Why do ATMs and shops in Finland just keep declining my wise card. It worked fine in other countries
I had a frustrating time in Tampere-Wise was accepted in some spots but randomly failed at others. The OP ATM near Ratina mall refused it outright, but a Handelsbanken ATM nearby worked. Same weird inconsistency in shops-worked at Lidl, failed at a local bakery. I eventually used Revolut for most of the trip, which had better acceptance. Seems like Finland isn’t 100% Wise-friendly just yet.
My Wise Visa worked fine in Finland-no issues at all. I used it at S-Market, Alepa, and even to buy train tickets from VR’s vending machines in Tikkurila station. I made sure my card was set to EUR in the Wise app and that location access was enabled. I also only used chip+PIN. Didn’t try ATMs much, but for contactless and POS purchases, it was smooth. Maybe it’s a mix of region settings and individual bank terminals.
Just returned from Rovaniemi, and I couldn’t use my Wise card in most shops, especially smaller ones. Tried using it for groceries at K-Market, and even the cashier said ‘this happens a lot with foreign debit cards.’ It worked once at a Nordea ATM, but only after I enabled contactless + chip+PIN in the app. It seems Finland’s payment systems are more selective than I expected. Bring a backup card or some EUR just in case.
I was in Helsinki in May and was surprised when my Wise Mastercard kept getting declined. ATMs at OP Financial Group, Nordea, and even Danske Bank didn’t let me withdraw anything-just said ‘card not supported.’ I asked at my hostel (The Yard) and they said some ATMs reject prepaid or digital-only cards. Same issue at cafes in Kamppi and Kallio-card was rejected on the POS. Switched to my bank-issued Visa and it worked fine.