If you are a traveller who is frequently having adventures in foreign lands, whether you are working abroad, on a gap year, on a backpacking trip, or just on holiday, and you don’t use online banking, you are missing out on one of the most helpful and convenient services available for managing your money.
Almost every single bank in the world in this day and age will offer internet banking, and having this service enabled while you are travelling offers an incredible amount of advantages. Here are some of the reasons why internet banking is so helpful for travellers:
It’s secure.
Rather than carrying all of the money you have saved up for six months of backpacking in Europe around with you in cash or old-fashioned travellers cheques, just keep it in your bank account. It’s safe and secure, and you can access it any time.
Many people are afraid that using internet banking makes them vulnerable to scams, but as long as you are careful this is very unlikely to happen. The bank will never send you an email asking you for your password, so if this happens you know it is a con. Remember to always log out of your account when using internet banking on a public computer like at an internet cafe or hostel. As long as you are smart and don’t give your password out, your money is absolutely safe and secure with online banking.
You can monitor what you are spending.
Had a night out on the town in London and can’t remember how much you took out of the cash point at 2am? At any point in your trip you can log into your account and see a detailed statement of where your money has been going, and how much you have left. This is very helpful for budgeting for your trip as you go along.
You can transfer money easily.
Internet banking makes it easy to move your money from different accounts no matter where you are in the world. If you need to send some money back home, or transfer over funds from another bank, you can do it all with the click of a button.
You can pay bills back home.
If you have bills to pay back home while you are on holiday, don’t sweat it. Simply log into your online banking account and pay them from a hostel in Australia, an internet cafe in Dubai, or a friend’s house in Paris. You can also use internet banking to set up a reoccurring bill payment, so that you don’t ever have to remember it again.
You can use it 24/7.
Your bank back home will likely only be open 9-5 Mondays through Fridays, and depending on what time zone you are in that could equal the middle of the night for you. However, your online banking service is open all hours, so it is no problem to log in no matter what time it is.
These are just a few of the reasons why travellers find it easy to use internet banking. It is free at most banks, so if you are going on a trip soon, go ahead and sign up!
Sara Senger the author of “Why every traveller should use internet banking” is a prolific writer and blogger and writes for many great sites including Time To Wander and thinks while you’re travelling, mobile banking is ideal.