Producer: Priyanka Das Editor: Mohit Bisht
Do remember to enable your credit/debit card or even your travel prepaid card for international transactions. Specifically, enable the “International/Online” and the “International/POS and Contactless” features.
Cards typically offer travel-related benefits, either in the form of free lounge access, discounts on flight bookings, travel insurance, car rentals, and entertainment options at your destination. These offers come in handy and enable you to go the extra mile.
Make sure to have enough credit limit to cover most of the trip expenses. It’s a good idea to pay off your credit card bills before traveling to ensure the limit is fully available or prepay as you spend during the trip.
While cards in general offer favorable currency conversion rates compared to currency exchanges, some cards offer lower forex markup fees in lieu of rewards, while others do not offer discounted forex markup fees, but provide generous rewards on international travel spends.
Tokenisation is currently available for Android phones in India, where your cards can be stored securely on high-end smartphones and wearables. At many countries, you can simply unlock your phone and tap it at a merchant’s point-of-sale (POS) device.
Merchants and ATMs often give tourists the choice to complete a transaction in the destination currency or simplify it by displaying it in the tourist’s familiar home currency. However, cardholders must remember that the latter may come with an additional fee.
One of the most compelling features of the Reserve Bank mandated card controls is just that – offering cardholders greater “control” over their cards! You can turn on or switch off card features as well as set transaction limits on your mobile banking apps.