Debit/atm cards

All ATM machines no matter which country you travel to will accept our old-fashioned magnetic strip cards.

Also consider some of the usual advice...

Contact you bank and verify that your card will work in each of those countries, or at least they will not automatically block transactions. You also want to ask if they require notification of travel, most used to, many anymore do not need to know.

If you search, you can find info on the type of PIN needed (numerical, typically 4 digits) and the dangers of DCC.

Please do a search in the forum and find the numerous threads regarding this subject.

joseph,

You should be able to use your card for any ATM withdrawals, but you probably won't be able to use it for debit purchases, especially in the Netherlands.

Are you also planning to take a credit card? If so you will not be able to use it for purchases in some locations, such as Amsterdam Central rail station as they only accept Chip & PIN cards there. Plan to keep some cash on hand.

As mentioned above, be sure to notify your financial institutions that you'll be travelling abroad.

You should be able to use your card for any ATM withdrawals, but you
probably won't be able to use it for debit purchases, especially in
the Netherlands.

During my visit to Amsterdam last year, neither myself nor a travel companion had any problems making POS purchases with our magnetic strip debit cards. It goes through as a credit transaction, so any merchant that accepts credit cards will accept debit for payment. The only exceptions were Dutch Rail and the Albert Heijn supermarket chain. Plastic is king in Holland.

Michael,

Thanks for clarifying the info about debit cards in the Netherlands. I can't even make debit POS purchases in the U.S., so doing that in Europe is probably not going to happen either. I have witnessed the issues faced by other travellers at Amsterdam Central trying to make ticket purchases with credit cards, but fortunately I had no problems with that.