retrieving cash from abroad

c.g.murphy99

***SOLVED*** followed eDicky's suggestion to open a Revolut account on the phone app and exchange the money there which worked fine, all funds received

TL;DR - worked at summer camp, got paid, couldn't withdraw all the cash, I now have some stuck in USA and I'm not returning any time soon and can't get a hold of it.

This year I had the pleasure of working at a summer camp in the USA and was paid $1,400 for my time. In the run up to going out to New York to commence working I was offered to choose one of two payment methods: card or cheque. I went for the card option with the thought that I'd have access to my payment instalments, which was rightly so, however there were cashflow problems within the camp and I was paid the majority on the day that I departed the camp, and this is where the problems started. Upon reaching the airport, I attempted to withdraw as much cash as possible before I departed the US but was limited to only $800, so now I have $500 in the US which I have no idea how I can access from the UK.

I was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar or could help me at all.

eDicky

You could open a Revolut account, smartphone app, use your US debit card (assuming that's what you have) to top up directly into the USD balance, convert it for free at the interbank rate into GBP and withdraw or otherwise use it. The registered address for the Revolut account and the US debit card need to be the same, and you may need to make an initial top up of £10. You may find that the US card is recognised as a credit card by Revolut and rejected, but at least you won't lose anything by trying.

benjus

Can the card be used here? Do you know what fees would be charged if you did so?

dawyldthing

If it's anything like the one we had I don't think it could be used as a debit card as it was a very basic account. Might be worth ringing them to see if it can be made into a cheque and posted to you or the other option is if you've got a camp friend you trust see if they can get it out for you and send the money through, but there would need to be a lot of trust involved for the second option tbh

c.g.murphy99

Many thanks, eDicky, apologies for the delay but the process has been a little slow. The app worked fine! No problem, I transferred the money from the Visa card that I received while at camp to the Revolut account which was pretty much instant, and then exchanged it from $500 to £324. I sent the money via text (in-app) to a family member's UK bank account I tried two others and the link worked on the third, and it was received in about 6 days (including a Sunday). Another little detail, I didn't need to register the account in the same country as the card, nor did I need to do the initial top-up.

eDicky wrote: »

You could open a Revolut account, smartphone app, use your US debit card (assuming that's what you have) to top up directly into the USD balance, convert it for free at the interbank rate into GBP and withdraw or otherwise use it. The registered address for the Revolut account and the US debit card need to be the same, and you may need to make an initial top up of £10. You may find that the US card is recognised as a credit card by Revolut and rejected, but at least you won't lose anything by trying.

eDicky

c.g.murphy99 wrote: »

Another little detail, I didn't need to register the account in the same country as the card, nor did I need to do the initial top-up.

Great, useful to have that confirmed.

What happened with the first unsuccessful attempts to send the link for payment to other persons' accounts?

c.g.murphy99

The process failed at different points. It sends a text from your number off a list of your contacts with a link for them to follow. They put in the bank details where they want to receive your transaction, sometimes the process just didn't work, so I just kept trying the link until it did. It took several links and multiple attempts but it worked eventually