A friend of mine is travelling in the fall with me to Europe. This will be her first time. I have never had an issue using my debit or credit cards. She went to her credit union and got a "Travel Card" loaded up with money. It has a Visa logo on it but her name is not on it. It just says travel card where one's name would be. The back shows the networks to be Accel and Meta? It expires in one year. I am a bit worried she may encounter problems using this card. Her credit union says she should be fine. Has anyone ever used just a travel card to get cash from an ATM. That is the primary use of this card. She has a regular credit card. The card will be used primarily in France.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33852 posts
I've never heard of networks Accel or Meta, in France or anywhere else.
Maybe she will be OK.
Has she a PIN for it? Is it in Euro or Dollar? Has she read the terms and conditions?
A google search finds
http://www.accelnetwork.com/ which has an ATM finder for its funding vehicles. It only has ATMs in the USA, and partner ones in Canada. Says nothing about Europe.
The only Meta Bank I can find is in South Dakota and says nothing about Europe.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
I had something similar last summer...a Visa gift card loaded with about $200. It had a number on the front that wasn't raised and didn't have my name, of course. It sounds similar to what your friend has. I didn't need it - it was just a gift I took with me for extra spending money.
I wasn't able to use it anywhere...
Is this the card your friend has? Out of curiosity, I googled "meta france atms" and this came up...looks like they are affiliated with the big name networks if it's the same one.
When traveling in Europe it's usually best to have a debit card tied to your bank account so that you can withdraw money directly. My credit union issued debit Master Card is tied to the STAR network with is in affiliation with most of the systems you'll encounter in Europe - I've never had a problem with an ATM machine anywhere.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3992 posts
If the card has a Visa logo on it, it should work at any ATM in France. That is the signal that the card is part of the " interbank network that covers all Visa credit, debit, and prepaid cards, as well as ATM cards issued by various banks worldwide. Currently, there are over one million Plus-linked ATMs in 170 countries worldwide." There are basically two global interbank networks -- Visa's and Mastercard -- for ATM withdrawals that involve a currency exchange. Your friend probably has a Visa Travel Money Card. Some credit unions issue those to people who are traveling because their ATMs are not part of a global interbank system. Some people actually like these cards better because the amount of financial damage that can be done to you as a result of losing the card is limited. A thief can only use the value of the card and your bank account won’t be touched because the card isn’t linked to one. If it is a Visa Travel Money Card, you can report it lost or stolen just like you can a credit or debit card and cancel it. In some cases, you can get the unspent amounts on the card, if any, credited back to your credit union account.
Posted by
Paris, France
131 posts
Travel cards are usually a very poor value. It's better just to use your regular Debit and credit cards. And if hers are from a credit union the fees should be low.
I would suggest that she just find a way to deplete the card before her trip and consider it a lesson-learned.
And BTW, I used to be a credit union CEO.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2791 posts
My Girl Scout trip several years ago had girls who used this type of card.
The fees were KILLER! Every time you did a withdrawal it was $5 or something like that.
If you have a normal debit card use it!
Posted by
Chicago
8560 posts
Travelers checks are now obsolete so the travel card is just the banks attempt to similarly hose customers for high fees. The traveler would be well advised to just use her normal ATM card or to get one. We have an account which has limited funds tied to the ATM card we use in international travel. The fees are probably worse on this product than any other possible choice and as others have noted, it is touch and go whether they are always accepted. I'll be the person who tried to sell this to her and said 'she should be fine' (how reassuring is that) has never traveled internationally using this product.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Have her go back to her credit union and have them transfer the funds back into her account. Then have her open a debit account at another bank. This way there is nothing tied to her primary account.
Remind her to notify said bank of her intention to travel. With travel dates and country. Might be a good idea to notify Visa or MasterCard also.
Even if she has a CC, not a good idea to use it at an ATM.