My first post! I 've done a bit of research, but I am hoping you experts out there can help with how this ACTUALLY works. You know…the best laid plans…
We are in the US. My daughter will be attending the U of St. A’s in Scotland. I am wondering about how to minimize banking fees and phone service costs while she is in the UK and as she (hopefully) travels around Europe, etc.
BANKING: She has a Bank of America account and credit card. For the account and debit card, BOA have a relationship with Barclays and all atm fees will be waived (if she uses a Barclays atm). Additionally if she travels, they are part of the Global ATM Alliance whose participating banks waive some of the fees (but not the 3% int’l transaction fee). For the BOA travel credit card, there is no foreign transaction fee and she can accumulate points (and credit). However, I have read in some of these forums that others with a BOA account still also open up a local Barclay’s account too. I just wanted to understand what the advantage would be to do that? I think I’m missing something! We could use Zelle to transfer money to her if necessary (anyone do this) or TransferWise. ATM for her to withdraw cash. Credit card for “out and about stuff”. She can snap photos of any deposits and have it go into the BOA account. I’d love your expert help on what benefits you can see from opening a local account. Also any thoughts or info about how these credit cards, Zelle, TransferWise calculate exchange rates…seems to vary greatly.
PHONE: For phone service, we presently have AT&T which isn’t the greatest for long term travel (sigh), but I have a family plan and discounts so I don’t really want to switch to T-Mobile which I understand has super international plans. So I’m looking at SIM cards, but I see there are “International SIM” cards and "UK SIM 'cards. Anyone have experience using either? The international SIM sounds great…says “It allows you to switch between an American number (even the one you already have) and foreign numbers so the people you’re communicating with don’t have to pay extra to call or text you, regardless of where they are and what country you happen to be in at the moment”. Anyone use this? I also wonder how much to expect to load given IMessage, WhatsApp for messaging (except I suppose data when out of Wifi range), probably no phone calls except facetime/whatapp. What did everyone load on there and how long did it last? Easy to load? Who did you use? Finally, anyone have any experience with “adding a phone number” to a SIM (as described above with the International SIM)–I think they call it porting a number or something–So could she keep her existing number to the SIM we purchase such that when her “old” phone rings, it comes through to the new phone. Would love your thoughts and THANK YOU.
For Banking our kids in Europe use Schwab checking account for ATM withdrawals. Fee’s are reimbursed and no transaction fee. They all opened local banks (Netherlands and Estonia) and use that. Banking in Europe is very advanced and some places do not accept cash. Having a local bank will be easier but if she is only going for one semester it is probably not worth it. For sending money TransferWise is good or open a joint account in the US with her and put the money in it and she can withdraw in the local currency. Do note that if she has over $10,000 at any point in an international bank account she needs to file FinCen Form 114 with her tax return.
Our kids all got local SIM cards and plans in Europe which are usually much cheaper than US telecom plans. If you have either whatsap or facebook messenger you can easily use this for speaking to each other and messages. You can also find a phone that has slots for two SIM cards. I’d not mess with a US based international plan and all calls within the EU are local. Our daughter switched her US number to google voice so she could keep it and then cancelled her US plan.
Based on my friends experience with her son, your daughter will need a back account in Scotland to get a phone plan there. . This can be a difficult process.
As I read this again, perhaps opening the Barclay’s account is to save on exchange rate? Withdrawing via ATM, using a US debit card or using the US Credit card in UK would of course require a conversion to USD. The rate of which is likely not super. I suppose you could control that better with TransferWise–transfer money to UK Barclay account and not have to do conversions with their ATM/debit card? Hmmm…just thinking. Hope there are a few others out there with some thoughts. Thanks again.
From our experience, your daughter cannot obtain a bank account in the UK until she has proof of address, but then it should be fairly simple.
For the phone, when I go there, I just buy a prepaid SIM card, whatever looks to be the best deal at the time, not a big deal. It may be more work to sign up for an actual plan.
Please note that the 3% foreign transaction fee is charged by BofA, not the local ATM (even though the teller or branch employees will tell you differently because they don’t really understand). The only savings by using the BofA card at a Barclay’s ATM is to avoid the flat $5 ‘out of network’ ATM charge. For a single semester abroad, it’s too much work to open a local account. If staying longer, I would recommend getting a better bank account with no ATM foreign transaction fees (Charles Schwab) or a low 1% transaction fee such as Fidelity, an Internet bank or a small bank. Or opening a local account and sending money to that account.
Use WhatsApp to communicate. She can keep her phone and phone number, just turn off all roaming and only use WiFi. Buy a cheap unlocked GSM network phone and get prepaid SIM card after she arrives for voice calls and texts in Europe.
My S spent last year in UK; to make things simple, we added him to our Amex and gave him ‘cash withdrawal’ privileges. Although he is mostly ‘cashless’, this was the simplest and least expensive way to go - especially now, with the pound being so low.
As for the 'phone, we purchased a UK iPhone on Gumtree, and my H set him up with a month-to-month plan at Orange.
DD did a semester in the UK about five years ago. She took her current (Verizon) iPhone and switched the sim card with one from an inexpensive local plan. I think we put her Verizon number on hold so she could pick it back up when she came home but we didn’t need to pay for it while she was gone. Really didn’t need to use too much data as she had wifi in her flat and on campus. Used WhatsApp, FaceTime and iMessage to communicate.
We have USAA. They reimburse ATM fees. The issue back then was that USAA was just converting to the chip card and it was problematic. Almost everywhere in UK/Europe requires a chip for credit/debit transactions.
We could use Zelle to transfer money to her if necessary (anyone do this) or TransferWise. ATM for her to withdraw cash. Credit card for “out and about stuff”. She can snap photos of any deposits and have it go into the BOA account. I’d love your expert help on what benefits you can see from opening a local account. Also any thoughts or info about how these credit cards, Zelle, TransferWise calculate exchange rates…seems to vary greatly.