Money card woes

[ScooterB]

A question for you veteran pilgrims: my son is currently on the Camino Frances just outside of Leon. His ATM card has ceased to function, we believe on account of a demagnetized strip. He has ordered a new card and we will mail it to him from the US when it arrives at our house, but in the meantime, do you have any ideas for how he can get his hands on cash? We wired him some money earlier this week, but the fees to do that are prohibitive. Is it possible for him to use a credit card for a cash advance, or perhaps to get money from a cambio using his credit card? Any advice or suggestions would be welcome!

 

[mspath]

Sorry to learn of your problem Have you looked at sending money via Western Union?
Here is their web.
https://www.westernunion.com/fr/en/home.html

Good luck to you and Buen camino to your son!

 

[naplesdon]

Has he walked inside a bank to inquire about using his card to withdraw money from a teller? With proper identification it could be possible.
Walking with a single credit card is not advisable.
Meredith is correct about using Western Union, the money can be picked up in almost any location along the Camino.
I would be very cautious about mailing a new credit card to Spain.

 

[ScooterB]

Sorry to learn of your problem Have you looked at sending money via Western Union?
Here is their web.
https://www.westernunion.com/fr/en/home.html

Good luck to you and Buen camino to your son!

Yes, I sent him €400 and it cost over $550. I don’t see that as a sustainable solution for the next several months that he plans to spend in Europe.

 

[ScooterB]

Has he walked inside a bank to inquire about using his card to withdraw money from a teller? With proper identification it could be possible.
Walking with a single credit card is not advisable.
Meredith is correct about using Western Union, the money can be picked up in almost any location along the Camino.
I would be very cautious about mailing a new credit card to Spain.

Thank you, I will suggest to him that he go inside and speak to a teller.

 

[ScooterB]

Thank you, I will suggest to him that he go inside and speak to a teller.

He has a credit card and a debit card. It’s the debit card that no longer works, hence my questions about buying currency with his credit card. Sorry if that was unclear.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I have not had good luck trying to get cash advances on credit cards.
Moral:Always have a backup plan.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

He can get money on his credit card, probably, but he will need a PIN, and if he does not have it, the credit card companies only mail them to his address of record.

 

[Kent Davis]

Typically, you can get a money order using a credit card which can be monetized
or you can make a purchase in a bigger city using a credit card and get cash back

but I would think it would be as easy as going into a bank and asking for a cash advance because the credit card companies charge ridiculous interest rates on cash
but the best recommendation is to simply go in and ask a bank teller or officer what your objectives are and that you have a credit card to collateralize the advance

 

[Robo]

I think there are too many variables here to offer any specific advice @ScooterB
I often use a credit card to withdraw cash abroad, but the rate is never very good. Depends a lot on the exchange rate, your bank's charges, the overseas bank's charges and in fact if your bank even allows it. It's normally my plan B.

I just had a look on Western Union. For me to send e400 it would cost about US$520. I use Western Union a lot at work, but again you get slugged for charges.

I'm not sure there are really any low cost (low fee) solutions.

Maybe your son could withdraw an amount using his credit card, and see what he gets charged?

As an aside, when on Camino, we use a currency card, that has 2 cards for the account, so we each carry one. When on my own, I carry both in separate places. And a regular ATM card / credit card as a back up.

 

[Tincatinker]

He has ordered a new card and we will mail it to him from the US when it arrives at our house,

It would take a pretty powerful magnetic field to strip a modern chip&pin. Has your son been hitch-hiking UFO's?

Why isn't the card provider mailing the card direct to an agreed pick-up? There are some complex liability issues if you are forwarding the card. All his. Does his card provider even know he is in Europe? If not that will probably explain the disfunction - the provider has blocked all transactions until their customer qualifies them.

 

[ScooterB]

It would take a pretty powerful magnetic field to strip a modern chip&pin. Has your son been hitch-hiking UFO's?

Why isn't the card provider mailing the card direct to an agreed pick-up? There are some complex liability issues if you are forwarding the card. All his. Does his card provider even know he is in Europe? If not that will probably explain the disfunction - the provider has blocked all transactions until their customer qualifies them.

Yes, Wells Fargo was put on notice of his travel plans. Their policy in replacing a debit card is to mail it to the address of record. They seem quite strict about this requirement. Perhaps if I send the card to Ivar using FedEx or DHL? Would that be safer than the Postal Service?

 

[Kitsambler]

When AmEx sends replacement cards to travelers, they use overnight FedEx or DHL. Tell your son to hole up in some decent hotel in a largish city for a couple nights until you can overnight the card to him. It will will expensive but not omg as much as Western Union.

 

[trecile]

He can get money on his credit card, probably, but he will need a PIN, and if he does not have it, the credit card companies only mail them to his address of record.

I think that you will find it very expensive to get a cash with a credit card, as it's treated as a cash advance, and interest starts accruing from the day you get the money.
I have some experience with cards being mailed to Spain, as I was pickpocketed in Madrid before I even started my first Camino last year. I was on the phone with my banks immediately, and they were able to send the cards to me in Spain. I gave them the address of a pension that I had a reservation at. One of the cards (my debit card) didn't arrive by the time I got to the pension, so I gave the owners some money to send it ahead to me to the post office in Burgos, where I had no problem picking it up from General Delivery. I needed to have my husband call to activate it from home, as their activation system wouldn't work when I called from Europe.

