Hi - travelling to US. Hv 28 degree card for sometime that I have always used (sometimes add more cash to it to increase capacity)
Was recommended to use wise or revolut by someone.
Wondering what’s the benefit of that? Why not just use the old 28 degree card and its credit too?
Yep, I just cancelled my 28 degrees card on the weekend because of this. Luckily our holiday wrapped up just in time to pay it off and cancel it before the fee kicked in. $8 a month is $160 a year for a card that offers no benefits other than no extra charges for foreign transactions. Plus charging me an additional "payment handling" fee when I pay the balance is an utter rort.
Looking for a new option with no fees for foreign transactions / currency conversions. Open to recommendations!
Yes understand that - am going in literally 2 weeks so can leave for the first month and it will cost me $8 and it’s a credit card
Not quite sure why people started using wise or Revolut even prior to this new fee of $8 by 28 degree?
The advantage of a credit card is that for booking hotels and hiring cars is that there is a hold placed on funds as a security deposit. This is only released when you leave/return the car in good condition. If you use wise or revolut for this, then your own money is placed on hold, and it may take weeks to return.
Wise and revolut use your own cash, so you're limited to what money you put in it.
According to some who have experienced it, some Hotels and Car Rental providers will flat out refuse to take a Debit card.
Wise doesn't cost anything. I think the card may cost something now a one off fee, but it was free when I signed up.
Yes $10 one-off cost.
Lots of referral codes will give you the card for free
Ouch - already paid now
Do the referral codes work if you already have a Wise account but no card?
I have both and got Wise so I could buy and lock in foreign currency when the exchange rate was good (but I wasn’t actually travelling at that time).
Wise is good for withdrawing cash from an atm (2 free withdrawals per month… There is a cap per withdrawal). If you used the 28d card to do this, you'd likely be charged a cash advance fee
28 degrees is good for using as a credit card although wise can do this too
So it's up to you. Id say if you have both, use wise to withdraw and 28d to buy stuff on credit. If you want to save on the $8 monthly fee then cancel the 28d and use wise on its own.
Wise cost $10 one off fee for the card. (if you want to use this, better apply quick to ensure you get the card on time).
Personally I think i prefer opening a Macquarie account or similar. Unlimited Fee free withdrawals and no fee for the card. Only benefit of wise that I can see is wise allows you to keep funds in different currency(ie you can exchange money via the app when the rate is good rather than exchanging it as you withdraw it)
Thank you. I opened Macquarie transaction account yesterday was quick and Macquarie platinum card is on way. So was going to use that for withdrawals
So seems like wise only good to lock good rate or as a back-up
Forgot to mention, they do charge a small % to convert
OP is on the money.
I've only found the Wise rate to be infinitesimally better than the Mastercard conversion rate — we're talking about less than 0.1% from what I've experienced.
However, this doesn't stop Wise advocates from raving about them having the best rate.
My travel card duo is Macquire Debit and BW Zero Plat. Mastercard(Credit).
I have a Wise card, too. But have never had to use it. So that's my backup, which always sits in a different wallet. I signed up after hearing good things, but aren't using it much.
@FirstWizard: I have both the 28 degrees card which charges no fees and uses the Mastercard exchange rate. I also have a Wise card that uses the real mid market exchange rate plus a transparent fee. Wise has always been the right choice for me regardless of size of transaction. I tested in Fiji with two identical purchases of 908.18 FJD. 28 degrees charged $620.35 AUD using exchange rate of 0.68380. Wise charged $611.86 using a conversion rate of 1.49750 and a conversion fee of $5.40. A saving of around $8 or 1.36%. Plenty of companies use the Mastercard rate with no extra fees. The difference with Wise is using the mid market rate and a very small fee. I’ve been a very happy customer of both companies but have now switched all international transactions to Wise…
Transaction made on 22 June 2023 within 2 minutes of each other. I split a hotel bill 50/50. Granted I haven’t done another direct comparison recently but for me the mid market rate plus transaction fee has always looked better than Mastercard rate.
@bobthrifty: Thanks for that data point. I guess it's fair to say the benefit changes from currency to currency.
And I have no doubt Wise would always be better. I like their transparent business model.
I unfortunately haven't done much comparison. The only one I can remember is withdrawing cash in Spain, 100EUR, from the same ATM with a Macquire Debit card and a Wise card. The benefit I got was about .1% from memory.
I tend to use credit cards more especially when I travel. There have been a few occasions when my cards have been skimmed or blocked by the banks. So, I feel less paranoid with credit cards.
If one is able to preload 28d card (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/861388), could it not still be used to withdraw money overseas without fees?
I know others have said that that option is dead - but not sure if dead from the point that it cant be preloaded or dead because the option to withdraw now incurs fees (even with preload)
could it not still be used to withdraw money overseas without fees?
no
that that option is dead
They've have closed that loophole a long time ago - likely at least 10yr ago.
