The Travel Card Hack Banks Don’t Want You to Know - Nomad Notes | EP 47

Join the Masterclass and Learn how to be a Digital Nomad: https://www.digitalnomadnation.com/masterclass

Have you ever wondered how digital nomads keep their money safe while traveling the world?

Ryan brings years of experience working remotely across multiple countries, sharing how he’s built a system of backup cards, smart credit card choices, and emergency reserves that give him peace of mind. 

If you have ever stressed about losing a card, getting hit with surprise fees, or being stuck without access to cash abroad. You’ll learn how to build financial resilience as a traveler, the importance of having multiple safeguards, and what options exist if things go wrong.

You’ll learn that managing money as a digital nomad doesn’t have to be complicated, it just takes a little preparation. 

Listen and travel with more confidence and less financial anxiety.

Download Your Free Guide - 7 Ways to Become a Digital Nomad https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/freeguide-copy

MORE FROM RYAN MELLON

One-on-One 1 Hour Strategy Session with Ryan: Tap Here

Follow Ryan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalnomadcoach/

Join the Masterclass and Learn how to be a Digital Nomad: https://www.digitalnomadnation.com/masterclass

Please Support the Show

• Share this episode with a friend or family member
• Give a Review on Spotify
• Give a Review on Apple

DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical co-working spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Marvin Athey: Ryan, let's talk about finances. how do you handle banking? Do you have any advice to listeners on what banks they should consider using?

[00:00:08] Ryan Mellon: the biggest thing that you need to look at is when you pull money outta the ATM. What is the foreign transaction fee, how much is that? you want it to be low? Mine's 1%. and I try only to get cash for when needed in local places when Credit cards are not available, but I find that credit cards can take you 95% of the way there as far as spending money. So the biggest thing is just making sure that your bank card doesn't have high foreign transaction fees. and then getting a travel credit card for your everyday spending that has no foreign transaction fees, so that every time you swipe that card, not only are you paying exactly, What the cost is locally, but there's no extra fees on top. And then you have that security of, if it's lost or stolen. credit cards are a lot easier to deal with credit card [00:01:00] companies.

[00:01:00] Marvin Athey: Gotcha. do you have any experience or recommendations when it comes to like, wise or Revolut?

[00:01:06] Ryan Mellon: So, yeah, I know a lot of freelancers that use wise if you're trying to take currency from a lot of different places. Wise can be very good for that. I don't know anyone who's used Revolut, but that's another one. That's also a good one if you are working with a lot of multinational clients.

[00:01:24] Ryan Mellon: for me, I do work with multinational clients. Most of my clients are based in the US but I do have a couple that are outside the us. but I just take credit cards. Online, and so I pretty much keep all my, financing in the US system, but just working it from abroad,

[00:01:42] Marvin Athey: From my experience, Revolut is quite popular in Europe. you can exchange different currencies pretty quickly. It seems like here in Vietnam Wise is quite popular. Because it connects to your bank faster, things like that.

[00:01:55] Marvin Athey: So just a little bit of insight there. in terms of credit cards and debit [00:02:00] cards, what's your advice in terms of how many different credit cards should you have? You know, you have your one and then you have maybe some backups in case that gets compromised, for credit cards. And how many for debit cards do you recommend?

[00:02:14] Ryan Mellon: So my bank only allows me to have one debit card. I've tried to get two and they said the only way that they'll allow me to do that is to add a person on my checking account, and I don't trust anyone to add to my checking account. So I have one debit card, but if you can manage more than one, definitely take a second.

[00:02:33] Ryan Mellon: credit cards, I probably travel with like five. I have one in every bag. I have a couple in my wallet. I have like one in my safe, so like they're spread out everywhere. So I'll always have one somewhere. I do carry an old Amex that I've had for like 15 years 

[00:02:52] Ryan Mellon: If my debit card does get broken, stolen or whatever, if I can find an ATM that [00:03:00] accepts amex, which you can go on Amex website to find the ATMs abroad that accept amex, I can actually pull cash out on that card. And it's not that expensive. it's a good in case of an emergency thing, and I've had to use it in Mexico and in Thailand.

[00:03:17] Marvin Athey: Okay. Alright, so for you it's five credit cards. One debit card, you answer the question of that debit card gets compromised. I use Charles Schwab 'cause it, because it's very popular to use overseas as well. The idea is to have multiple cards in case something gets compromised and then spread them out through your luggage so you don't lose all of them if they're all in one place.

[00:03:41] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. And don't have 'em all in your wallet either. 'cause you go out for drinks one night, you lose your wallet, you lose everything. So like something in the safe, something in each bag, something in your wallet. and then always US dollars or Euros in the safe emergency. Cash at [00:04:00] least, you know, 500 US, us for me.

[00:04:03] Ryan Mellon: something that can easily be traded if you, if you did lose everything somehow, that's super important as well.

