I spent a month in South Africa, visiting Stellenbosch, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town. I found that Capitec Bank ATMs gave the best balance between lo...

I spent a month in Cote d’Ivoire earlier this year for a research project and got very familiar with the local transport system. None of the buses or ...

Just came back from Grand-Bassam and Abidjan, and used my Mastercard without any problems at shops, hotels, and ATMs. I tried Amex once at a boutique ...

I used to love N26 when I lived in Berlin, but it’s been unavailable to UK users since Brexit. For my recent trip to Japan, I went with Monzo and Wise...

I travelled with Monzo, Wise, and Revolut through the Balkans this spring. Wise gave me the best exchange rate for withdrawing local cash, especially ...

Got caught once with no cash late at night in Kyiv - tried hailing a taxi and he said “no card, cash only.” Ended up walking back 30 minutes because I...

I tried to tap my Revolut on a Kyiv metro gate - didn’t work. Ended up buying a Smart Card at the station and topping it up with cash. Buses in Lviv a...

Paid in cash at every hostel I used in Ukraine - mostly in Zaporizhzhia and Lviv. One place did have a card terminal, but it didn’t work with my forei...

Amex doesn’t really exist in everyday life here. Most stores and restaurants use local card terminals that don’t support it. Even in bigger cities, yo...