How Much we have come to rely on Tech!

Yes, its true that overseas is a different situation, particularly with credit card theft, especially in Asia.
Our approach is to transfer our trip money to one account we can both access, and never use our other cards, which we hold in reserve in case something goes wrong. That limits potential losses.
Also I do then carry a wad of either the local currency or US$5 notes.

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

Mates, nev34 use debit cards overseas .
Debit cards are your money.
Credit cards are the banks money.
You can be reimbursed by the bank if there is fraud on their money but it’s a lot harder if it is your money.
regards PhilipA

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X2!!

A few years ago my credit card got hit for $12k. It was seperate to my bank ATM/debit card so I still had money to live on while the bank sorted it out. These days I rarely use the debit card linked to my bank account for shopping or online payments.

Cheers

Steve

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I think your wife might need a Plan B, such as a shared account you can both access independently. Or a bag of cash. Just a thought.

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There is a reason we don't do this.
SWMBO has a friend, who has a problem, & SWMBO has trouble saying "NO!" to her, I don't.
Jonesfam

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

Much the same here except no fax machine - and I can't remember when I last wrote a cheque.

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That reminded me of another old sort of item that I have, as once a year I write a cheque for my P O Box!

Carrying 2 cards is a good idea. You do though need to have them as separate unconnected accounts best at different banks. Reason is if they are connected if you lose one they will cancel both. I know this from experience. Fun when you are a few thousand miles from home in another county and have to pay for your accommodation

When overseas always photocopy all card details two times and store in 2 different places, as well as any prescriptions and passport details pages. I also take photos of everything on my Iphone.

We have one card which has no overseas transaction fees and a really good exchange rate which we use at ATMs and our main card with Frequent flyer points but OT charges and bad rate.

We also carry some cash sometimes USD which is exchanged at airports to pay for cabs and maybe SIM cards.
Regards PhilipA

"No-one wants cash any more, since the pandemic made shopkeepers afraid to touch anything handled by customers. " Not quite true DiscoMick. We got take away fish and chips recently and they wanted cash only.
They can hide cash away and show that their business turnover has dropped by a huge amount and claim lots of lovely taxpayer dollars to compensate for loss of business.
I suspect there's lots of this going on in different ways.
AlanH.

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Originally Posted by ATH

"No-one wants cash any more, since the pandemic made shopkeepers afraid to touch anything handled by customers. " Not quite true DiscoMick. We got take away fish and chips recently and they wanted cash only.
They can hide cash away and show that their business turnover has dropped by a huge amount and claim lots of lovely taxpayer dollars to compensate for loss of business.
I suspect there's lots of this going on in different ways.
AlanH.

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Reminds me of the fire in Brisbane a few years ago. A very successful local bakery-pastry cook's shop caught fire and there was an almighty panic amongst the ethnic family that operated the business. Years of squirrelled away undeclared cash was stored in the false ceiling. The news got around and they received a visit from an ATO audit squad.

Sounds like the Bangkok shopkeeper who got robbed when we lived there. Turned out he had been taking payments in gold from customers for several decades and had a huge amount of gold stored on the property.

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Originally Posted by ATH

"No-one wants cash any more, since the pandemic made shopkeepers afraid to touch anything handled by customers. " Not quite true DiscoMick.

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Many people working at places that don't want to take cash wear gloves anyway.

Its more convenient not to take cash,which is probably more likely the motive.