The ULTIMATE Guide to Travel Banking for 2026

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Righty ahoy, let’s get cracking take a look at the essential travel banking hacks that every broke backpacker should know.

Personally, I always bring some hard cash with me when I am off on a long trip. It’s not ideal, it does pose a risk of theft and it isn’t something I can really recommend to you. Still, I personally carry at least £1,000 on most trips and hide it about my luggage.

That said, for whatever reason you may one day need to bring cash and then change your home currency into local currency once you arrive. Money Changers inside airports usually offers the worst rates in town. They are basically playing on your naivety and your desperation to get your cab fare sorted ASAP. Only ever change a small amount of cash in the airport as you will nearly always find a much better deal once you hit town.

When looking to change cash, always shop around and always familiarise yourself with the up to date exchange rate. We use the Currency XE app which provides up to date rates in real time.

Once you find a money changer, do not be afraid to haggle for a better rate – you can usually bag a better rate if you are changing a large amount. Haggling for a better rate doesn’t really work at places like Western Union, but works really well at the boutique changers common in India, Bali, Nepal and Southeast Asia.

As a general rule, I found that changing cash in Asia can often yield better rates than withdrawing from ATM’s even with a “travel friendly” bank card.

There is nothing more frustrating when it comes to travel banking than being charged unnecessary ATM bank fees every time you make a transaction from a foreign ATM. These transaction fees are usually substantial and can easily be the cost of your transport or the price of a beer.

For example, my bank charges me a fixed fee of £2.75 ($4) every time I use an overseas ATM. This is often in ADDITION to any local ATM fees which can be another $4. That means that if you withdraw $10, you can wrack up another $8 in fees. Madness right?

So what to do?

ATM Shopping To Avoid Local Fees

First up, try to find ATM’s that don’t charge a local fee. Usually, you can find one even if it means doing a bit of “ATM shopping” and making withdrawal enquiries from multiple different machines. The best way to do this is to find a banking plaza or shopping mall where local banks ATM’s are usually lined up next to each other or near to one another. When you find one, make a note of the bank’s name and seek them out in future.

Do remember that even if the local bank is not charging you a fee to use the machine, your home bank almost certainly is.

The next one may seem a little counterintuitive, but I suggest withdrawing large amounts of cash at once rather than extracting money each day. This is because ATM fee’s are usually fixed amounts, rather than percentage based commissions. Paying $8 in fees on $10 is outright obscene whereas paying the same $8 on $100 is far more palatable.

I know that in certain countries it can leave you feeling a little wary if you are carrying large wads of cash on you, so investing in a money belt with a hidden security pocket is a good move.

Avoiding Your Own Bank’s Fees

Once you’ve found a nice friendly local ATM that is not charging you to use it, there is still likely to be the problem of your bank charging you to use your card abroad.

As a rule, your bank will always charge you for using your card outside of your home country. This applies to both ATM withdrawals and card payments and exceptions are few and far between.

The answer was previously to simply not use your bank card when travelling but thats not quite true anymore. We’ll elaborate;

• Some Credit Cards offer good deals on international use and will often waive card payment fees. It is however, less common for credit cards to waive international cash withdrawal fees. If you do use your Credit Card overseas, remember to pay your balance immediately or within a month otherwise you start accruing interest (that’s the trap they are setting for you).
• Move your day to day bank, to a travel friendly bank. More in the next section.
• Get a dedicated travel banking card. This was very popular a decade ago but still has some use. More on this to come.

The Fin-tech revolution had created a plethora of “travel friendly banks”. Yay! Before diving into specific recommendations, it’s worth understanding what actually makes a bank good for travel, because the features that matter are very different from what you’d want in a home bank.

There are four things to look for:

• No foreign transaction fees on card payments. Most traditional banks quietly add 1–3% to every single purchase you make abroad. On a three-month trip that adds up to a genuinely painful amount. Any card worth using for travel waives this entirely.
• Fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad, or at least a generous monthly limit. Some cards offer unlimited free withdrawals; others give you a monthly allowance before fees kick in. Either is fine. But what you want to avoid is paying a fixed fee every time you take out cash.
• The mid-market (real) exchange rate. This is the rate you see on Google. Banks and currency exchange booths typically use a worse rate and pocket the difference. The best travel cards pass you the actual mid-market rate with no markup.
• A solid app for card freezing, notifications, and instant top-ups. If your card gets compromised at 2am in a guesthouse in rural Vietnam, you want to be able to freeze it from your phone in seconds.

UK & EU Residents

If you’re based in the UK, you’re in luck. The combination of Starling, Monzo, Chase UK, and Wise gives you access to some of the best travel banking products in the world, mostly for free.

