teen daughter to Italy alone..best way to give her money...

julie, It would be a really good idea for your daughter to pack along at least two ATM cards on different accounts. I've found that having a "backup" card is prudent in case the primary card has problems. Of course, you'll need to have access to the accounts in order to manage her travel funds and deposit funds as required. Note that funds must usually be in a chequing account with a four-number PIN. At least one credit card would also be a good idea for "emergencies". I'm not familiar with the pre-paid MasterCard products, so can't offer any advice. If you have credit cards, you could always provide her with a supplementary card on your account (although with only a week until departure, there may not be time to set that up). You'll need to get moving on this quickly, as time is short. I assume your daughter will be using a Money Belt? Cheers!

It may be too late to sign up and receive a new ATM/debit card within one week so you may be limited to what you can put in her hand now. The BofA card will be expensive unless she can find a specific BNL D'Italia bank which is a BofA partner. Withdrawls from this bank will be free but I'm betting they won't be convenient to find. We had a devil of a time find the BNP Paribas banks in France for the free withdrawl. Typical withdrawl fees are 3% plus and 1% foreign transaction fee. A pre-paid credit card could work also. But, again can you get it set up in time. For emergencies, she should have access to an account with money in it. How she chooses to use it is between your daughter and you. Whatever cards are in her possession, the banks need to be informed as to who has the card and where she will be traveling. You need to call customer service. For the BofA card, you can do this online. I have one and I have notified the bank of my travels online for our most recent trips. If you have time, we do have a Charles Schwab ATM/debit card which reverses all charges and fees. They've done this for us on our recent travels. It's possible you may already have one if you have a Schwab brokerage account.

I've used a Mastercard that has no foreign transaction fees. A backup card (debit or credit) is a good idea. Most places take credit/debit cards for payments, so she may not need to find an ATM every day (as many people do in order not to carry much cash, a good idea). Note that ATMs can run out of cash, so it's best to use them during business hours of the bank where they are located.

Just an extra thought regarding the PIN number for the ATM card. Make sure it's a 4-digit number with no letters. ATMs in Europe may not have letters on their keys. Numbers only.

Whatever choice(s) you make - be sure and inform them your daughter will be traveling - they will want to know where and what dates.

"Teen" as in thirteen, or "teen" as in nineteen? There's a world of difference between the two, as you know. Also, is she part of a group?