Cash or Card? Countries where you still need cash.

[SYD]

There were reports upthread of excessive surcharges for using debit card in NZ. Spent last weekend in Auckland, didn't use any cash and was not hit up with a surcharge anywhere I paid by card (most places were card only venues).

If they’re card only, they’re probably not allowed to charge a surcharge and so just build the fee into their prices.

Probably 50% of places we went to over a week in AKL and Bay of Islands had surcharges. Some quite hefty ~3%.

 

[Lynda2475]

The only places I went that took cash were the supermarket and museum and no surcharge there either. Noting I used the Macquarie debit card and not a credit card.

The orphan NZ$20 note from a work trip in 2015 remains unused in the travel wallet.

 

[Rich]

The orphan NZ$20 note from a work trip in 2015 remains unused in the travel wallet.

We returned from Auckland on the weekend. The left over cash (from Cook Islands) was used on duty free booze with the balance on a card. It is never worth buying duty free in MEL so that is our standard practice with foreign currency anywhere we return from.

 

[Flashback]

We returned from Auckland on the weekend. The left over cash (from Cook Islands) was used on duty free booze with the balance on a card. It is never worth buying duty free in MEL so that is our standard practice with foreign currency anywhere we return from.

Of course that only works where the duty free currency is the same as the local currency......... some places will have USD or EUR set as the DF currency, Ethiopia for example.

 

[clifford]

I'm in Taiwan at the moment, and cash is an absolute necessity (for me at least). Sure, you can use your Easycard almost anywhere, but you need cash to top it up. Atm's in Taiwan are pretty user friendly in that they don't usually charge commission for withdrawals, so cash is easy to get.

But, you also need cash to buy things in supermarkets for example, where I discovered they only accept Taiwanese credit cards.

So be prepared to withdraw cash from an atm as soon as you arrive.

 

[RealtimeY]

But, you also need cash to buy things in supermarkets for example, where I discovered they only accept Taiwanese credit cards

Or you could use the aforementioned Easycard!

 

[NZflygirl]

I'm in Taiwan at the moment, and cash is an absolute necessity (for me at least). Sure, you can use your Easycard almost anywhere, but you need cash to top it up. Atm's in Taiwan are pretty user friendly in that they don't usually charge commission for withdrawals, so cash is easy to get.

But, you also need cash to buy things in supermarkets for example, where I discovered they only accept Taiwanese credit cards.

So be prepared to withdraw cash from an atm as soon as you arrive.

I'm in Taiwan for the first time. Slight ATM issue in that none of the ones I've seen provided English as a language to use. I couldn't be bothered waiting for an actual bank to open up the next day. Thought about googling a travel exchange place but the idea of using my card there didn't appeal. I did find an ATM that had instructions in English but it was for foreign currency withdrawals Hong Kong dollars and other currencies. I would have needed to find someone to change it to TWD. In the end I think I chose Korean as a language and used the Waygo app to translate from Korean to English to work my way through the instructions. You know there's a PIN number in there somewhere then type in how much you want to withdraw. I got there in the end!!! And then I went to TGIF and used Apple Pay I'd had enough navigating for one day.

Had time to take a screen shot of what I was doing. I laugh at myself cause it just seems so random to do But hey if it works and gets me what I need then I'm all in!

I used the klook app to pre order an easy card pre-loaded to pick up on arrival at TPE. Used Apple Pay to ride the AirPort Express and easy card for bus tap on/off payments.

 

[Chicken]

I'm in Taiwan for the first time. Slight ATM issue in that none of the ones I've seen provided English as a language to use.

I think you may had missed the English prompt? I remember trying many banks only 18 months ago, and I didn't have problem with language.

 

[NZflygirl]

I've tried probably 5 or so and none had English as an option. Even at the airport and MRT and close to the tourist area. Tried a 7-11 but couldn't figure that out. Just hit the language button and it only brings up Asian options. The screen before this had just Asian/chinese language and a button option to select language. Would certainly be helpful if I did find an English option but I'm happy I found a weird work around I did check you tube while out and about yesterday but didn't see anything but just looking now I can see someone had English as an option from a 7-11 ATM apparently. I guess I just haven't found a 7-11 with that option yet. Interesting given the buses and stations have English on screens as well.

 

[RealtimeY]

Is it because the ATM is already Chinese/English bilingual without selecting another language?

 

[NZflygirl]

Is it because the ATM is already Chinese/English bilingual without selecting another language?

It's definitely Chinese but there's no English on page 1, this was from the MTR ticket station at the airport. Click on language and it goes to the Asian options. I hadn't thought of using the Waygo app to use at the time to read this. That only came to me after trying to check out a few others including some ATMs associated with banks. I remember having this issue in Seoul at the airport. I did buy a transport card there but can't recall how I got around the issue.

 

[RealtimeY]

The English is right there on the screen... just insert your card

 

[NZflygirl]

Might go back and try this then cancel the transaction - for research purposes!