During your holidays or vacations, do not pay any commissions abroad: neither on your payments nor on your withdrawals is possible. For this you need a bank card that does not charge fees on payments or withdrawals. Also, there are 100% free bank cards. Here is the comparison of the best commission-free bank cards abroad.
Understanding foreign taxes
When you go on vacation there are already a lot of expenses to plan for the organization: plane or train tickets and car rental (if you have to rent one on the spot) or gasoline and tolls if you have decided to travel with your car, accommodation, activities, etc. .
And as soon as we are on vacation, there are all the little extras that add to the expenses and budget foreseen for the holidays: terraces, bars and restaurants, food, clothing, etc.
Whether you make these charges by paying directly by credit card, or you withdraw money from the ATM to pay in cash, bank charges are usually added to every transaction. There are always minimum fees applied by the bank that allows transactions (shops, restaurants, etc.).
All of these additional costs can of course be avoided if you have a credit card that doesn’t charge any fees on payments or withdrawals during your overseas vacation.
How much does a free bank card cost abroad?
So you will tell us that this card can be expensive or that the option can also cost you money. And well imagine that there are free bank cards with terms of use: that is to say that you will have to carry out at least one payment transaction per month for it to be 100% free: payment at a physical merchant in a shop, restaurant, bakery, etc. What do you normally do every day.
To take advantage of this free card, you will need to open an account in an online bank. We remind you that all French banking institutions that are considered online banks must be approved by the Banque de France and protect the funds available in your account. You can then open an account in this type of banking institution in complete safety.
Credit cards without commissions abroad
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100% free card. |
✔ Free payments and withdrawals in the euro zone ✔ Free and unlimited payments abroad ✔ 3 free withdrawals / month abroad ✔ Visa Premium Insurance and Assistance |
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100% free card. |
✔ Free and unlimited payments abroad ✔ Free and unlimited withdrawals abroad (BNP Paribas Global Network banks) ✔ Insurance and visa assistance |
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100% free card. |
✔ Free payments and withdrawals in the euro zone ✔ Free payments and withdrawals abroad ✔ Mastercard Gold insurance and assistance (To use the services it is necessary to take the Gold card) |
Additional benefits of using a free card abroad
And it’s not because these cards are free that they don’t offer you insurance to cover your expenses and insure you against the unexpected in life (even abroad).
Boursorama Bank – Premium Visa Card
In fact, Boursorama Banque’s free premium Visa credit card gives you the same insurance and support services as a classic Visa Premier – it also offers some additional benefits that make it one of the best free bank cards online.
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- Rental vehicle warranty
- Advantage of interruption, modification or cancellation of the trip
- Transport delay guarantee
- Baggage Delay Guarantee
- Cover for loss, theft, damage to baggage
- Medical assistance
- Liability coverage abroad
- Death or Disability Guarantee
Hello Bank! – Visa Classic card
As for Hello Bank! benefit from Visa Classic guarantees. These guarantees are less important than those of the Visa premium.
But you can still benefit from medical assistance for your family and yourself abroad (medical expenses and repatriation).
Fortuneo Bank – Gold Mastercard Card
Finally, in Fortuneo you will benefit from the insurance and assistance of the Mastercard Gold card. Insurance and support services are almost similar to a Premier or Premium Visa card:
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- Rental vehicle warranty
- Advantage of interruption, modification or cancellation of the trip
- Transport delay guarantee
- Baggage Delay Guarantee
- Cover for loss, theft, damage to baggage
- Medical assistance
- Liability coverage abroad
- Death or Disability Guarantee
- Distance shopping insurance
NB : Whether you have a Mastercard Gold or a Visa Premier / Premium, to qualify for a refund in the event of damage or theft of a rental car (rented or paid for with your Visa Premier or Mastercard Gold), you will need to ask the invoice for the intervention of an expert on the vehicle (provides an accurate estimate of the cost of repairing the damage which you can send to your bank) – Your rental agency will have to provide you with this invoice.
And to find out more about online banks and discover all the offers (free and paid), go to our complete comparison of the best online banks.