Recommendations for good debit card that will be widely accepted?

The obvious other card would be the Schwab Investor Checking card. It does require that you open an investment account (you do not need to fund it). The advantage of a Schwab card, over other debit cards, is that they reimburse any ATM use fees and have a high daily withdrawal limit ($1000). It for the most part had the same features as the Cap One card.

I second the recommendation for the Schwab card. I believe you have to open an investment account in order to get the checking account with the debit card. But you don’t have to fund the investment account. I don’t keep much money in the checking account because I only use it for vacations. I have been using this card for 10+ years without any problems. You have to notify Schwab that you will be traveling so they don’t flag any legitimate use as fraudulent. P.S. Capital One acquired Discover a while ago and are slowly moving all of their cards (debit and credit) to the Discover network.

Thanks for your feedback! I was seeing Schwab coming up as the best looking option in my searches, as well, but good to hear some personal experience. Really frustrating about Cap One. I used it as my Europe travel account only and really liked it. Will be closing out my account with them now.

I know that I am not answering your question, but not sure why you want to use a debit instead of a credit card?

You are protected far better from fraud using a credit card. I only use an ATM card (debit) to buy foreign cash.

Yes, it's risky to use a debit card for purchases since if someone gets your info, they just drain your account. With credit cards you're playing with the house's money and don't lose anything after you tell them about your loss.

Having said that, I also recommend Schwab it's easy to set up, you only need to fund it before your trip and empty it afterwards, and they refund all the various and sundry fees the world will throw your way. If you google you'll find similar options but I know from experience this one works.

I use credit (and ideally Apple pay where accepted) every place that I can, but still have the occasion where some cash on hand is needed for smaller items, tips to tour guides, church entries, coins for restrooms, etc. I typically do one ATM withdrawal upon arrival and that usually lasts me for the trip. The reason I like having a separate travel account with just a few hundred that I load in before my trip is for exactly the reasons you all mention—I don’t want my home checking account compromised during travel in the event of any theft or issues. I know that I have limited funds in this travel account in case of any problems. Just sad that I now need to quickly arrange a new card before an upcoming trip!

We have used our Capital One 360 debit card, loaded just for travel, for years and it has worked seamlessly. We’re leaving for Italy in three weeks, so I’m very interested in this post. We use Apple Pay for almost everything, but use the 360 debit card for ATM withdrawals when needed. Do you anticipate problems traveling with the card? We have a backup debit card with our brick and mortar bank, but prefer to use the Capital One.
I don’t want any unfortunate surprises! Thanks for any thoughts.

@cathy, funny you should mention Italy travel… I have a family member with a newly replaced Capital One card who just arrived in Italy and could not get any money out after trying at 7 different ATMs. That’s what initiated my query here. Now the issue maybe is just a fluke with her particular card, still trying to see if she can get any help from Cap One about it on their international help number. But the card was activated and tested out at home in the US before travel, so it seemed to be working fine there. Has your card recently been replaced to the new ones with Discover? We’ve taken many trips with the previous cards to several different countries and never had an issue using it at any ATM. I always bring 2 credit cards and 2 debit cards and don’t keep all together in my wallet, as well as a bit of US $ that I could exchange if everything else somehow failed me!

We have a backup debit card with our brick and mortar bank, but prefer to use the Capital One.

I would never bring my regular bank debit card on a trip as there is too great a risk if it were to be lost or stolen, even if you just plan to use it as a backup. That's why it's good to have one like the Schwab or Capital One acct.

Discover Card is practically useless outside of the US.

Try to get a card associated with Visa, like the Schwab card, with no foreign transaction fees.

I have traveled with both with no issues. But, if my Capital One card is replaced with a Discover Card when it expires, I'll be cancelling that account.

I’ve been oh so happy with my Charles Schwab Investor Checking Account Debit Card. I keep my travel budget in that account and only use it overseas for ATM withdrawals. While you have to open an investment account, you do not have to put any funds in it and you can then have Investor Checking/debit.