Starling Bank is the cleanest option for most people. There’s no monthly fee, no foreign transaction fees, no ATM withdrawal fees abroad, and no monthly cap on withdrawals, just a £300 daily limit for security. If you want a single card that works everywhere without thinking about limits, Starling is it. The app is excellent and you don’t need to tell them you’re travelling.

Monzo is a close second, with one important caveat. The free account gives you £400 fee-free abroad per 30-day period, after which a 3% fee applies. However, if Monzo is your main bank account (salary going in, at least one direct debit active), you get unlimited fee-free withdrawals worldwide. For long-term travellers who use Monzo as their primary account, it’s outstanding. However there is talk of them introducing account fee’s even if you use it as your main bank.

Chase UK is worth having as a second card, particularly for longer trips. It offers completely fee-free overseas spending and ATM withdrawals up to £1,500 per month (£500 per day); a higher cap than most competitors. The main limitation is that it’s only available to UK residents. Chase UK also doesn’t support international money transfers, so pair it with Wise for that.

Wise works for both UK and international travellers and deserves special mention even though it’s not a traditional bank. Since May 2026, you get up to £200–£250 fee-free ATM withdrawals per month, with a small percentage fee after that. What makes Wise genuinely useful is the multi-currency account — you can hold money in 40+ currencies and convert at the mid-market rate, which is transformative if you’re moving between countries frequently.

The smart strategy for UK travellers is to hold two or three of these. Starling as your primary travel card, Wise for international transfers and multi-currency flexibility, and Chase or Monzo as a backup. Between them you’ll essentially never pay a fee.

US Residents

This section needs to exist because the gap between US and UK travel banking options is real, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.

The core problem is structural; most US banks still charge 1–3% foreign transaction fees on every overseas purchase, plus fixed fees of $2–5 per ATM withdrawal abroad. The fintech revolution that produced Monzo and Starling simply hasn’t happened at the same scale in the US market. Revolut launched in the US but its free tier is more limited than the UK version.

That said, there are genuinely good options, they just require a little more legwork to set up.

Charles Schwab Investor Checking is the undisputed king for US travellers and has been for years. There are no foreign transaction fees, no monthly fees, no ATM fees, and crucially, Schwab reimburses every ATM fee charged by any ATM operator worldwide, in a lump sum at the end of each month. You can walk up to any ATM on earth and withdraw cash knowing you’ll pay nothing. The catch is that you need to open a linked Schwab brokerage account to get it, but that’s also free and you’re under no obligation to use it. If you’re American and you travel, open this account.

Wise is the most practical supplementary option for US travellers. It’s available globally, you can hold and spend in 40+ currencies, and you get $250/month in fee-free ATM withdrawals (then 1.95% + $1.95 per withdrawal after that). It’s not a replacement for Schwab but it’s invaluable for multi-currency travel and international transfers.

Revolut is available in the US and gives Standard users free ATM withdrawals up to around $200/month (2% after, minimum fee applies). It’s worth having for the multi-currency account and for trips where you need to hold multiple currencies, but the US free tier is less generous than in Europe.

Capital One 360 is a notable mention for US travellers who want a more traditional bank option. There are no foreign transaction fees, no ATM fees on in-network machines (Capital One, Allpoint, MoneyPass networks). Not as comprehensive as Schwab, but a solid everyday option.

The recommended US is set-up: Schwab for ATM withdrawals, Wise for multi-currency and transfers, and a no-foreign-fee travel credit card (Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture are both strong) for day-to-day card spending where you want the rewards.

Universal options; Wise and Revolut Detailed

These two are worth separate treatment because they’re available almost everywhere and are the backbone of most travellers’ banking setups regardless of where they’re from.

Wise started as a cheap money transfer service and has grown into one of the best multi-currency travel tools in the world. You can hold 40+ currencies simultaneously, convert between them at the real mid-market rate (with a small transparent fee, typically 0.3–0.6%), and spend from whichever currency balance you hold. The debit card works in 160+ countries. For international transfers specifically, Wise is usually cheaper and more transparent than any alternative. The free ATM allowance (around £200–£250/month depending on your country, updated May 2026) makes it practical for cash access too.

One thing to watch: Wise doesn’t pay interest on balances the way a bank would, and it’s not a bank in the traditional sense (though it is regulated). Don’t use it as your only financial account.

Revolut is a more fully-featured financial app, think multi-currency account, budgeting tools, crypto trading, and stock investing all in one place. For travel, the Standard (free) plan gives you fee-free ATM withdrawals up to £200/month (5 withdrawals, whichever comes first), then 2% after. Card spending abroad is free with no foreign transaction fees.

