International credit and debit cards

Hi there,

Have a general question about credit and debit cards. I currently have credit and debit cards from Irish banks. If I were to move abroad and join a foreign bank they would likely issue me with a credit or debit card.

How do the various charges work? For example, using an australian debit card to buy something off amazon.co.uk - would that incur an additional charge compared to an Irish card? Would the charges be the same for booking flights etc?

This is assuming all things being equal in the two accounts. I hope this question was clear.

settlement said:

For example, using an australian debit card to buy something off amazon.co.uk - would that incur an additional charge compared to an Irish card?

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Different banks in different countries have different FX and debit card charges.

The above transaction might have a debit card transaction fee, might have a FX fee and might have a FX margin applied.

In principal, there should be no issue with using your Australian card to purchase from Amazon UK but you will be subject to fees as determined by your Australian bank.

CiaranT said:

Different banks in different countries have different FX and debit card charges.

The above transaction might have a debit card transaction fee, might have a FX fee and might have a FX margin applied.

In principal, there should be no issue with using your Australian card to purchase from Amazon UK but you will be subject to fees as determined by your Australian bank.

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So an Irish card in general might be likely to have lesser fees on amazon.co.uk for example?

I suppose as a general rule of thumb it's appropriate to use the most geographically relevant card. Just trying to optimise how I would manage having multiple international debit or credit cards

settlement said:

So an Irish card in general might be likely to have lesser fees on amazon.co.uk for example?

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Not necessarily. It depends on the fees with the Irish bank versus the Australian bank. One needs to look at the bank specific fee detail.

I see. Thanks CiaranT!