@fennel.taller-9i, thanks again for post this query. I’ve been a happy camper with the Cap One Venture as well as the 360 account (that we use only for international ATMs), so I am sorry to hear all of this. The 360 card shows a MC logo, but I’m assuming that means nothing if the program has changed. I used the debit card in the UK as recently as March with no issues. Everyone here has great suggestions…will be looking into Chase (thank you, Carol now retired!) as we already have a Chase Preferred and into Schwab as so many have mentioned. Mardee, you are so right…our bank backup debit is tied to a very small account, so very low risk. And jeanm…absolutely agree…if the Capital One Venture card goes to Discovery, we’re gone. Just when you thought it was safe to go to the ATM…..

Wow, thank you so much for the heads up on this issue! I leave in less than two weeks, and my main debit card is my preloaded Capitol One.

I have been using ApplePay for almost everything during my two trips this year. Even in some obscure places, it was familiar for transactions at restaurants, etc. And I keep some cash from a previous trip, so I should be fine until I am back to open a Schwab or similar account.

Cathy, until you activate a new card from Capital One with the Discover logo, your current card is still valid using the MasterCard network.

I brought up the CapitalOne/Discover issue a few months ago.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/capital-one-s-acquisition-of-discover

Here is a quote from one of the articles I had posted:

Currently, Capital One relies on the Visa and MasterCard networks for
payment processing, but it plans to move all of its debit cards and
some of its credit cards to Discover’s network starting in Q2 of 2025,
according to an investor presentation on February 20.

“Over time, we will move a growing portion of the credit card business
to the Discover network. In total, across debit and credit, we expect
to add over 25 million Capital One cardholders and over $175 billion
in Capital One purchase volume by 2027,” said Richard Fairbank, CEO of
Capital One, on an investor presentation call. “This injection and
volume in the network will help Discover be competitive with the
leading network.”

While this change won’t go into effect immediately, it may impact
Capital One debit and credit cardholders down the line, specifically
if they travel abroad.

“In most cases in the U.S., Discover is more or less accepted
everywhere that Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are,” says Matt
Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “Where you may run into
more issues is with international travel because Discover may not be
as widely accepted.”

Mary, thanks for reposting this!

The update from Italy today was that after time on the phone with Capital One help desk and being assured that the glitch had been fixed… the card still doesn’t work. I’m not trying to create mass panic or say that now none of these cards will work anywhere in Europe. It just raises some concerns that it may be, at best, more challenging to find the “right” ATM network that will accept the new card. Or again, maybe this was just an isolated incident, but it’s one that Capital One has been unable to satisfactorily resolve. We will probably never know exactly what the issue was here since Capital One is saying you are good to go and it should work but it most definitely doesn’t. Luckily, this isn’t a crisis situation for my family member stuck without the ability to currently get cash. I would assume that if every new card being issued has been unusable abroad we would have seen many stories of that already? So maybe just an unlucky situation or not trying the “right” ATMs. I’d love to know if anyone does have success with the new cards but I’ll probably shred mine before the next trip.

Thanks so much for the update. So sorry about your relative in Italy. I'm glad you started the discussion as it may impact a lot of forum members.

I am another longtime Capital One user specifically for the fee free international use. My debit card has not been changed yet to the Discover version, I dug around and found this info on the Cap One website about using the debit card on the Discover network. There is a link to search for ATMs by location and I found quite a few in Paris which is my next destination. Look for ATMs on the Pulse network. https://www.capitalone.com/help-center/checking-savings/traveling-with-debit-card/

ATMs on the pulse network were tried. They didn’t work. Funny, Capital One sent out an email shortly after activating the new card which now raises some eyebrows when reading it again with the current context. It talks about using your card for travel and this is the advice:

BEFORE YOU GO:

•research which payment methods are most common in your travel destination—they may vary from before.

