The intercontinental traveler

[bpphantom]

More traveling questions related to England :)

ATM's. Is it possible to use my colonial debit card to withdraw pounds at the current exchange rate?

[Grae Knight]

More traveling questions related to England :)

ATM's. Is it possible to use my colonial debit card to withdraw pounds at the current exchange rate?

What is a colonial debit card?

[Malibu Sally]

What is a colonial debit card?
It is probably the bank that issued his card.:p

[bpphantom]

Debit card (Interac) used in the colonies... you know, Canukistan ;)

For those that don't know what a debit card is, (americans seems surprised the most), it's a card that links to a bank account. I swipe it, punch in my PIN and money comes out to pay for items immediately. No credit, no delay. We also use them as our bank cards and at any ATM.

The bank is TDCanada Trust/TDWaterhouse/etc.

[razoras]

Debit cards are extremely common in the US. Why are they confused? Maybe they're just not used to the term debit or something? Weird.

These days, though, they're being replaced with the Check Card. Essentially a debit card that is used as a credit card. I prefer a check card because a lot more places use credit cards now than debit cards. I can pretend to be a deficit spender without the deficit!

[Got]

I can use my debit card almost everywhere in the world. If your debit card has a Visa, Visa Plus, Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro or Cirrus symbol on it you should be able to withdraw money from any cash machine in the UK. From my experience your bank will charge you a small fee for withdrawing money in a foreign country as well, so bear that mind and don't use it like you would at home. I spent close to £50 alone on those fees in a month when I was last away.

[Bitter Babe]

I don't know any American who wouldn't know what a debit/check card is lol. I've just honesty never heard it called colonial debit card.

[Tsarmina]

I don't think I even know anyone who has a straight ATM card (one that can be used at the ATM only). Debit (or check) cards are all the rage... all the cool kids use em! :P

[Bitter Babe]

Yeah I have two of em! :P

[razoras]

Debit card (Interac) used in the colonies... you know, Canukistan ;)

For those that don't know what a debit card is, (americans seems surprised the most), it's a card that links to a bank account. I swipe it, punch in my PIN and money comes out to pay for items immediately. No credit, no delay. We also use them as our bank cards and at any ATM.

The bank is TDCanada Trust/TDWaterhouse/etc.
I think what most Americans don't get is the "colonial" part, not the "debit" part. Everyone in the US, as has been explained, knows what a debit card is. I'm not sure exactly what the colonial part means, myself. The name of the bank that has issued the card? Canada and the US haven't been colonies for a couple centuries now.

Or were you being clever? Or do Canadians really refer to them as colonial debit cards or themselves as a colony of Britain? O.o

[bpphantom]

Sheesh. People fixate of the strangest things. I'm in a colony. Thus it's colonial. Independent or not, still colonized by... ;)

Anyway. Interac cards/debit cards/bank cards don't affiliate themselves with any credit company (such as Visa). Your transactions are done directly with the banking institution.

[razoras]

Sheesh. People fixate of the strangest things. I'm in a colony. Thus it's colonial. Independent or not, still colonized by... ;)

Anyway. Interac cards/debit cards/bank cards don't affiliate themselves with any credit company (such as Visa). Your transactions are done directly with the banking institution.

In America, ours do too. However, they are being replaced as the popular choice by check cards. Check cards are debit cards that also use the Visa/Mastercard system. We're still withdrawing directly from our bank account (more or less) but it's processed as a credit card from the perspective of the vendor.

This allows you to debit in places that normally won't take a debit card (in America, debit is primarily used in grocers and box stores) as well as use your debit card online.

As to the colony thing... I really don't recommend telling anyone that the US is a colony if you decide to visit. The best you'll get is an odd look. I'm having a hard time not getting into an argument about it, myself. You're not in a colony. You're in Canada, a sovereign nation.

[Dr Jack Wolfe]

He was being humble before his motherland brethren. If your check card has a Visa or a Mastercard symbol it will be accepted on any machine that has that symbol. There are also several "other" networks where a non Visa/MC card can be accepted. Plus is one of the bigger networks, its owned by Visa but you card will work there whether its Visa branded or not. I honestly dont' know about the exchange rate these days. Used to be the exchange rate at the time your transaction processed, usually end of the day in the timezone you bank was located, but it could be up to a day later. So if you get 20 Euros out, your account was updated with the exchange rate at the close of business. Could be real time now but I doubt it. I have a debit card without the Visa or MC function, makes me feel a bit better if its lost because it can't be used as simple credit card (God knows IDs are not checked enough in this country)


Americans have been using debit cards linked to checking and savings for at least 25 years, but retailers are just now getting it, and of course the people who are young/tech savvy enough to demand it have money now. It was a long process, lots of moms in the 80s didn't understand pins.

It got a lot easier when Visa and MC realized they could process transactions for the banks and retailers. They just treat them as secured credit cards and made people sign. Before there were at least 3 separate networks (Cirrus, Plus and MAC come to mind) and if your card was a Mac network card you couldn't use a Plus branded machine.

I didn't know they didn't charge a fee in the commonwealth. Does your bank charge you for not using their ATM? Does that mean my HBSC card is free everywhere? cool.

Link to plus ATMs in London
http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/global/ResultsDisplayAction.do?uid=X1196436-1178212037-ac120e64

[Got]

Anyway. Interac cards/debit cards/bank cards don't affiliate themselves with any credit company (such as Visa). Your transactions are done directly with the banking institution.
If they're not linked at all with Plus or Cirrus I don't think you'll be able to withdraw money internationally unfortunately (or in the UK at least).

[bpphantom]

He was being humble before his motherland brethren. If your check card has a Visa or a Mastercard symbol it will be accepted on any machine that has that symbol. There are also several "other" networks where a non Visa/MC card can be accepted. Plus is one of the bigger networks, its owned by Visa but you card will work there whether its Visa branded or not. I honestly dont' know about the exchange rate these days. Used to be the exchange rate at the time your transaction processed, usually end of the day in the timezone you bank was located, but it could be up to a day later. So if you get 20 Euros out, your account was updated with the exchange rate at the close of business. Could be real time now but I doubt it. I have a debit card without the Visa or MC function, makes me feel a bit better if its lost because it can't be used as simple credit card (God knows IDs are not checked enough in this country)


Americans have been using debit cards linked to checking and savings for at least 25 years, but retailers are just now getting it, and of course the people who are young/tech savvy enough to demand it have money now. It was a long process, lots of moms in the 80s didn't understand pins.

It got a lot easier when Visa and MC realized they could process transactions for the banks and retailers. They just treat them as secured credit cards and made people sign. Before there were at least 3 separate networks (Cirrus, Plus and MAC come to mind) and if your card was a Mac network card you couldn't use a Plus branded machine.

I didn't know they didn't charge a fee in the commonwealth. Does your bank charge you for not using their ATM? Does that mean my HBSC card is free everywhere? cool.

Link to plus ATMs in London
http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/global/ResultsDisplayAction.do?uid=X1196436-1178212037-ac120e64


Thanks for the link Jack. I'll be staying a couple of blocks from the Charring Cross ones so that'll make things easy.

[Meltman]

I thought of Christopher Walken when I saw this thread title.

[Knightward]

When I saw this thread title at first I thought it said, "The Incontinent Traveler."

Beyond that, I got nothing.