Best Way to Take Money Overseas
Planning a trip? Discover the best way to take money overseas. Compare travel cards, cash, and your standard bank cards.
As of 2 June 2025, Great Southern Bank's Platinum and Low Rate Credit Card products have been discontinued.
Travel cards have changed the way we spend money abroad, offering a convenient alternative to carrying large sums of cash or expensive debit or credit cards. Travel cards allow you to withdraw cash from ATMs abroad and make purchases in local currencies, making it easier to travel.
Banks like Great Southern Bank offer ways to make purchases abroad with their debit and credit cards. Read on to learn more about how to travel with Great Southern Bank cards. We'll also introduce you to Wise Travel Card as an alternative, that can help you save on your international travel by offering currency conversions at mid-market rates without any hidden markups.
Unfortunately, Great Southern Bank doesn’t have a travel card. However, their existing debit and credit cards can be used abroad.
Great Southern Bank debit and credit cards let travellers:
It can be convenient to use the same card abroad as you do at home, but that doesn’t mean it's cheap. Debit and credit cards can come with fees and expensive exchange rates that make using them more costly than cheaper options like a travel card.
Great Southern Bank offers multiple accounts that come linked with a free debit card. The cards are typically free of any annual fee and can be used abroad, but only one of them offers no international transaction fees:1
The Everyday Edge Account provides a rebate when you spend overseas, so you’ll be charged a fee first but then rebated the next month so it becomes fee-free. To receive the rebate, your account must be eligible. Hop down to our section on fees for a breakdown of how this works.
🌏 Heading abroad? Compare the best travel cards in our guide for the smartest way to spend overseas.
Great Southern Bank offers the Low Rate Credit Card that can be used abroad anywhere Mastercard is accepted:
While international purchases are permitted with this card, some fees come with it:
Adding up all the fees can make this credit card an expensive option when used abroad. Check out our section below on fees to learn more.
Want to learn more about the credit card the bank offers? Read more in our guide to the Great Southern Bank Low Rate Credit Card.2
Great Southern Bank lets you use your debit or credit card overseas. Here is a quick rundown of travelling abroad with one of the cards:
Don't forget: Let Great Southern Bank know your travel dates beforehand to help them keep an eye on your account.
Keep in mind that you will be charged a cash advance fee on credit cards used at an ATM.
If you’re looking to send money before your trip instead, check out our guide to international transfers with Great Southern Bank
Great Southern Bank has some spending limits in place for using your debit or credit cards abroad.3,4
| Transaction | Limit |
|---|---|
| Daily cash withdrawal at ATMs | $2,010 AUD |
| Daily limit for card payment transactions | $2,010 AUD |
| Cash advance limit on credit cards | 30% of the credit limit, with a maximum of $2,000 AUD |
While some banks offer travel cards with no international fees, there are a few things to keep in mind when using your Great Southern Bank debit or credit card abroad. Depending on your account, you might get hit with ATM withdrawal charges, international transaction fees, cash advance fees, and interest on cash advances.
It's also important to remember that banks set their own exchange rates, which can increase the cost of your purchases and eat into your budget. More on that later.
Here are the fees for ATM withdrawals outside of Australia
| Transaction type | Fee Amount |
|---|---|
| Overseas cash withdrawals using the Visa debit card | $4.50 AUD (third-party ATM charges may apply) |
| Cash advance fee on using the Low Rate Credit card for cash withdrawals at ATMs overseas | 2% of the cash advance amount, with a minimum of $3.50 AUD |
| Foreign exchange fee for cash advances made in foreign currency | 3.40% of the transaction amount |
| Cash advance interest rate that applies to each cash withdrawal on your credit card | 21.74% |
As mentioned, Great Southern Bank offers a rebate on some of the fees for using your Everyday Edge Visa debit card internationally, but you need to first be eligible:
If you meet both of these conditions, you'll get a rebate on the cash withdrawal and international transaction fees from the previous month. It’s important to note that the rebate doesn't cover any third-party fees.
Great Southern Bank charges a fee for most international transactions made with their debit and credit cards. These fees apply to:
Here are the fees:5,6
| Transaction | Fee |
|---|---|
| International transaction fee on debit card transactions | 2% of the transaction value in AUD |
| International transaction fee on Visa debit card | 2.95% of the transaction value in AUD |
| International transaction fee on Low Rate credit card | 3.40% of the transaction amount |
Qualifying Everyday Edge accounts will receive a rebate on the fees. The fees are placed on the Australian dollar value after the currency conversion which can include an exchange rate fee.
We've covered fees, but there's another important factor to consider: exchange rates. When you use your card overseas, the local currency amount is converted into Australian dollars at the bank’s exchange rate and deducted from your account.
Banks and other financial institutions often add a small markup to the exchange rate to cover their costs. This hidden fee is then placed on every dollar that’s converted which means you might end up paying more than you think.
As an alternative, we would like to introduce you to the Wise Travel Card that offers the mid-market exchange rate on currency conversion. You can use the Wise Travel Card in countries and swipe like a local to make purchases at restaurants, stores and local sites.
Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
Wise offers a convenient travel card and money transfer services that make managing your finances abroad a breeze. The Wise card lets you spend like a local in over countries, with
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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