12 tips for dealing with credit cards(1)
Instead, you can withdraw money from almost any ATM worldwide with a credit card and pay cashless by credit card worldwide. Of course, this cashless payment also brings dangers, which is why there are a few things you should pay attention to when dealing with credit cards.
For this reason, we want to give you 12 tips below, so that you can save as much as possible when using your credit card on your next trip and secondly protect your credit cards from theft and misuse.
#01 credit card tip: withdraw money only at ATMs from banks
In general, try to withdraw money only from ATMs located in or at a bank branch.
This reduces the risk that it is a rigged ATM, which in the end does not spend any money and also spy on your card information including PIN.
Unfortunately, this happens again and again, especially in South-East Asia.
#02 credit card tip: Set up credit card limits on travel credit card
Clarify the limits of your credit cards before you travel and adjust them accordingly. This helps in the event that your card or card details are stolen and you become a victim of credit card abuse. But don't choose the limit too low, so that you have enough money available in case of emergency (e.g. hospital, flight, etc.). If your limit is already exhausted, then you are without money.
#03 credit card tip: cash instead of credit card
Although the question often does not arise during a trip around the world anyway, as it is often not possible to pay by credit card (e.g. small restaurants, etc.). But if you do, try to pay in cash instead of a credit card.
Because often you don't know what happens to your credit card when the hostel or restaurant owner disappears with your credit card briefly in the back room. In addition, you can save yourself the credit card fees, which depend on the bank.
Withdrawal of cash at ATMs, for example, is usually free of charge at DKB* except in Thailand, Taiwan and the USA (we know at least from these countries).
If you also pay in cash, you get a better feeling for your expenses, because the money literally runs through your fingers.
#04 credit card tip: Block credit card
If you lose one of your credit cards or it is stolen from you, lock it immediately under the following number: +49 116 116 (for German credit cards).
In addition, never forget your credit card in the ATM. That may sound stupid, but it can really happen. Because in many countries you first get the cash and then the credit card back, so exactly the other way around than in Germany.
Martin did the same. He forgot his credit card a few years ago in Honkong at the bank in the vending machine and only noticed it a few days later. Luckily, he could remember that he hadn't put her back in and therefore she had to be in the vending machine. Although he was told that the card was already on its way to the house bank in Germany, it never arrived there.
Incidentally, it was a larger branch of Citi Bank in Hong Kong, so it was not a forest-and-meadow bank at all.
For this reason, it is also valid in such cases: Preferably, let the card be blocked as a precaution.
#05 credit card tip: Tell bank when you're abroad
Tell your bank that you are abroad, otherwise some transactions may be classified as "suspicious" and therefore not executed. Was the case with a debit card from Steffi.
#06 credit card tip: always enter PIN face down
Try to make sure you cover your hand when entering the PIN. This tip won't be new to you, but in some countries it's really a problem that cameras are attached to or around ATMs to film you entering PINs, sometimes at ATMs located at bank buildings.
