In the good old days of travel, you take travelers’ checks with you when you went on a trip. So, they really weren’t such great old days after all, then. This meant that you often would have to wait in line at a bank and go through a lengthy process to exchange them for local currency. Not to mention expensive as you have to pay a commission to the bank and you don’t always get a favorable exchange.
When you are away on a business trip, you really don’t have time to waste at a bank dealing with exchanging a check. These days, you can still do travellers’ checks if you wish, but luckily there are far more options than ever before.
In this article, I will go over how to deal with getting cash while abroad.
1. Use cryptocurrency
Getting access to your money overseas is usually expensive. One of the least expensive ways to go about is to use cryptocurrency.
Since things like bitcoin are not issued by a bank and the blockchain is immutable, there is no need for a middle man. This eliminates a lot of fees. And also, it is a global currency. No matter where you are, you have access to your money.
Converting it to cash, however is a bit tricky, but there are new bitcoin ATMs popping up all over the world right now. All you need is an app on your phone and then just search “BTC machine near my location”.
Then, you just withdraw what you need and go about your day. Once bitcoin becomes more mainstream, then expect even more convenience as more ATMs will be installed. Of course, you can also look for places that accept bitcoin as payment and do away with needing to have cash at all.
2. Debit card
Finding an ATM is no problem no matter what country you find yourself in these days. The trick is to find ones that aren’t going to charge you a fee for using a foreign card and then a conversion fee. Believe it or not, using a debit card can be quite inexpensive and very easy. If you have the right debit card.
Many online only banks are the way to go when it comes to doing your banking overseas. Many offer cards that can be used in any country that charge no fees at all aside from the ATM for the bank where you are withdrawing the money. Before you go, find out which ones charge a fee and avoid those ones. You can often find yourself getting local currency at no cost at all to you.
3. Traveler’s checks
Though these are outdated as was mentioned in the introduction, they do still have one big advantage over other ways to access cash when abroad. And that is they are registered if they get lost or stolen. This way you get your checks back with very little fuss involved. As long as you have access to copies of the checks then you don’t have to worry about having lost your money if they get stolen. This peace of mind is worth the hassle of using them.
