Which of my debit cards for spending in Australia?

sparkiemalarkie

I have quite a number of bank accounts with debit cards.
I'm heading off to Australia in 2 weeks time and now fretting about which debit card to use.

I have Virgin Money, Club LLoyds and Santander Edge that fit the 0% fees 

My concern is that I have large amounts of savings in these banks too -  mostly fixed rate ISAs but  £20,000 easy access ISA (along with £65,000 fixed ISA ) with Virgin Money.

I'm worried that if my account gets compromised while I'm away then the savings could disappear too.

I have a Revolut card but never really used it much and not quite sure how it works and if it's 'safe'

any advice would be great

sx

CliveOfIndia

You'd be protected against fraudulent transactions anyway, assuming you'd not done something daft like told someone else your PIN or given them your card.  So as far as it goes, it shouldn't make a difference - as long as your cards don't charge any FX fees.

Alternatively, why not get one of the "travel" credit cards?

PRAISETHESUN

Any of those (bar Revolut) will be okay. If your card gets lost/stolen, then you'll get reimbursed for the fraud eventually. If you're worried about it, maybe limit how much money you keep in the actual current account so if you lose your card they don't go on a spending spree - savings accounts are fine as they aren't directly linked to your debit card.

Nasqueron

If you have 2 weeks and aren't about to apply for a mortgage, a travel money credit card might not be a bad idea to get, especially for things like deposits and can be separate from your accounts. It's incredibly unlikely that using a debit card for a current account would in any way enable a criminal to access your savings even in the same bank. A criminal wouldn't even see those accounts unless you were logged into online banking, they cannot take money from savings or ISA using a debit card for a bank account.

Mark_d

You should be able to use any debit card in Australia (noting the fees on each account)...though personally I'd put spending on my Halifax Clarity credit card.

I have a Revolut account with an auto top up from my current account.  This works well for spending.

Are your accounts more likely to get compromised in Australia than they are in the UK?  If one account with a bank gets compromised, so you think all your accounts with the same bank are at risk?  If so then maybe Revolut is the best option.

sparkiemalarkie

Nasqueron said:

If you have 2 weeks and aren't about to apply for a mortgage, a travel money credit card might not be a bad idea to get, especially for things like deposits and can be separate from your accounts. It's incredibly unlikely that using a debit card for a current account would in any way enable a criminal to access your savings even in the same bank. A criminal wouldn't even see those accounts unless you were logged into online banking, they cannot take money from savings or ISA using a debit card for a bank account.

Thank you, that's what I thought.

My friend had her card stolen at the cash machine. The card wasn't returned  when she put it in to withdraw money and, I guess, a camera took note of her pin number.
Sadly she left the hole in the wall  to report it. With in 10 minutes the thieves were able to log onto her account and withdraw what was in there. But what's more they could see here savings accounts on the screen too and they were able to transfer her savings to her current account. The further withdrawals failed but was a terrible shock for her that large sums of money could have gone missing.

Just being cautious,

sx

PS I also have a Halifax Clarity Credit card which should work well too, but wanted a debit card or 2 for small purchases

Olenna

sparkiemalarkie said:

Nasqueron said:

If you have 2 weeks and aren't about to apply for a mortgage, a travel money credit card might not be a bad idea to get, especially for things like deposits and can be separate from your accounts. It's incredibly unlikely that using a debit card for a current account would in any way enable a criminal to access your savings even in the same bank. A criminal wouldn't even see those accounts unless you were logged into online banking, they cannot take money from savings or ISA using a debit card for a bank account.

Thank you, that's what I thought.

My friend had her card stolen at the cash machine. The card wasn't returned  when she put it in to withdraw money and, I guess, a camera took note of her pin number.
Sadly she left the hole in the wall  to report it. With in 10 minutes the thieves were able to log onto her account and withdraw what was in there. But what's more they could see here savings accounts on the screen too and they were able to transfer her savings to her current account. The further withdrawals failed but was a terrible shock for her that large sums of money could have gone missing.

