Fair enough,too:so many of the tools we’ve always utilised for financial survival in foreign places have been geared around the procurement of local currency.
Illustration:Greg Straight
Consider travellers’ cheques,those old-school notes you would swap at banks and other brokers for local cash. Or even debit cards or foreign currency cards,which travellers have tended to use at ATMs to secure large wads of currency and avoid too many transaction fees.
However,the world has changed. It was changing before the pandemic,and it has been altered markedly – in every sense,including financial – since COVID-19 took hold. Cash is no longer king.
Think about the way you spend money now in Australia:it’s mostly by card,right? If you’re not making purchases online,you’re waving your card in front of a machine,occasionally being asked to enter a PIN. It’s very rare for so many of us to have to dig around for an actual note or coin.
Same goes,now,in so many of our favourite overseas destinations,particularly in Western Europe. Cash is not king in the UK,in Ireland,in Germany,in France and the Netherlands. Same goes in Canada,and parts of the US (though you’ll still need to keep some).
Travellers can very easily spend money in the same way they do at home,waving their card,tapping,sometimes entering a PIN. You don’t even need a physical credit or debit card. You can pay in many countries now with Apple Pay or Google Pay in the same way you would at home. Just tap your phone to settle your restaurant bill. Use your smart watch to buy tickets to an attraction.
Yes,you might use your card to visit an ATM and take out foreign currency,but you won’t need much of it.
Even in Japan,so long a hold-out for cash-based spending in the developed world,is moving towards card and contactless payments. Yes,cash is probably still officially king there,but a huge number of Japanese vendors – particularly in major cities – now accept Visa- and Mastercard-based credit and debit cards,and some will even allow contactless payment (ask for “Visa Touch”).
Another option in Japan is to purchase a Suica or Pasmo IC card:formerly just for public transport,these cards now function as a widely accepted debit card – just load as much money as you want onto it,and away you go. You can save either card to Apple Pay,and use it at contactless payment points in the same way you would with your bank card.
Of course,there’s one potential downside to all this tapping and swiping:foreign transaction fees,which can be hefty. The trick is to ensure you have one of the Australian-issued cards that doesn’t attract these fees. Bankwest,ING,ANZ and Latitude 28 all offer cards with no fees. So,you can cash in – so to speak.