The Revolut paid tiers (Plus at around £3.99/month, Premium at £6.99, Metal at £12.99) raise the ATM limits substantially and add travel insurance and other perks worth considering for frequent travellers. One thing to be aware of: Revolut applies a small markup on currency exchanges at weekends, when markets are closed. Wise doesn’t. For large transactions, this can matter.

The short version: use Wise for transfers and multi-currency flexibility, Revolut as an all-in-one travel finance app. However do note that Revolut does not have a full banking licence and as such, offers users less protection.

Travel Friendly Banks Compared

Travel bank cards fundamentally work in the same way as your regular bank card. The difference is that you pre-load it with an amount (usually via a Smartphone/iOS app) and then use it when you go traveling.

Let’s look at the benefits;

• Travel bank cards allow you to manage your expenditure and not over-spend on your bank account.
• They also offer some protection against theft – if a thief steals or clone’s the card, then they can get the amount pre-loaded onto the card but can’t clean your entire bank account out.
• Best of all though, any travel banking card worth its salt will offer some kind of deal on ATM withdrawal fees and oversea’s card payments. For example, on my travel bank card I can withdraw £200 per month FEE FREE. I can also make fee free unlimited card payments.

A word on currencies – when you load a travel card you load it with a chosen currency (USD, GBP, EUR etc). When you use it on the ground at your destination, a currency conversion will be applied using you card issuers rates. Therefore you will generally see some slight discrepancies here and there. These will sometimes work in your favour and sometimes against you.

Want to know more? Check out our in-depth explanation of how travel foreign exchange works here.

Now that we’ve dealt with the fundamentals, let’s take a look at some other important aspects of travel banking that will save and protect your money whilst travelling.

Getting Excellent Exchange Rates

For this step of travel banking, you need to familiarise yourself with the exchange rate of the country you are going to.  There are a tonne of currency exchange apps you can download onto your phone but my favorite is XE Currency Pro which is completely free! There are also some great online tools available. Knowledge is power and knowing the rate stops you been unduly ripped off.

My next piece of advice is to avoid currency exchange booths. Usually, people flock to these at airports but this is the most likely place to get stung with high fees and poor rates. On the other hand, if you find a local money changer you can usually negotiate a bit especially if you are changing a large amount.

On the road, you will be bumping into fellow travelers constantly. If they happen to be traveling in the opposite direction to you, exchange your cash with them. I have used this trick quite a few times and swapped cash with plenty of travelers I’ve met on the road.

International Money Transfers

Personally, I often have to move money around when traveling. I’ve found Wise to be the fastest and cheapest way to internationally transfer money between bank accounts.

These days, I have a Thai bank account which I use for most of my day to day living expenses, since I’m currently based in South East Asia.

Wise, now also issue a lovely green Debit card which you can use to withdraw cash and pay for things. The new app also allows you to manage your balances and expenditure easily.

Have a look at their Widget below to see what a transfer might cost you;

Always Have a Spare Bank Card

Losing your bank or debit card when traveling is a monumental pain in the arse. Getting a replacement sent out to you can either prove difficult and slow, if not totally impossible. Therefore do not ever leave home without at least 2 cards in hand. This can be 2 different bank accounts, a bank account plus a credit or multiple pre-paid travel card.

But whatever you do, do something.

Also remember make sure NOT to ever leave them all tucked in your wallet – if you lose it, you lose them all! Take one out with you and leave the others safely stored with your bags and passport.

Stop Any Unneeded Direct Debits

So you’re all set to go backpacking around Southeast Asia. See you in 6 months home! You’ve packed your bag, sorted your Visa and even got a Yellow Fever jab. But have you remembered to review your direct debits? If you’re going to be in Thailand for the foreseeable, then do you really need to be paying $20 per month for PureGym in Brighton?! How about that US Sim card which isn’t going to work overseas?

I always review my Direct Debits before beginning a trip to see if there is anything I can cancel and usually save myself a few bucks per month. Obviously, check the Direct Debit cancelation terms before you do this to avoid late payment fees.

Hide Your Cash

Whether you are carrying $50 in your wallet, or $5000 in your backpack, you absolutely need to take care to hide your money when traveling. Sadly, travellers are often a target for street thieves and even hostel dorms are not as safe as we would like to think.

Protect whatever cash you have by hiding it. For tips and tricks, check out this post on the best ways to hide your money when traveling.

I strongly recommend keeping your cards in an RFID blocking wallet.

That’s pretty much it! I’m hoping you got at least one money or hassle-saving tip from this article.

Travel banking, although often overlooked, is very important when you’re trying to save money on the road — heck, it’s one of the top things I wish I knew before I started travelling! But learning and improving is part of what the beautiful roads of life have to offer us.

Do you have any suggestions that we might have missed? If so, let us know down in the comments.

Happy banking, amigos!