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Author Topic: How to access money while in Ukraine  (Read 5111 times)

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Offline justadude

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How to access money while in Ukraine
« on: June 14, 2017, 10:49:13 AM »
I'm going to be in Ukraine for the next couple months. What is the best way to maintain access to your US money while you are traveling? 
two 90 day fiance visas, one 73 day fiance. Lived in Lvov and Odessa for 2 years. California native now on the Oregon Coast

Offline Ste

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2017, 11:01:18 AM »
I’m trialling Transferwise Borderless at the moment, not sure if that helps or works in UA....
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Online AvHdB

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2017, 02:10:52 PM »
I would use a larger American bank such as Bank of America. Use there debit and credit card service and pay most things on the card of your choice.

Monitor your account on line and inform your bank of your travel plans.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot


Offline el_guero

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2017, 03:50:07 PM »
I just use my debit card, or charge card.

YOU MUST LET YOUR BANK KNOW you will be there. You will need a pin number to type in for most credit card transactions over there.

Visa, or MasterCard are both accepted almost everywhere.

I just pull out Grivna every two weeks or so.

Online B.B.

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2017, 03:51:51 PM »
I'm going to be in Ukraine for the next couple months. What is the best way to maintain access to your US money while you are traveling?

When I go, I bring a few (like 3) credit cards with me, and am sure to leave at least one in the hotel safe along with my back up ID (Passport card) if not my passport itself.  Most places will accept CCs

I also carry cash, again leaving what I don't need for the day in the hotel safe. 

For bank access, I keep accounts at a couple of different banks in the USA.  So at my "secondary" bank, I keep enough $ that I might need while traveling, and bring that bankcard and leave the other one at home.  I also do not generally log on to my bank accounts while in Ukr, just in case.  Since I use a secondary account, even if somehow something went wrong and I got hacked, I would only lose what was in that account, and not the one that my paycheck goes to.

So far, zero problems.

B/B
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Offline Dogsoldier

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2017, 03:53:50 PM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

Online AvHdB

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2017, 10:04:14 PM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline Dogsoldier

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2017, 03:18:30 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Offline Ste

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2017, 03:44:56 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Online AvHdB

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #9 on: June 15, 2017, 03:52:37 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

SIM cards were only introduced in North America about three years ago and some banks still do not provide a SIM card. One can thank Target for this development.

North American banks fought hard against the chip policy.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline msmoby

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #10 on: June 15, 2017, 03:56:00 AM »
AvHdB??


SIM cards  - Subscriber Identity Modes - go in mobile phones
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Offline Ste

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2017, 03:56:03 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

SIM cards were only introduced in North America about three years ago and some banks still do not provide a SIM card. One can thank Target for this development.

North American banks fought hard against the chip policy.

Is Apple Pay etc in used in NA much? I use it lots in UK, not here in Ireland though, everything like that is extra cost...
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Online AvHdB

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #12 on: June 15, 2017, 04:12:52 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

SIM cards were only introduced in North America about three years ago and some banks still do not provide a SIM card. One can thank Target for this development.

North American banks fought hard against the chip policy.

Is Apple Pay etc in used in NA much? I use it lots in UK, not here in Ireland though, everything like that is extra cost...

It is gaining ground in the States, I have yet to see this service available in Ukraine.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline rosco

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #13 on: June 15, 2017, 06:01:11 AM »

Online AvHdB

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #14 on: June 15, 2017, 06:21:31 AM »
https://www.caxtonfx.com

Interesting, you can it seems only buy in £ and can not spend in ₴ not much assistance to some one who is denominated in $.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline Ste

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #15 on: June 15, 2017, 07:42:31 AM »
I’m trialling Transferwise Borderless at the moment, not sure if that helps or works in UA....

It does work with Ukrainian Gryvna
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Offline Contrarian

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #16 on: June 15, 2017, 08:15:29 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

..... One can thank Target for this development.


