Advice on money and travel

[alanm663 0]

I'm going to be traveling to Lima Peru in a couple months, and I was hoping some of you might have some suggestions or advice on what is the best way to travel with money. One question I had, is there any type of banking service where I could use a debit card and have the money in the account be in the foreign currency rather then in US dollars, and I can transfer money from my checking account into this account. Because traveling with a debit card would be a lot safer then cash, my girlfriend in Peru has already told me that it is not safe to carry a lot of cash, but I wanted to a some foreign currency once I am there. Also any other helpful tips or advice about money and travel will be much appreciated.

Thanks

[sma1488 155]

I've never been to Peru, but there are several US banks that offer checking accounts with no ATM fees anywhere in the world (Charles Schwab and Capital One are two I remember off the top of my head). You could open one of those accounts to use while you're there, assuming ATMs are easy enough to find. Then you withdraw what you need and the money in your account gets converted into the local currency at that day's exchange rate and the ATM gives you local currency. If you're worried about it being stolen, then lower your daily spending and withdrawal maximums to levels you feel comfortable with. As far as being safe while actually carrying the money on you, I'll leave that question for someone else.

[alanm663 0]

Thank you for your reply, I am looking into getting one of the capital one debit accounts. I looked into Charles Schwab but you have to have a brokerage account with them to get their checking account.