best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

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xtallographer
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best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by xtallographer »

My child will go to London to study 1 year, so I am looking for possibilities of ATM card (for cash) and credit card (for purchase). Right now, for the debit card, I think the fidelity ATM/Debit card is very good option, with a max daily limit $500 which should be enough. For the credit card, discover has no foreign transaction fee so this is an option.

I wonder if there are any better options?

Also, if I want to get some UK pound cash before my child's departure, are the major banks the best places to get some UK pounds? Not sure how good their exchange rates are.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
niagara_guy
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by niagara_guy »

For both cards, watch all the fees for foreign transactions. Many cards nickel and dime you in my view. I would stick with either Visa or Mastercard since they are accepted everywhere. I have used my credit union atm card in lots of foreign atm machines, never had and issue in the last 30 years or so. I assume you are getting the cards in the US but there might be an advantage getting the cards in England since this will be a long stay. I also think it's wise to have 2 credit cards and 2 atm cards from different sources in case there is an issue.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by muffins14 »

What I like about Fidelity (cash management account or regular brokerage account once you have 250k+) is that they refund ATM fees. This can be super helpful when abroad, since I can just to any ATM that I find without caring about fees at all.

for credit card, I use the fidelity cash back Visa. It gives 2% cash back but does charge 1% foreign transaction fee, netting out to 1% cash back. So, that’s not ideal, but the trade off between card optimization and number of cards is a personal choice
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Vulcan
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Vulcan »

Schwab or Fidelity for worldwide ATM fee refunds.

CapitalOne for no credit card foreign transaction fees while earning 1.5% cash back.
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drk
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by drk »

xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:34 am Right now, for the debit card, I think the fidelity ATM/Debit card is very good option, with a max daily limit $500 which should be enough.
That's what I use. It's a good choice: no foreign transaction fees (on ATM transactions) and ATM fees reimbursed daily. Schwab is also a good option.
xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:34 am For the credit card, discover has no foreign transaction fee so this is an option.
I doubt that the Discover card will be accepted at many places. For a Visa/MC with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, I would recommend Capital One (Savor, Venture One, or Quick Silver) or Bank of America Travel Rewards. If you have a Costco membership, the Costco Citi card is another option.
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UnLearnYourself
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by UnLearnYourself »

Schwab is great - no foreign transaction fees, ATM fee reimbursement globally. Solid free checking account.

As for credit card I love Chase Sapphire Preferred. Great travel, luggage, cancellation, and car rental insurances, no foreign transaction fees, great sign up bonuses for new accounts, and the ultimate rewards points you earn can be transferred to several great partner airlines and hotels. Well worth looking into as an option.
Last edited by UnLearnYourself on Mon May 16, 2022 1:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
criticalmass
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by criticalmass »

There are already many similar recent posts on this forum with great answers to this question, discussed in detail. I recommend looking at them first.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by AlohaJoe »

xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:34 am
Also, if I want to get some UK pound cash before my child's departure, are the major banks the best places to get some UK pounds? Not sure how good their exchange rates are.
Why do you need pounds before they go over?

Every airport on the planet has ATMs. They can get money when they are there. Not that they need pounds if they have cards.

What do you think they're going to use the pounds for?

Also, why don't they just open a bank account in the UK?
Eno Deb
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Eno Deb »

I wouldn't bother getting GBP cash beforehand. There are plenty of ATMs at the airport.

For the credit card, get a contactless card if possible. They are super convenient to get around in London with busses or the Tube. You just tap the card on the readers and it takes care of everything. No need to get an Oyster card or similar.
Last edited by Eno Deb on Mon May 16, 2022 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
MGBMartin
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by MGBMartin »

Make sure he understands to decline the option to process the transaction in USD, always choose the local currency option.
It’s called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it will cost you dearly, about 5-7%.
This applies to credit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.
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Morik
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Morik »

MGBMartin wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:54 am Make sure he understands to decline the option to process the transaction in USD, always choose the local currency option.
It’s called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it will cost you dearly, about 5-7%.
This applies to credit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.
Huh, is there ever a situation in which it is beneficial to the customer to do this? Or is this more like "lets give customers something to shoot themselves in the foot with so we can earn some extra money"?
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by RetiredAL »

xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 9:34 am My child will go to London to study 1 year, so I am looking for possibilities of ATM card (for cash) and credit card (for purchase). Right now, for the debit card, I think the fidelity ATM/Debit card is very good option, with a max daily limit $500 which should be enough. For the credit card, discover has no foreign transaction fee so this is an option.

