Why do ATMs and shops in Portugal just keep declining my wise card. It worked fine in other countries
Just came back from a trip through the Algarve, and my Wise Mastercard got rejected all over Faro and Albufeira. ATMs wouldn’t connect, and shops kept saying ‘card declined.’ Even some hotels didn’t accept it. I asked a guy at the front desk and he said some local systems don’t like prepaid or app-based cards. Thankfully, I had cash on me and also used my traditional credit card without any problems.
I actually had no issues using Wise in Coimbra. Took out cash from a Millennium BCP ATM near the university-worked perfectly using chip+PIN and selecting EUR. I also used the card for groceries at Pingo Doce and for trains via CP.pt-all went through. The trick might be using chip+PIN only and avoiding contactless. Wise was as smooth here as it was in the Netherlands.
My Wise Visa was rejected by almost every ATM in Porto. Tried Santander Totta, Millennium BCP, and even the ATM inside São Bento station-no luck. Contactless payments at restaurants also didn’t go through. A shopkeeper in Rua das Flores said it’s a known issue with cards that aren’t locally recognized by the Multibanco network. I ended up using my Revolut card instead, which worked in most places.
I was in Lisbon last month and super surprised when my Wise Mastercard got declined at Caixa Geral and Novo Banco ATMs. Also tried to pay at El Corte Ingles and a small cafe in Alfama-both terminals refused it. Wise had worked just fine for me in Germany earlier that week. Locals mentioned some Portuguese terminals still reject foreign fintech cards. Luckily, my bank-issued Visa worked without issues.