[00:04:11] Marvin Athey: Yeah, I a hundred percent agree with you. I'm not gonna tell how much cash I carry, but yeah, like if everything gets done and you know, all you have is cash. Luckily we do run to a lot of Americans. And so if you have Venmo or PayPal, you can somehow, reach out to an American abroad and see if you can get some money from them.

[00:04:29] Marvin Athey: AndWestern Union seems to be in a lot of places too, 

[00:04:32] Ryan Mellon: you can pretty much get money from Western Union, anywhere, in the world almost. So, and I've actually had to get like a new debit card abroad. once I broke my card in half somehow. And then the other time, It just got lost, and so I had to order a new debit card.

[00:04:51] Ryan Mellon: They will not ship it to wherever you are. They ship it to your home address, which for me is a UPS store mailbox. So I [00:05:00] have to get my friend who has the key to go to the UPS store mailbox, get my new debit card. Then next day, air across the world. So it gets a little expensive and it takes, you know, that whole process, it's gonna take at least a week, to do so.

[00:05:18] Ryan Mellon: I remember being stuck in The Bahamas waiting for a debit card, and then needing to leave first thing on Monday, and having to go down to the government docks on Sunday to try to get my card out of a shipping container. And the guy wasn't too really worried about helping me out until he asked for some cash and then he helped me find my package.

[00:05:41] Ryan Mellon: So that's, I got it solved.

[00:05:44] Marvin Athey: was it DHL.

[00:05:46] Ryan Mellon: I use UPS 'cause I worked at UPS for 12 years and so I trust their next day air system.

[00:05:52] Marvin Athey: sometimes you'll see in the nomad boards, people like, is anybody. In America coming to Bali I, I've had that where I had to [00:06:00] FedEx my parents, FedEx my cards to a guy that was flying to Bueno Aires.

[00:06:04] Marvin Athey: Yeah, you get creative. It's definitely better than flying home and back, you know, like it's, everything is figureoutable, you know, like even if you lose that one debit card, it's not the end of the world. Especially if you have backup credit cards, you have some cash, you've got some people at home that can, mail something, you can figure it out.

[00:06:25] Ryan Mellon: And, with the credit cards I have, my majority of my credit cards are actually on my Apple Pay. Is that something you like to use or do you try to keep the physical card with you when you're traveling,when you're out and about? I shouldwhen I'm out and about, I have one my Chase Sapphire Reserve, which is my most favorite card by far, always on me. But yes, I do have a lot of cards on Apple Pay too, and I end up using that. Like all the time. 'cause I, it's so easy.

[00:06:53] Marvin Athey: what's your take on money Exchangers? 

[00:06:55] Marvin Athey: So money exchanging is like the worst thing you can do in my [00:07:00] opinion. So I avoid them at all cost. So the only time I exchange money is when I'm down to my US dollars. Emergency money because something happened I have to exchange to local currency. And at that point I'll go on Google, look at money exchangers and I'll read the reviews and find the best one.

[00:07:22] Ryan Mellon: Okay. Gotcha. What do you, what should people be concerned about men exchangers though? 

[00:07:27] Ryan Mellon: Well, they're taking a cut. So you're, it's just a terrible financial decision in general. Even if they're not scamming you, they're scamming you. Yeah. Are already by exchanging your money. Pretty much, in my opinion. 'cause it can be, it's. Can be quite expensive. the airport is by far the worst, out of the places as far as exchange rates go and their fees.

[00:07:51] Ryan Mellon: So never exchange money in the airport unless you absolutely have to. I always roll into a country, you know, with my emergency US [00:08:00] dollars, and then I can, if I feel like I need cash right away, I will use the ATM in the airport. to get some local currency before I walk out the door, but, I very rarely use money exchangers.

[00:08:13] Ryan Mellon: I just don't feel it's necessary unless it's an actual emergency.

[00:08:18] Marvin Athey: you said you use your debit card from your local bank, and so how do you deal with the potential high T ATM fees?

[00:08:27] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, so, my bank actually refunds me. Up to like $10 a month on ATM fees. other than that, I just try to reduce my going to the ATM by withdrawing the maximum amount. Like if I'm gonna be in a country for, a long time, I will go to the ATM that will allow me to take out the most money in one transaction.

[00:08:53] Ryan Mellon: That way I'm going less because the fee is the same whether you take out a small amount or. The max [00:09:00] amount.

[00:09:00] Marvin Athey: Yeah. With Charles Schwab, they reimburse all your at m fees, so it's something to consider as well, so that's amazing.

[00:09:06] Ryan Mellon: is nice.

[00:09:07] Ryan Mellon: Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Nomad Nation. I hope today's stories have inspired you to take the next step towards location independence. If you've enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. Your support fuels our mission to inspire the digital nomad lifestyle.

[00:09:29] Ryan Mellon: Before you go, don't forget to grab your free copy of my guide, Seven Ways to Become a Digital Nomad. It's packed with practical tips to kickstart your nomadic journey. You can find the link in the episode description. And remember, the life you've always dreamed of is just one bold decision away. Until next time, this is the Digital Nomad Coach, Ryan Mellon, signing off.