Cash Advances while overseas - Debit Cards?

[Cruiser Elite]

For very very spasmodic Intl travellers who have no interest in chasing FF pts and do not want Credit Card am I correct in assuming that Citi Debit is about the best out there right now for those who only want to spend / withdraw their own cash only??

Yeah. There's that one and one by ING (or similar, I forget which one). Both do much the same. But citi is just as good a choice as any. (Although if you don't already have one the application and set up process can be very slow and painful.)

The rates aren't amazing for it.
The best are the Citi, ING, Ubank and Mac Bank.

Further clarification requested - I have a group of 24 family members heading off on an overseas jaunt mid June - mostly these are very spasmodic o/s travellers and a number of countries involved - Sweden, France, England, Hong Kong, Denmark, Ireland etc.

I have been requested to advise on suitable Debit Cards for o/s ATM withdrawals only - not interested in any CC at all so 28 Degree ruled out - not interested in any DC that requires attachment to another account such as ING or UBank - SO - are the options then Citi Debit Card or Mac Bank Debit Card? (Must be no fees on o/s ATMs / no monthly fee / no ann fee). I personally use Citi Debit for o/s ATMs and this would certainly be my advice but I want to doubly make sure of other possibilities please.

 

[bcworld]

Further clarification requested - I have a group of 24 family members heading off on an overseas jaunt mid June - mostly these are very spasmodic O/S travellers and a number of countries involved - Sweden, France, England, Hong Kong, Denmark, Ireland etc.

I have been requested to advise on suitable Debit Cards for o/s ATM withdrawals only - not interested in any CC at all so 28 Degree ruled out - not interested in any DC that requires attachment to another account such as ING or UBank - SO - are the options then Citi Debit Card or Mac Bank Debit Card? (Must be no fees on o/s ATMs / no monthly fee / no ann fee). I personally use Citi Debit for o/s ATMs and this would certainly be my advice but I want to doubly make sure of other possibilities please.

Yes, I would probably go with Citi. One observation though. A massive advantage I've always found with this setup is being able to take out the minimum possible from an ATM without having to worry about flat transaction fees etc...e.g. I could withdraw GBP10 if that's all I needed...no worries. In Hong Kong recently with the Citi card, the minimum I could withdraw from any ATM I tried (including Citi) was HKD500. I enquired in the Citi branch at Central and they told me HKD500 is the minimum for overseas cards. Not sure if this is new and whose policy it is, I recall withdrawing smaller denominations in HK before.

 

[Lynda2475]

I have both Citi and Macquarie cards, as I feel better having a spare card in the event I lose one, as Citi won't issue two cards for the one person on the one account. Neither cost anything, although the Macquarie offers a linked savings account which actually pays interest, so you can leave money in that, then use app to transfer immediately to the debit card when you need to withdraw.

 

[theblank]

I have been requested to advise on suitable Debit Cards for o/s ATM withdrawals only

Citibank, Ubank, ING, Macquarie

as ING has conditional requirements, I wouldnt be wanting to explain that to 24 people, and CIti can be a PITA.
I would be suggesting MQ

not interested in any DC that requires attachment to another account such as ING or UBank

Thats not a thing.

 

[sydunipete]

+1 for the Macquarie Account. It also has a great app which is excellent for managing your account and alerts when a purchase is made (or funds transferred). I now use the Savings Account as my central account for all banking thanks to the interest they pay. So far - great customer service too.