I wonder if there are any better options?

Also, if I want to get some UK pound cash before my child's departure, are the major banks the best places to get some UK pounds? Not sure how good their exchange rates are.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Relating to an ATM for cash, make sure your child understands at independent ATMs may charge withdrawal a fee that the card issuer may not cover, so small amounts ($20 - $50) should be avoided. Do larger withdrawals (several $100s) at a bank's ATM. We found that out years ago when DD went to New Zealand for a year of college. Getting $20 while at a pub using their ATM resulted in several dings before I got the process changed.

An option, and I know zero about GB's banking, would be to open a local bank account for a local ATM card. My Wild Land Fireman son, who worked 2 fire seasons in Australia, did that but he also got a pay check.

You may find seeing the CC transactions will give you some satisfaction as to what your child is doing. It did for us for DD when in NZ since this was pre-worldwide cell phones.

Do make sure the card issuers know the card will be used long term in GB.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by drk »

Morik wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:56 am Huh, is there ever a situation in which it is beneficial to the customer to do this? Or is this more like "lets give customers something to shoot themselves in the foot with so we can earn some extra money"?
Always the latter. It's a scam.
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xtallographer
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by xtallographer »

Thank you very much for all the helpful suggestions.

I thought my child may need some cash to pay taxies, and buy something in need, in the first a few days without looking for ATMs. But probably I worried too much, and ATMs should be easy to find.

Yes, VISA/Master is better than discover, which may not be accepted in all places.

I do have a costco anywhere card from Citi, but I did not realize it has no foreign fee. Thanks for this info.

Can young people apply for credit cards in UK directly without credit history and income in UK? I am more comfortable to use the US cards as I will be paying the bills from my US bank account.

Thanks for letting me know there are already some similar questions. I will do a search first in future.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by homebuyer6426 »

drk wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 10:40 am Bank of America Travel Rewards
I am pleased with this card, no foreign currency fees. Used it while in Greece and Italy, and I also use it to buy tea in yen from a Japanese website.
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Jags4186
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Jags4186 »

Schwab over Fidelity for checking accounts/ATM. Schwab is actually a bank and checking account, Fidelity isn’t.

Discover is accepted nowhere in Europe. If your kid has an iPhone they could sign up for an Apple Card. Another option is Capital One Quicksilver.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by exodusNH »

xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 12:17 pm Thank you very much for all the helpful suggestions.

I thought my child may need some cash to pay taxies, and buy something in need, in the first a few days without looking for ATMs. But probably I worried too much, and ATMs should be easy to find.

Yes, VISA/Master is better than discover, which may not be accepted in all places.

I do have a costco anywhere card from Citi, but I did not realize it has no foreign fee. Thanks for this info.

Can young people apply for credit cards in UK directly without credit history and income in UK? I am more comfortable to use the US cards as I will be paying the bills from my US bank account.

Thanks for letting me know there are already some similar questions. I will do a search first in future.
If they do wind up creating a UK-based bank account, make sure they report it to the IRS. There are substantial fines if you don't. (Many foreign banks won't serve US citizens if they don't have multiple citizenship anymore, though, due to onerous IRS reporting requirements.)
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Eno Deb »

exodusNH wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 1:05 pmIf they do wind up creating a UK-based bank account, make sure they report it to the IRS. There are substantial fines if you don't. (Many foreign banks won't serve US citizens if they don't have multiple citizenship anymore, though, due to onerous IRS reporting requirements.)
That should be easy to avoid for a student. There are two ways in which foreign bank accounts potentially have to be reported to the US government: form 8938 in the tax return, and the FBAR that is sent to the US Treasury. But accounts only need to be reported in their value exceeds certain limits: the FBAR if the account balance is above $10,000 any time during the year, and the limits for form 8938 are even higher (particularly for US citizens living abroad).

