What should I do about money?

[jec6613]

In 2012 my US-based Citi card worked fine as a chip and pin. Perhaps particular to Barclays as they're a European bank?

 

[kristilew]

In 2012 my US-based Citi card worked fine as a chip and pin. Perhaps particular to Barclays as they're a European bank?

maybe so

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

fwiw, we have a chip and pin Barclay International Mastercard. European terminals still recognize it as a US card, and we still have to sign a receipt. It's actually kind of a pain. It makes me wonder if a US citizen could actually get a "true" chip and pin card from a European provider, to be able to use it the way it is designed.

That is odd. Are you sure that it is a true chip and pin card, or is it really a chip and signature card?

I have a true chip and pin MasterCard from USAA and have never had any problems using it as such in Europe.

 

[Tozzie]

There technically is a fee, as well as the usual bid/ask spread, but it's done on a million dollar point spread or greater so on a very bad day it may come out to one or two cents. There isn't a fee on your individual transaction though, but the bank does pay a fee and passes it on.

If you have a CitiGold account, which is really easy to get if you rollover an IRA or have a mortgage with them as they both count towards your deposit total, there's no fees for using foreign ATMs. Most Citi credit cards are similar, as are most Chase.

You can also order currency from your local branches, and on my upcoming cruise (in summer of 2016) to those same countries, we will be picking up about $100 worth of each local currency before going so we will have at least some when we arrive. We're flying through LHR, but I have GBP already and they're very good about taking credit cards.

Citigold accounts no longer count your mortgage towards your total deposits