Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Westpac
(Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New
Guinea, and Solomon Islands): westpac.com.au
UkrSibbank
(Ukraine): ukrsibbank.com/en/pid921/home.html
Note: Bank of America charges a 3 percent transaction fee on all currency withdrawals, even for banks within the alliance.
However, there are many alternatives to these banks that allow you to avoid ATM and transaction fees all
the time. In my opinion, the best U.S. bank to use is Charles Schwab (schwab.com). While Charles Schwab
doesn't have deals with any banks overseas like those mentioned above, it is one of the few banks that re-
imburses all your ATM fees at the end of each month. You will need to open a high-yield checking account
(schwab.com/public/schwab/banking _lending/checking_account) in order to qualify, but there is no minim-
um deposit required and no monthly service fee. Charles Schwab not only reimburses its fees but also the
fees of the other bank you used. You'll never pay a fee with this bank. Their ATM card can be used in any
bank machine around the world. If there isn't a Charles Schwab branch near you, you can open this account
online by going to their website.
I also use HSBC (hsbc.com). They aren't very widely located in the United States. At the time of writing
they only have branches in New York State, Florida, California, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washing-
ton State, and Washington, DC. However, you can open an account online no matter where in the United
States you live. I like HSBC because they have ATMs all over the world, so you can avoid fees by simply
using HSBC ATMs. If you do end up using a non-HSBC ATM machine, as of May 2014, the fee is only
$2.50 USD, which is cheaper than major banks in the United States, like Bank of America or Chase, where
the fee is typically $5 USD.
I also recommend Capital One's money market account, which has an ATM card (capitalone.com/direct-
banking/online-savings -accounts/high-yield-money-market-account). Capital One doesn't have a fee when
you use non-Capital One ATMs, but you still might be charged a fee by the owner of the ATM machine.
Note: If you bank with a small, community bank, check with them regarding their overseas fees. They
might also waive overseas usage fees. There are thousands of banks, and policies are always different. Be-
fore you switch banks, be sure to double-check what's available with your current bank.
Before we move on, I want to emphasize one very, very important point: You
must
get an account at two
separate banks. If your ATM card gets lost or stolen, it is important to have a backup so you can still have
access to money. While visiting Bangkok a few years ago, my HSBC ATM card stopped working, and at
the time it was my primary bank card. When I called to inquire, I was told that HSBC had found fraudulent
charges on the card, from Moscow. (I've never been to Russia.) Someone had duplicated my ATM card, and
my account had to be closed. A new ATM card was sent to me—in the United States, which didn't help be-
cause I was in Thailand. However, since I had a backup bank account, I still had a way to access my money.
This also happened to my friend Sarah, the girl from Bangkok I mentioned earlier, but she didn't have
a backup card. As she says, “I came abroad with an ATM and a credit card, both tied to the same account.
I didn't realize how silly this was until I got an email from my bank asking me to approve some suspicious
charges. I had just arrived in Malaysia and assumed that my ATM withdrawal had been flagged in the sys-
tem. When I learned that someone in Bulgaria had withdrawn $900 from my account, I quickly realized
how naive I had been to travel without any backup. The bank closed my account, and I didn't have access
to money for a month of traveling. I borrowed from friends until my new card arrived.”
