No Foreign Transaction Fee Debit Cards

People often wonder which will better protect them from fraud: an international credit card or an international debit card. All major-issuer credit cards and debit cards come with $0 liability guarantees, meaning you won’t be held liable for any unauthorized charges. However, credit cards do make fraud easier to deal with. Having said that, our suggestion is to use international credit cards for purchases and international debit cards for cash withdrawals while traveling abroad. The answer to this question is therefore “both.”

International debit cards are simply debit cards that can be used to make purchases and/or withdraw money from ATMs outside the U.S. International debit cards are integral to any trip abroad since not all merchants accept plastic. Some cards might not even be compatible with certain aspects of a foreign country’s payment infrastructure.

When it comes to using debit cards for cash withdrawals while aboard, there are a couple of factors to consider.

First, while you know that the owner of the foreign ATM will charge a fee for withdrawals, you must determine whether your issuing bank will also institute ATM charges.

Second, you need to find out what foreign transaction fees, if any, will apply to such a transaction.

Both of these things impact the cost of using a debit card internationally. So both must be considered when comparing international debit card offers.