ATM card that have only PLUS logo, work in INDIA?

orrrr

Hi

I have ATM card that have only PLUS logo on it.
Can I withdraw the money from normal ATM machine
or not? Easy to find the machine that can get money
out from this card? Please help!

thanks

brownboy66

yep...the plus network is here. Haven't had any problems getting cash out of a whole variety of machines (having said that - probably easier in the big cities I would guess).

happy travels

orrrr

Hi I just called the bank and they said that every time
you make a transaction, the bank will charge you around
$4-4.5 + 1.5% of what amount you withdraw.
That's mean if you withdraw $100 you will get charge $5.5
so expensive isn't it.
Are there any cheaper way than this? and what the other
people do?

May be bring cash but it's a bit risky to bring a lot, what do you think?
Please advice, thanks

Brisso

Standard charges for Australian banks - that is the best you will do. Or use a credit card, for mine $2.50 plus 2.5%

kristinm

Oh jeez - I'm just going through all this in my head - glad you Aussies are here...

I want to take some rupees with me, but where is the best place to get them? Amex is offering 4 rupees less than the daily rate.... some places don't even change into rupees.

Should I take some Australian cash and change it on the street?? But I worry about carrying it around with me....

Traveller's cheques? Expensive and a pain.

My friend who just came back said the problem with the ATM is that they have withdrawal limits - like here - but in rupees, so you are forced to take out smaller amounts - and bingo, $4.50+ each go.. Also she said the card didn't work every time and it was a pain running around trying to get money.

There was a thing in the SMH on Wednesday - I'll try and find it and have another look.
Brisso - if I use my debit/credit card as a credit card to take out cash over the counter rather than at an atm - do I get the lower rate? It is one of those cirrus/visa/multicard thingys. Is it possible to get money over the counter in banks with your credit card?

I have nightmares that I will get there and the cards won't work and I won't be able to get any cash.....

brownboy66

we're using NZ cards here in Delhi with no problems. Yes there is a bank charge when you do this - but I can't see that there is any way of getting round that (there will always be a charge somewhere along the way).

Re the ATM limit - yep - for the machine/ bank we use its 18,000 rupees a day - so hopefully that should be enough for what you want to do?

Re the credit credit - don't know if its the same for all credit cards but the usual rule of thumb is that for some banks there are no transaction fees on cash withdrawals AS LONG as the card is in credit above the allowable credit limit (i.e - fill up the credit card with cash so that it has a positive balance over and above the credit limit - and then you can withdraw cash on the card). If you withdraw cash from the credit card while its in debt - then you will be charged the higher daily interest rate on that cash until it is paid back.

So if have say a 1 thousand dollar limit on your card and you haven't spent anything then you have a thousand dollars worth of credit - if you put in $500 then you are $1500 in credit. If you withdraw $500 cash - no transaction fees. If you withdraw any more cash after that (effectively taking money from the bank) - very high, nasty daily interest rate kicks in. Sorry if this is stating the obvious - but sort of flying blind here.

oh...don't forget to check out the internet banking thread in the electronic section of IM. Also has some info on using credit cards....

http://www.indiamike.com/india/elect...ywhere-t44176/

kristinm

I'll have to go down to the bank and find out how you withdraw cash from your visa debit card - using it as a visa not a cashcard - thereby not getting charged (if you know what I mean)

Maybe you have to do it over the counter at the bank? In which case I could take out largish amounts, and use the card as a credit card to pay for accommodation and any purchases where they take credit cards....

I'll have to set the daily spending limit in rupees - keep exact track of the spending and put our spending money into the account with the visa debit card linked to it.... I really don't want to use credit cards - ie using the bank's money.


Just thinking aloud here - sorry!

kristinm

OH - I found that article, most of its not much use as the things they recommend like the prepaid cards and so on do not do rupees! Australia post does not change into rupees, nor does Macquarie Bank or travelex - I did a bit of online research and I think the only ones that do are commonwealth and amex - both charge $8 to change $500 - but the Commonwealth today is offering 32 INR to the dollar and Amex 31 - an extra 300 rupees, that would buy a decent meal - no? You order the currency online and pick it up at a branch and pay for it with bpay - very easy! Maybe I'll change $1000 - keep us going for the first ten days or so.... Do you think its OK taking that much Indian currency into India?

the opoponax

Are Australian banking policies about overseas use and transactions especially stringent?

Because I recently saw a similar thread over at Thorn Tree (the USA forum) regarding banking issues for traveling to the US. Things that make no sense to me in my experience getting cash overseas as a American.

We can just bring our debit cards to whatever country and get any currency from pretty much any ATM (I had a little trouble with number of PIN digits a few times in Europe, but that's about it).

The charges for this are rather small, too -- a few cents here and there for "foreign transaction fees". We get charged fees for using an out-of-network ATM, but that's pretty unavoidable when traveling anywhere as there is no one bank that covers the whole US; someone visiting California from Maine would have the same problems, so it's just considered a usual expense of traveling.

vdvoort

Just know that officially it's not allowed to bring rupees with you when coming to India, nor to take them out when leaving. I always have a few thousand with me from previous visits though, and at the airport they never checked. But if you don't want to take the risk: you can always easily change money at the airport, and probably get a better rate than changing beforehand with Amex. As for credit cards: don't rely too much on them when your cards have a chip in it. Last month I couldn't pay with my Visa nor Mastercard in 70% of the hotels I stayed at; and even not when I wanted to buy a ticket with Jet Airways. They simply didn't have the proper machines to handle these. I posted a message about this at the TT Lonely Planet forum, getting replies like: it's impossible it's because of the chip. Well, all the hotels and Jet Airways told me it WAS because of the chip and that they didn't have the proper machines. Anyway, whatever the reason, doesn't matter, fact is I couldn't pay with my credit cards, so needed cash. Think it's wise to bring cash, debit cards and a few traveller checques as a back-up (why are they a pain? You can change them anywhere).

Enjoy!

wonderwomanusa

You can change money at the airport when you arrive. It's not worth changing for a bad rate to get them at home, and you are not supposed to be brining rupees into India.

The ATM limits .. I was able to withdraw 4-6 days' worth of rupees at a time from the machines .. and at that, was carrying a huge wad of cash.

A couple travellers' checks and some dollar cash is good for emergencies ... I think I used two TCs and changed one US$20 note -- there was no ATM in one town and I had to have bus fare!

brownboy66

This is good advice - vd is on the money (so to speak...)!

and another good point! The credit cards we use here in Delhi are not smart cards (i.e - smart cards have an embedded chip in them ) - and we've had no problems paying by credit card at hotels all over the country.

note: might not be a bad idea to read up on the various threads here about credit card security should you decide to use it - or maybe don't use it at all? We generally only use the CC for accommodation at a major hotel - nothing else (restaurant meals, shopping, etc). If we need to for what ever reason - we have a credit card with a low $1000 limit - so that if it gets skimmed and copied the crims wont be able to do too much damage).

ATM limit - as mentioned in my first post - you can get 18,000 rupees a day out of the ATM machines in Delhi (can't guarantee is the same everywhere - but that will give you an idea).

vdvoort

- vd is on the money...
Yeah, well, Brownboy, I'm Dutch ;-).

Enjoy!