It is true that foreign banks often refuse to open investment accounts for US citizens, but a checking account shouldn't be an issue.

Another alternative might be to open a Wise multi-currency account. Makes it easy to send money from the US, has good exchange rates, and also comes with a debit card.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by dboeger1 »

I don't have specific recommendations, but just want to point out that in general, the relevant factors for debit cards are obvious and simple, along the lines of no foreign transaction fees and ATM fee refunds, but the factors to consider for credit cards are significantly more complex if you want to maximize value. You could just ignore things like rewards and use the same simple factors as for debit cards, but in many cases, a big credit card sign-up bonus can provide way more value than minor differences in fees. Of course, those usually require a certain amount of spend within a set period of time, and you may not want to encourage your student to spend more than they should, but I imagine moving abroad implies a lot of up-front costs for things like plane tickets, luggage, student housing, etc., so you may have enough spend lined up anyway. This also depends on your kid's credit score. Since they're young, they probably don't have much credit history, which would limit the cards they're eligible for anyway. I don't know when your kid is planning to travel, but if it's still a ways off, they could always apply for a starter card now, build up their credit, and then apply for a fancier card with a bigger bonus later. In the credit card hacking community, it's fairly common to apply for new cards as often as every 3 months, although you would need to research specific bank policies and limits to make sure you're not running afoul of their rules.

As for cash, I can't really speak to the UK specifically, but I used to travel somewhat frequently to China as a student. The first time I went, I was paranoid about potentially getting stranded in a foreign country or my debit card not working, so I decided to get some cash. I did some research online, and it was cheaper to exchange foreign currencies for RMB at the forex stands in Chinese airports than it was to get RMB at Travelex or US banks (I suspect it's generally cheaper to exchange for the local currency at such places just based on supply and demand, but I don't know if that's a universal rule of thumb). In the end, there was really nothing to worry about. My debit card worked perfectly at Chinese ATMs, and the bank I was using at the time (Bank of America) had a partnership with China Construction Bank allowing fee-free withdrawals with better exchange rates than the airport stands. For future trips, I always just checked online to make sure there was a CCB ATM at my destination airport (there always was), and I would withdraw cash from there for the taxi or whatever. It was never a problem. I can't imagine it would be any more difficult to access cash in London of all places.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by drk »

xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 12:17 pm I thought my child may need some cash to pay taxies, and buy something in need, in the first a few days without looking for ATMs. But probably I worried too much, and ATMs should be easy to find.
Contactless payments will work for taxis. But even so, there will be reputable ATMs to use at the airport, so pulling cash on arrival will be easy.
xtallographer wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 12:17 pm I do have a costco anywhere card from Citi, but I did not realize it has no foreign fee. Thanks for this info.
Excellent. Adding your child as an authorized user to this card is probably your best bet, with an optional spending limit. As a bonus, it earns 3% on restaurant and travel spend worldwide.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by MGBMartin »

Morik wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:56 am
MGBMartin wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:54 am Make sure he understands to decline the option to process the transaction in USD, always choose the local currency option.
It’s called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it will cost you dearly, about 5-7%.
This applies to credit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.
Huh, is there ever a situation in which it is beneficial to the customer to do this? Or is this more like "lets give customers something to shoot themselves in the foot with so we can earn some extra money"?
I can’t think of a reason why it would ever be beneficial.
I think they rely on people thinking it sounds like a good idea, or being naive about what it means. Sometimes the wording makes it sound like not choosing the option is a bad thing.
More and more are jumping on the DCC bandwagon, even Amazon. I buy things from Amazon UK for relatives and their payment screen will default to DCC and is easy to miss. If I didn’t notice I would end up paying about 7% more.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Cruise »

FYI, just got off the phone with Fidelity, who informed me that Visa levies a 1% fee on all foreign ATM transactions. This is not a Fidelity fee and is built into the exchange rate. There is no refund of this fee, but there would be a refund if the ATM terminal/bank charged a fee.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by eric321 »

If you have sufficient assets, try chase private client (150k of assets at chase) which will waive FX fees from withdrawing from atms abroad.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by Spiderv6 »

I also have a child currently in the UK at college so I can give you real advice.