I am in same situation and just cancelled my 28 degrees card. I signed up for Wise recently with a referral and got a free card - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/api/referral/45
Have got an upcoming trip so will see how that goes. Unlike a credit card, I assume I will need to have some balance in there to use either to pay or withdraw.
If I wasn't fussed about locking rates, I assume I can transfer in AUD without fees, and when I pay or withdraw it overseas, there's no fee but I'd be subject to whatever rate it is then, is that right ? ie there's no benefit for transferring in funds to another currency (for which there are some fees) unless I wanted to lock in that rate ?
Kind of but not entirely true
U can load up aud funds as if any other account but to convert they wil charge you a fee to convert. Even if u don't convert and withdraw directly from an overseas atm, it converts the funds and charges you the fee then and there.
Also u are limited to 2 free withdrawals per month:
You can make 2 free withdrawals up to a total of 350 AUD each month. After that, you’ll pay 1.50 AUD per withdrawal.
There’s also a 1.75% fee on anything you take out over 350 AUD.
I feel like if u're going to somewhere with a larger currency like euro or pound or USD, a wise card doesn't get u very far. Altho admittedly the fee is still cheaper than other banks (eg my westpac will charge $5 fee from memory plus a %)
If you have multiple currency balance in there you don't know which currency it is going to convert from.
So you have a risk of double conversion fee.
If the default is AUD as we registered it here, then that money will be converted if there is no other currency. I have AUD and USD in my Wise account. When I purchased PureVPN (130% cashback), my USD balance was taken to pay it as PureVPN uses USD for default payment. If my USD balance is not enough or none, of course my AUD balance will be used to cover the payment. Just make sure enough balance for the currency needed in this case USD. People don't go to USA with only USD100 in balance, right?
@EggMan28 signed up via link but i am getting a $10 charge.. sigh
Strange. I signed up via a direct referral link and got a free card.
Wise is a DEBIT card. 28 Degrees is a CREDIT card.That is a very important difference especially when you need to book Hotels and Rental cars.
Are you saying you can't book hotels and rental cards with a debit card? Wise is a Visa debit card.
Yes.Many people have experienced issues booking hotels and rental cars with debit cards.Some do accept but many insist on a credit card.
Wise is the best, just don't withdrawal and you'll be fine
If you're not going to withdraw, you might as well just use a credit card…
which one, given 28 degrees isn't free?
@fredblogs: There maybe others too… I haven't done much research since Latitude are only introducing the fees this month.
Why not just use the old 28 degree car
Because it has a monthly fee…
Wise has a very good conversion rate
It charges a small fee for conversion and/or cash out
As for withdrawal I think it also depends on the ATM machine(bank)
Last time I made 2 withdrawals oversea. One has a fee and the other has not.
Happy to be enlightened but I don't see the whole draw for a travel card like Wise/28Deg.
I just did a month travelling through Asia with my everyday ING card and using it with it's rebated international fees and 5 ATM withdrawals a month just makes way more sense in my mind. Purchase charges are done at the Visa rate of the day which I believe is better than the converted Wise rate anyway?
The only thing that annoys me with ING is their 2FA when on an international website online and I don't always have my sim card roaming to receive their texts. If you can deal with that then I think that's the best option, otherwise I have heard good reviews about Macquarie's card and app while travelling.
That is a giant problem isnt it. Imagine trying buying online tickets, booking shows, etc overseas….
I thought ING no longer rebate international fees for ATM?
https://campaigns.ing.com.au/cards
Rebates on the ATM Withdrawals fee for the first 5 fee incurring ATM withdrawals (excludes international ATM operator fees).
Correct, they don't rebate Intl. ATM operator fees anymore.
When you withdraw money, they charge a fee and rebate their own fee x5 per month if you have been a diligent customer by jumping through hoops.
On the other hand, banks like Macquarie do not charge a fee to begin with.
+1 for Macquarie, it has all the benefits of Wise, Revolut, ING without any limits on withdrawals PLUS you earn interest on any balance sitting there
I just spent a bit of time overseas using a Bankwest Platinum Zero for purchases, and Ubank for cash withdrawals.
Pretty sure that works out favorably, and is basically the same thing I use at home too
Same dilemma. Not sure to cancel 28 degrees card or not as I have a trip end of october. I only have old citibank plus (now nab but i havent tried it). Also thinking of alternatives like wise but have no idea on it
I had use revolut for whole trip in europe and Singapore.next month will be Tokyo.Never have any problems .recommend.
For travelling to US - assume I don’t need to get currency here ?? I can just withdraw when I land from wise or Macquarie (still waiting for card to arrive)???
Quite a number of people have ditched 28 deg as they are now changing $8 per month to use the card.