Just being cautious,

sx

PS I also have a Halifax Clarity Credit card which should work well too, but wanted a debit card or 2 for small purchases

I'm struggling to understand how thieves were able to 'log onto her account and withdraw what was in there' with just an ATM/debit card and pin and all this within just 10 minutes?

sparkiemalarkie

Olenna said:

sparkiemalarkie said:

Nasqueron said:

If you have 2 weeks and aren't about to apply for a mortgage, a travel money credit card might not be a bad idea to get, especially for things like deposits and can be separate from your accounts. It's incredibly unlikely that using a debit card for a current account would in any way enable a criminal to access your savings even in the same bank. A criminal wouldn't even see those accounts unless you were logged into online banking, they cannot take money from savings or ISA using a debit card for a bank account.

Thank you, that's what I thought.

My friend had her card stolen at the cash machine. The card wasn't returned  when she put it in to withdraw money and, I guess, a camera took note of her pin number.
Sadly she left the hole in the wall  to report it. With in 10 minutes the thieves were able to log onto her account and withdraw what was in there. But what's more they could see here savings accounts on the screen too and they were able to transfer her savings to her current account. The further withdrawals failed but was a terrible shock for her that large sums of money could have gone missing.

Just being cautious,

sx

PS I also have a Halifax Clarity Credit card which should work well too, but wanted a debit card or 2 for small purchases

I'm struggling to understand how thieves were able to 'log onto her account and withdraw what was in there' with just an ATM/debit card and pin and all this within just 10 minutes?

Me too, but I understand that they captured her debit card-maybe with some device in the card slot, and were able to film/see her pin number. They were then able to get access to her account by using a cash dispenser and withdraw from her current account. From what I understand they then tried to move or withdraw money from her savings account that was also visible on screen at the cash dispenser.

sx

badger09

Halifax Clarity Credit Card & Starling Debit Card. I’ve used both, all over the world. Most spending goes on Halifax but Starling is useful as backup & also for cash withdrawals. Load Starling account with what you might spend in first few days and top up as necessary from another current account.  

sausage_time

Most places in Australia will take card/contactless payments so there may be little need to use an ATM.  Wise has a handy guide:

https://wise.com/gb/blog/cash-or-card-in-australia

As above, best to use a FX friendly credit card for purchases.  If you need cash use one of your FX friendly debit cards, check the ATM carefully for skimming devices, and always shield your PIN as it is entered.

Always pay/withdraw in AUS$ with no local conversions.

Nasqueron

sparkiemalarkie said:

Olenna said:

sparkiemalarkie said:

Nasqueron said:

If you have 2 weeks and aren't about to apply for a mortgage, a travel money credit card might not be a bad idea to get, especially for things like deposits and can be separate from your accounts. It's incredibly unlikely that using a debit card for a current account would in any way enable a criminal to access your savings even in the same bank. A criminal wouldn't even see those accounts unless you were logged into online banking, they cannot take money from savings or ISA using a debit card for a bank account.

Thank you, that's what I thought.

My friend had her card stolen at the cash machine. The card wasn't returned  when she put it in to withdraw money and, I guess, a camera took note of her pin number.
Sadly she left the hole in the wall  to report it. With in 10 minutes the thieves were able to log onto her account and withdraw what was in there. But what's more they could see here savings accounts on the screen too and they were able to transfer her savings to her current account. The further withdrawals failed but was a terrible shock for her that large sums of money could have gone missing.

Just being cautious,

sx

PS I also have a Halifax Clarity Credit card which should work well too, but wanted a debit card or 2 for small purchases

I'm struggling to understand how thieves were able to 'log onto her account and withdraw what was in there' with just an ATM/debit card and pin and all this within just 10 minutes?

Me too, but I understand that they captured her debit card-maybe with some device in the card slot, and were able to film/see her pin number. They were then able to get access to her account by using a cash dispenser and withdraw from her current account. From what I understand they then tried to move or withdraw money from her savings account that was also visible on screen at the cash dispenser.

sx

The scam devices on ATMs are card skimmers, they can get the card details + PIN from the camera but they cannot capture the card (the slot would have to be huge and obviously dodgy), they clone the card and use the PIN to take money. They cannot empty savings as these are simply not shown on the ATM as they are different accounts. More likely the full story is a little different