Banking when travelling

[pilgrim2016]

I am sorry If I am posting this in the wrong sub-reddit, maybe someone of my means is better off on r/vagabond, however, I am a British student planning on taking a gap year commencing in September. I have savings of around £12,000/$16,500 and am wondering about how to best bank and access my money when travelling. I will probably be staying in 3 or 4 different countries for 3 or 4 months at time so will need to be able to pay rent and expenses in local currencies and potentially get money from any jobs I get paid into it. Would I be best suited to open different accounts with different local banks or getting an account with a global player like HSBC or Barclays etc and hoping they have decent local infrastructure and decent Forex rates?

 

[cherrystrawberrydrop]

@pilgrim2016 Apply for a Halifax clarity credit card. Pay for everything on it, use it for cash withdrawals. Pay the bill off clearing the balance from your U.K. account every month.

Don’t let merchants do the foreign exchange, always opt to pay in the local currency to get the best rate.

Interest on cash withdrawals accrues daily, you can pay it off straight away to avoid interest by making a transfer from your bank account.

The Halifax app is pretty good for keeping track of where you are at on the move.

Source: Expat who uses this as my primary finance method in a couple of sketchy places.

 

[onlyheknows]

@pilgrim2016 Look into Monzo and Revolut cards, they don't kill you for exchange fees.