Electronic banking and payment systems have made life easier for many people today because of the ease of using mobile payment apps, and the financial control many of the apps afford them. But one of the most important times that you need financial control is when you’re traveling because you’ll want to have access to your funds for both planned expenses and emergencies. Sending money or accessing your bank account while traveling domestically may not be much of a problem, but going overseas may present some challenges in that department if you’re not prepared for them. A good money transfer app can sometimes help you in that regard.
Why You Should Always Notify Your Bank Of Travel Plans
No matter which money transfer app you use, or whether you plan to use mostly cash, debit, or credit cards, you should always let your bank know when and where you’ll be traveling. That’s because banks have identity theft mechanisms setup to make sure if a hacker from overseas gets a hold of your account numbers, they can’t drain your accounts of all their funds. But if you’re trying to send large amounts of money overseas, or trying to access your funds either with your cards or at an ATM, you may be declined if your bank is unaware that you’re over there. Instead of having to call in to verify purchases, you should make sure you visit your bank branch or go to your online account portal to set your access up for travel mode. You may even want to lookup large money transfer options for your bank account to make sure you don’t have problems with money you send becoming frozen.
Look For Money Transfer Apps That List Currency Exchange Rates
Since traveling overseas can involve substantial currency exchange rates, it can help to find money transfer apps that have conversion features or offer advice on whether or not you should pickup cash in local currency. It pays to research places you plan to visit to see what kind of currency they accept and whether you can use mobile payment or money transfer apps to use USD or other currency formats. Most well-known apps will have some sort of exchange platform integrated into them.
Look For Apps That Allow You To Send Cash You Can Pickup Later Or Have A Friend Hold For You
As previously mentioned, you always want to know whether you’re headed to a place where cash is more preferred for payments, or frowned upon when you try to use it. But if you do need specific access to cash but prefer not to carry it around until later, you may want to send money to a certain location such as a super market or financial center to pick it up once you arrive. If you’re going to be staying with a friend and want them to hold it for you, you can enter their personal details in the app.
Look For Apps That List ATMs On Their Platform
Sometimes money transfer apps are part of an online banking system and or have access to ATMs where you can access your funds. Accessing ATMs overseas can sometimes come with very high fees because of the exchange rates or the extra costs that foreign banks or ATM owners become saddled with. If your money transfer app has online banking and is part of a global ATM network, you may be able to locate ATMs overseas that allow free withdrawals. But even if not, you still might find ones that offer significantly lower fees that are also in more secure locations.
Look For Apps That Come With Finance And Budgeting Tools
While still a novel concept that isn’t integrated onto every money transfer or banking platform yet, you may want an app that can let you look at all or most of your travel costs you’ll incur and help you avoid running over your budget. Planning out expenses such as transportation, lodging and meals is a great place to start, but then you can see how much room you might have left for paying for last minute activities or unplanned emergencies. It’s always good to leave yourself plenty of financial cushion in your budget just in case any plans go awry or you run into hidden fees.