Before I got the cards my husband sent me money via Western Union, and to be honest, I don't know what the cost was.

After I had my credit card, but not my debit card, I was able to pay for a few meals, and an albergue for myself and my Camino friends with the credit card, and they gave me cash.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Yes, I sent him €400 and it cost over $550. I don’t see that as a sustainable solution for the next several months that he plans to spend in Europe.

That is just the rate of exchange, very little to do with the service of wiring money. The wiring fee is very small.

 

[peregrina2000]

He has a credit card and a debit card. It’s the debit card that no longer works, hence my questions about buying currency with his credit card. Sorry if that was unclear.

Sorry to hear about this. But in the grand scheme of things it is just a minor irritation.

Taking a cash advance from your credit card is really a loan and it is very expensive. I have had new credit cards sent to me twice in Spain for different reasons. Never had a problem. When the card was ready to be sent, I made a reservation for several days in advance at a hotel and called to confirm that the hotel would accept a delivery. The CC company used a fed ex or some kind of two or three day delivery service, and it was never a problem, once in Aguilar de Campoo on the Camino Olvidado, and once in Puebla de Sanabria on the Sanabres.

I definitely think it would be worth taking the card inside a bank to see about what the problem is. I agree with those who have suggested that if the chip or the strip is the problem, they might be able to use it the old fashioned way inside the bank. We had debit cards long before there were magnetic strips or chips, I believe.

 

[Kanga]

If you deposit money into a credit card so that the card is in advance, then you can withdraw the money without paying interest. I have done this on occasion. It does not work if you have made any purchases on the card, because any money paid in is applied first to the purchases, even if the card is not yet due to be paid.

 

[Jersey]

That is just the rate of exchange, very little to do with the service of wiring money. The wiring fee is very small.

At the official exchange rate 400 Euros should be about 470 US$
The rest was fees and a bad exchange rate

 

[Patch]

Why not get in touch with the USA embassy and ask for assistance? I know the UK will advance cash etc and sort out this sort of problem, they dont like it but......

 

[Monique S.]

..... Is it possible for him to use a credit card for a cash advance .....

Assuming you don't carry a balance on your credit card, the interest can be avoided on cash advances by simply making a payment to cover the amount of the advance, before the advance is taken. If there is a balance on the card, then the balance must be paid as well for this to work.

My credit card is tied into my online banking so I can easily transfer money to the credit card before requesting a cash advance. Otherwise, perhaps a bill payment option would work.

I've had no problems getting a cash advance on my Canadian Visa card in person, at a bank in Portugal. I do not know whether credit card cash advances work from an ATM but it may also be worth a try.

 

[trecile]

Why not get in touch with the USA embassy and ask for assistance? I know the UK will advance cash etc and sort out this sort of problem, they dont like it but......

I very much doubt that the US Embassy would advance money to someone who has the means (mother who can wire money) to get money on their own. I would think that would be reserved for people in the most dire circumstances.

 

[peregrina2000]

Why not get in touch with the USA embassy and ask for assistance? I know the UK will advance cash etc and sort out this sort of problem, they dont like it but......

HA, good luck with that. As The World My Village knows, after she got beat up and had all her stuff stolen, the US embassy in Portugal just gave her a temporary passport and said sorry to hear about it. But maybe they do offer better financial services than personal services for US citizens in distress.

 

[TMcA]

In case your son's replacement card is not being sent by FedEx, DHL, or other overnight carrier and in case he cannot withdraw funds by entering a bank and trying to get help with his ATM...

Why not just send your son your own ATM card (by overnight or second day service) - after informing your bank that it will be used in Spain and maybe some other places if your son is traveling elsewhere in Europe. You at home can inform your bank that you need a second card and that you have provided your card to your son who will be using it in Spain and ??? So you fund your son for his travels and he repays you. Or you send his card on to him when you receive it.

Good luck. Nice to have a kind mother back home.

Tom

 

[jhamsuy]

The Embassy is very unlikely to be helpful as this is not their role. Many times a card reader or ATM is not working. Hopefully by simply alerting the bank that you had a difficulty and trying again with a different location, he will find it working again. Western Union is the parents best option, I think.

 

[CaminoDebrita]

The Embassy is very unlikely to be helpful as this is not their role. Many times a card reader or ATM is not working. Hopefully by simply alerting the bank that you had a difficulty and trying again with a different location, he will find it working again. Western Union is the parents best option, I think.

That’s a very good point. Also, I know it seems obvious, but in Spain if you withdraw from current account sometimes it doesn’t work. I usually withdraw from credit account when I use the ATM.

Also, my debit card has worked in only about half of ATMs. I always use an ATM during work hours on a weekday, I carry one credit card which is in one location, and the debit card is in another.

I have two locations in which I store paper money.

oh, I also have to note that having lived overseas for eight years, US Embassy is pretty useless. I will have to add that the British Embassy was also fairly ambivalent, although embassies were happy to support others were working hard on behalf of the citizens. Anyway, embassies never give out money. Never say never, but I’ve never seen it happen.

 

[HedaP]

Was going to advise what @Kanga has already posted. Deposit money into his credit card account. That’s what I do as my backup plan to my debit card. But as @Monique S. posted, how well it works will all depend on the current balance of his credit card. You need to put enough on the card to completely cover any current commitments plus allow for his withdrawals. Alternatively he can just make the cash withdrawals and pay the associated fees which sound like they may be no worse than the fees you have already been charged.