When making a trip to a foreign country, especially one that is outside the euro zone, a person undergoes several risks when buying. Therefore, many people choose to handle themselves with a credit card to carry out their commercial activities, although this also has its own risks to know, and the OCU has given warnings about how to make good management of this credit.
OCU advice to pay by credit card abroad
The first thing that OCU advises when traveling abroad is to consult the bank associated with your credit card to know the type of commission that applies based on the operation you want to perform. This, since some types of cards allow to extract money abroad without commission, while other entities extract from 4 to 5% of the amount extracted.
In the same way, there are cards that have established certain commissions for exchange of currencies, which applies both in extractions and for purchases where the currency is different from the euro, and that can reach up to 3% of the amount of the operation.
The same, it is possible to find credit cards that do not charge commissions for foreign exchange changes or for getting money in ATMs, or at least they are smaller, such as Revolution, Vivid Money or Rebellion Pay, so they should be options to take into account. Likewise, for some it may be better to use the local currency for their purchases, although you have to be careful to carry large sums of cash in the streets to avoid robberies.
Risks of paying with credit card abroad
It is clear that the main risk of paying by credit card abroad is the cost overruns of the commissions, which is why the OCU has explained how to deal with these additional payments. But, you also have to take into account other factors such as theft.
It does not matter how unlikely the possibilities of suffering a robbery is, it is something that you always have to take into account, and one of the ways of doing so is not to get large sums of money with the credit card, or establish a daily limit for plastic, so that if it is lost or steal it will ensure that a third person does not make unwanted expenses.
Also, it is possible that a person simply loses his credit card abroad or is damaged by some external factor, so it is advisable to always carry a second card in case the first does not work to avoid this type of inconvenience.
In addition, although we have already specified that it is preferable not to carry large sums of money on top, it is advisable to have a certain sum of the local currency to exchange or buy, in case you run out of funds on the credit card you can make important purchases.