To be more precise one can thank the cyber criminals who hit Target and the weakness of the previous system. If it wasn't Target they would have hit someone else.

Offline rosco

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #17 on: June 15, 2017, 08:22:06 AM »
https://www.caxtonfx.com

Interesting, you can it seems only buy in £ and can not spend in ₴ not much assistance to some one who is denominated in $.

You can load in major currencies and withdraw in Ukrainian blabs without an international charge.

I used it again recently in Slovakia, South Africa, Belarus, Czech, Spain. You can pay contactless for a coffee in the host currency, at the daily exchange rate and not rack up international charges. It's plenty assistance for the far flung traveller.

Online AvHdB

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #18 on: June 15, 2017, 10:50:13 AM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

..... One can thank Target for this development.


To be more precise one can thank the cyber criminals who hit Target and the weakness of the previous system. If it wasn't Target they would have hit someone else.

One can wonder why the same sort of hits on a scale such as Target, have never on a scale such as Target happened on Continental Europe. Perhaps just perhaps the banks and merchants made certain there were no weaknesses in the first place in Europe. And the American banks in the interest of saving money decided to let the consumer take the risk and hit yet again.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline Ste

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #19 on: June 15, 2017, 10:53:40 AM »
US banks are very lax, working at one now, no checks, no credit references, nothing. For a UK bank miss a credit card repayment and that’s it, black list, not allowed on site.
O pointy birds, o pointy pointy, Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Offline Contrarian

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #20 on: June 15, 2017, 12:13:38 PM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

..... One can thank Target for this development.


To be more precise one can thank the cyber criminals who hit Target and the weakness of the previous system. If it wasn't Target they would have hit someone else.

One can wonder why the same sort of hits on a scale such as Target, have never on a scale such as Target happened on Continental Europe. Perhaps just perhaps the banks and merchants made certain there were no weaknesses in the first place in Europe. And the American banks in the interest of saving money decided to let the consumer take the risk and hit yet again.

Yes, clearly a card with a chip is superior to what we had in the USA. Large banks in the USA were dragging their feet and behind European technology for about a decade.

What I was saying is that if the cyber crooks had not hit Target they might have hit Walmart or someone else.

Offline justadude

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #21 on: June 15, 2017, 01:59:40 PM »
I tried to sign up for a Caxton card. Looks like you need a UK postcode.
two 90 day fiance visas, one 73 day fiance. Lived in Lvov and Odessa for 2 years. California native now on the Oregon Coast

Online B.B.

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #22 on: June 15, 2017, 05:05:51 PM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.
Really?
You yanks surely are behind with the times?

Chip and PIN only just ISTR and contactless and HVC hardly at all.

SIM cards were only introduced in North America about three years ago and some banks still do not provide a SIM card. One can thank Target for this development.

North American banks fought hard against the chip policy.

Banks should love it because it shows possession of the card at the time of the transaction.
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If your religion insults my intelligence, don't be surprised when my intelligence insults your religion.

Offline el_guero

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #23 on: June 15, 2017, 08:00:54 PM »
Get a prepaid debit card with low cash withdrawal charges and online access that you can top up from your main account as and when required.

For the Dude, many of the prepaid debit cards offered in North America will not work abroad.

I think the pre-paid debit card I have from Chase works.

wayne

Offline msmoby

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Re: How to access money while in Ukraine
« Reply #24 on: June 16, 2017, 12:28:48 AM »


You can load in major currencies and withdraw in Ukrainian blabs without an international charge.





I ordered a Euro Caxton in March '15 and have used it for the places where it IS compatible ( works with 15 currencies)

If you use it to withdraw Roubles or Hryvnia, you've paid to convert from GBP- EUR and then EUR to the local currency - I worked out it's  cheaper - if using GBP to use a GBP pre-paid card and withdraw the local currency - if NOT in a country covered by Caxton's currency card





I have never claimed to be a Blue Beret

Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic


 

 

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