•bring a second form of payment—cash or credit card— just in case.

•look for the Discover, PULSE, or Diners Club International logo at merchants and ATMs. Your debit card should work at any of these locations.

•try your card. Even if you don’t see a logo your card may still work.

What a joke! Their advice while traveling abroad is try it and maybe you’ll get lucky plus definitely don’t rely on only our card for your money needs. This shows me that there’s a major issue and Capital One is aware. I think they’re going to lose a lot of customers. The card was so highly recommended on travel forums which was why I and my family members went with it. Thank you all for the advice on Chase and Schwab. I will definitely be moving to one of those.

I hear you! We have used our Capital One debit cards and credit cards for years for overseas travel. When it was announced that they were moving the cards to the Discover network, we opened a Schwab account to get debit cards. When Cap One sends me a new card with the Discover logo, I will be closing the account. We also opened an alternative credit card account in case the credit cards get moved to the Discover network. Too bad. We had many fee-free years together.

Question: are the old debit cards still working (temporarily)? In other words, I understand the new cards don’t work well in Europe. But, is anyone still using the old debit card, and it also doesn’t work now?

I’m wondering whether to bring my old card on this upcoming trip very soon.

@jean, I’m definitely not an expert, but I believe that whatever logo is on the back of your card is the network that it uses. So if you’re still on the old Visa/Mastercard card (I forget now which it was!) it should perform like usual. It sounds like from the press release that Mary linked they will be slowly transitioning over as people need replacement cards. I’d be especially furious if that was also my travel credit card now moving to Discover, since you know for sure that won’t be widely accepted! They had made it seem like there would be many ATMs that would work. Capital One’s one good piece of advice for any situation, always make sure you have backup options so you aren’t scrambling if something doesn’t work. But seems like your old card should be fine for now.

Thanks for the reply! I received an email that the new card will be arriving soon. I’ll just store it in the safety deposit box until I can deal with it/cancel/transfer it after the upcoming trip,

I would never travel using a Debit card. Credit only. In Europe, I tend to use Visa or Mastercard as they are well accepted there.
I carry Visa and Mastercard and also my personal Debit card, that I never use.
You should have a plan, and a backup plan.
I should note, even domestically I tend to use a credit card, but I never carry a balance. I pay it off as due. I like to use someone else's money when they offer it.

Mack, a debit card is used at ATMs in Europe to get cash if needed. You wouldn't want to use a credit card at ATMs due to the high fees/rates from your CC company. Schwab debit cards refund any ATM fees and have no extra fees. We never use the debit cards for anything other than ATMs when traveling. And last trip, we didn't even get any cash at all.

@slbdaisy — that’s exactly how I use my debit card. One withdrawal at the start of the trip to get some cash on hand and then charging the rest of the way. Definitely wouldn’t want to use the credit card to withdraw at an ATM but also don’t want to be charging all over town on your debit card. Good for you for managing to go totally cash free on your last trip! I’ve never managed to do that. I think the biggest cash usage is for tips on guided walks. For a many hour great tour, I’ll typically leave €20. In our upcoming Italy trip, many of the apartments are collecting the tourist or transient stay tax in cash, which is about €3 per night. And I always want a few coins kicking around for the bathroom situation! Other than that, these days you can sure do most of it with no cash at all, which is very nice.

Slbdaisy,
Thanks for making that distinction. I tend to carry a decent amount of cash on most trips and very rarely use an ATM to get more of it. When I was travelling for work, I used to take advances on my company card. The company paid the fees so I never gave it a second thought.

The last time I mentioned Wise my post vanished into the ether, so maybe that's a banned company here, but I have to say it has been very useful as a multi-currency, low-fee, reloadable prepaid Visa card. I have found it a bit of a hassle to load money onto it, but that's really my only complaint. It works reliably (physical card or Apple Pay). Free ATM access is modest but sufficient for my needs, probably not suitable for those who withdraw a lot of cash.