Open a Wise account. They will get a dollar denominated account and a sterling denominated account (and Euros if they want one). They can use the US account just like any other and the Sterling account also behaves just like a local UK account.

It is super easy to move funds around and convert Dollars into Pounds or Euros instantly (and I mean instantly....this is not waiting on 10 days for a US bank to send money). Wise comes with a physical card. FX rates are excellent and fees to run the account are next to nothing.

I have used Wise for several years and I'm a big fan - every European holiday or visit we use it, and it has never failed me.

The UK is to a very large degree a cashless society. If you have a card (or you added it to your phone) , you can tap your way thru life almost completely. Kids don't carry cash in the UK. It's simply not necessary. If you need cash, ATM's are as available as they are in the US. If they need to make regular payments for rent or utilities etc, Wise behaves just like a regular local bank account.

Your kids will not be able to open a UK bank account or get a credit card. The US has made this effectively impossible (OK it's not technically impossible but no UK bank wants to deal with the compliance and reporting issues that US citizens come with, so we are effectively banned unless you are opening an account with $M).
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by hachiko »

MGBMartin wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 2:40 pm
Morik wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:56 am
MGBMartin wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:54 am Make sure he understands to decline the option to process the transaction in USD, always choose the local currency option.
It’s called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it will cost you dearly, about 5-7%.
This applies to credit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.
Huh, is there ever a situation in which it is beneficial to the customer to do this? Or is this more like "lets give customers something to shoot themselves in the foot with so we can earn some extra money"?
I can’t think of a reason why it would ever be beneficial.
I think they rely on people thinking it sounds like a good idea, or being naive about what it means. Sometimes the wording makes it sound like not choosing the option is a bad thing.
More and more are jumping on the DCC bandwagon, even Amazon. I buy things from Amazon UK for relatives and their payment screen will default to DCC and is easy to miss. If I didn’t notice I would end up paying about 7% more.
It's rarely beneficial, but you could luck out if the currency is volatile and the value of the foreign (non-USD) currency changes compared to USD in the interim between the time of the transaction and time of settlement. However, you're already starting at 5+% behind, so if you were that confident in the value of the currency changing that much within a period of a couple days, you would just buy the currency.

Other than that, the only benefit I can think of is for business expense reporting and reimbursement. Instead of having to provide the receipt and a screenshot of the credit card charge (and potentially go back and forth and back and forth with expense auditors at a large company), all you have to do is provide the receipt because it's already in USD.

ETA: Also, definitely don't use the Fidelity debit card unless you have no other better choice because they charge a 1% fee on foreign withdrawals. And carry multiple debit cards with you, from different banks. Your account could get locked, your debit card may not be accepted at an ATM for some reason, etc.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by 02nz »

Morik wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:56 am
MGBMartin wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 11:54 am Make sure he understands to decline the option to process the transaction in USD, always choose the local currency option.
It’s called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it will cost you dearly, about 5-7%.
This applies to credit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.
Huh, is there ever a situation in which it is beneficial to the customer to do this? Or is this more like "lets give customers something to shoot themselves in the foot with so we can earn some extra money"?
It's sold as "providing transparency about the cost in your own currency" or some such, but of course it's just a way for the ATM operator to make more money.
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Re: best US ATM card and credit card to be used in London

Post by sk.dolcevita »

Capital One Venture One is no AF, no FTF credit card.

Capital One 360 checking account comes with no FTF debit card for transactions. Non-network ATM withdrawals incur a fee.

Schwab debit card (my preferred card) has no FTF and ATM charges are refunded.

I also have Fidelity's debit card but it seems it has a 1% fee built into the exchange rate. However, it will refund ATM charges.
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