settle my hotel bill with what I have left upon leaving so I don’t have any foreign currency to stress about.

 

[HavocXphere]

I usually try and draw only a little bit of cash when I arrive and then settle my hotel bill with what I have left upon leaving so I don’t have any foreign currency to stress about.

Just start a currency collection. If it's USD/EUR/GBP then you'll likely need it again at some point. Not having is obv better though

 

[Ho3n3r]

Unfortunately I am a capitec bank user, so no Visa card.

He said VISA/Mastercard. Capitec card is Mastercard.