Dealing With Banking

Imagine this scenario:

Your standing in the airport via a layover in… oohhhh let’s say Paris. You have US dollars, and you really need these little things called Euros. Low and behold, all the exchanges in the airport are either closed, or assisting a line so long, to wait in them would cause you to miss a flight. You want a cup of coffee, a bite to eat, and a bottle of water. Your throat is absolutely parched and you know you still have a long flight ahead of you. Those suppository sized bottles of water on the airplane presented to you an hour after takeoff just won’t cut it. Ah, I know… you’ll just go to the atm. Ooops.. wait a minute… your card doesn’t seem to work.. but you know you have money in your account and you told the bank a million times you’d be leaving the country. What could possibly be wrong?? Oh, thats right. They cut your card off anyways… because via the corporate chain, and never-ending swarm of computer screens and automated systems, your card was just immediately flagged by the very same fraud protection department that was informed by you, that you would indeed be leaving the country to begin with to and from the dates you clearly specified. Many times. But wait… they never got that call, or post, or email, or message, you’re wrong they’re right. Your problem to fix. Now. over the phone, on hold, at $3 per minute. After speaking with associate after associate, being apologized to and apologized to, they’ll be glad to re-activate your newly de-activated atm card, as long as you answer in public a few thousand security questions, where you made your last three purchases and when, how much the amount was, where you were born, where your third cousin was born, what there blood type is and… oh..wait…”you should have told us you were leaving the country”!

DO I SOUND PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS TOPIC??? YOU BET I DO! I FLUSHED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS DOWN THE DRAIN ON HOLD BEFORE I HAD SKYPE TRYING TO CONVINCE A BANKING ASSOCIATE TO TURN MY CARD BACK ON! I EVEN HAD THEM TAKE IT UPON THEMSELVES TO SEND ME A REPLACEMENT CARD IN THE MAIL WHILE RENDERING MY CARD IN HAND PERMANENTLY USELESS!!! WTF?

So, here are the steps you’ll need to go through to make sure you have NO ISSUES with banking and retrieving your money, where you need it, and when you need it.

Stay as far away from Bank Of America as you can. Yes, I did just say that. They cost me pain and suffering and I do not wish that on anyone. If you have BOA, close your account NOW! They WILL cause you problems. Take it from me and four of my friends and “partners in globetrotting”. The above scenario happened to all of us… like clockwork.

Per number 1, where I have had success.. in fact I have had ZERO problems, is with smaller, local, more personal banks that actually care about there customers.

When identifying a bank to use, make sure they have experience and capabilities to provide incoming and outgoing international wire transfers. You may need this in the future, but most of all it tells you that the likelihood of them causing you minor problems while abroad diminishes greatly. Ask them if the have experience with customers overseas, and listen to what they have to say. A lot of times small banks will have larger affiliates that have locations world wide.

Online banking nowadays is more common than not, for us it is a must have. If your bank or your potential bank doesn’t have it, then move in to the next one.

If you have credit cards and wish to use them overseas, give yourself a couple of weeks on this one, but call the credit card companies, tell them how long you will be overseas, and ask them to place PIN’s on your cards. They will, and they will then send those to you via snail mail. Unfortunately at the time I did this, snail mail was my only option. More than 75% of the cities that I have been to, where VISA was accepted, they DID require a PIN. Strange, but it makes sense.

Travelers Checks. Good luck finding someone overseas to make the effort anywhere near worthwhile. Spend your time and energy with my banking recommendations instead.

Western Union. There are a lot of Western Union locations around the globe, and it IS a viable way of transferring funds. Here’s a few key points on this though; it is pricey to transfer a lot of money, so check the wiring fees on both ends first. If your in a pinch, it works. Be sure to have the person initiating the wire fill in the forms with the EXACT name as it appears on your passport. This is important. I had an issue in Romania once where the transfer was initiated with my information as appeared on my drivers licensee, which was different from how it appeared on my passport (middle name vs. middle initial). This was enough to cause the transaction to begin from scratch again. So be careful, dot your i’s and cross your t’s on this one.

Cash. Bringing over 10k in cash through the airport is supposedly a problem. Never done it, never will. Who knows what happens… if you have a story, let me know. I do however bring some cash, and I NEVER check it inside my checked luggage.

Last but not least… exchanges. They are everywhere in some cities, spotty in others. Be very careful here. Ask around to reputable people (hotels, other expats, etc…) about what exchange houses to check out. The mom and pops tend to have better rates than the larger chain exchanges. Importan tip on this; don’t pay fees on top of the rate differential if you can avoid it. A lot of times exchanges will double dip by making “spread” between the actual exchange rate, and their “buy” rate. Stay clear away from airport exchanges. We should all own one of these…what a racket!

In summary, be meticulous when it comes to banking. If ANYTHING pops into your mind as a possibility of how something may “go wrong” or doesn’t feel right, then pay close attention to that feeling. Nine times out of ten, if something can go wrong here it will. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO HAVE THE PAIN I had when I went to the local ATM… EVEN IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES… only to find out they would not give me my money. And to make matters worse? it was my bank’s fault… not the atm! So cover your bases on this. If you have ANY questions, tips, or tricks please send them to us to share with everyone on this community!

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