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Hi
Not really a B.C question but please redirect if necessary.
Relations travelling to UK soon and ask the following-
We found that we were able to use our Credit Union Interact (debit) with minimal expense and fuss in the US. Are there credit unions in England that accept Interact?
And should they use US or Sterling travellers cheques in UK?
I would suggest that you post on the UK forums. But yes, withdrawing cash from bank machines all over the world is now the norm. What will vary is the fees you are charged.
We dealt with that by making large cash withdrawals, so that the fees were charged a minimum number of times.
Edited: 12 February 2012, 17:39
Shiny things work everywhere-just smile and speak loudly/slowly if they don't understand.
Welcome to the forums AHGPortsmouth ~
Let me try to clarify your question. You have relatives here in BC who have Canadian banking cards and you want to know if they can use their cards in England? Yes, they can.
There will be a few things to pay attention to. 1) they need to find a UK ATM that uses a logo that is the same as one on the back of their band debit card - either Plus or Cirrus. 2) they need to take out enough money to last them for awhile because each transaction will cost a transaction fee. A £100 withdrawal ONCE will cost less in the end than five £20 withdrawals.
I would also recommend that they contact their bank and CC company to double check what I have said above as well as to put a "travel watch" on their cards. There will be a foreign exchange charge (changes daily according to the bank rate) and a transaction fee per transaction. Each financial institution will have their own charges. The bank or the CC company may put a freeze on the cards if they think the charges made in the UK are not legitimate.
I wouldn't bother using travellers' cheques, they are really not the preferred way of using money out of the country. Some people say to use your CC for hotels, car rentals, larger restaurant meals and to use the debit card to take enough cash for daily purchases, entrance fees, coffee/snacks and tips. It might be a good idea to keep extra cash under their clothes in a money pouch on a neck strap.
I think it would be a good idea if you posted your question on the most appropriate forum in the UK (where are your friends heading to.) Those posters are the ones who will be the most up to date with the actual money details of their country.
Here is an article from the London UK forum that addresses these issues. Click on the blue print, then scroll down below the images of the currency notes for the information pertinent to your question.
There was a move here to abandon all cheques entirely a little while ago!!
So, travellers cheques should not be used- you may well encouter the very problem you seek to avoid if you bring them.
As Mufti (~~) says, use the cards with care (have at least 2 per travel group) and be especially careful paying for meals etc where they may want to take the card out of your sight - do NOT allow this!
If using an ATM, it is polite to leave a gap between the next person queuing and the user- I'm sure this is universal. I'd try to use the ones inside a bank which are much less likely to have been fitted with scamming devices (yes it does happen).
You really should ask this question in the UK forums.
Although most folks reading the BC forums have been to the UK, the UK forums gather people from around the world who travel to the UK. Indeed, one of the London DEs lives in Vancouver -- she never posts in the BC forums, probably never even reads them, but in the UK forums you can benefit from her expertise.
And ATSF, no it's not universal. I was once in a country (maybe Sweden?) where people kept jumping in front of me in line at the ATM. They're exceedingly polite, but because local custom was to leave no gap at all they didn't even realize I was in line.
