Cash or card?

Most students bring foreign currency - pounds Sterling or US dollars for example - with them when travelling to Egypt. This is a good way to evade issues with using plastic as this isn't as widespread in Egypt. At local stores and markets, they will laugh if you ask to pay by card; In Egypt, cash is king. However, someone who didn't bring enough cash to last their entire stay, ran out, or it simply wasn't feasible for them to bring a larger amount to cover their stay will need an alternative. It is possible to use cards to get by. Anyone can send money to that account and you can then use it abroad easily.

You can sign up for an online bank card – or a few cards – and bring with you. These cards are great as you can withdraw money in Egypt without getting charged at first (check the websites for updated details) and you can also use them in supermarkets and many other stores free of charge. This beats paying £1.25 every time you use your normal (UK high street bank) card. There are definitely other options for Americans and other Europeans.

The best would be to use Starling. However, due to it paying interest, many wouldn't go for it from an Islamic point of view. The alternative would be to get both Revolut and Monzo. Then you can use the free £200 limits on both for withdrawals (total £400, around 9000 EGP in July 2018), and then use Revolut for everyday spending as it's slightly cheaper due to using interbank FX rate.  


We’ve listed a few options below for you to get an idea:



High Street Banks (charges from July 2018)


Debit Card
Exchange fee
Purchases (each)
Cash withdrawal
If I withdraw £100, what do I pay extra?
Barclays
2.75%
0
£1.50
£4.25
HSBC
2.75%
0
2% (min £1.75,
max £5)
£4.81
Natwest
2.75%
Minimum £1
2% (min £2,
max £5)
£4.81
Halifax
2.75%
£1.50
£1.50
£4.25


Interbank rate is slightly better than the MasterCard rate.
Starling pays interest on all positive account balances.
Revolut users pay extra charges on weekends (Friday 23:59 - Sunday 23:59)

Card
Exchange fee
Purchases (each)
No fee cash
Fee after limit
If I withdraw £100, what do I pay extra?
Revolut
Interbank FX Rate
0
£200
2%
£0 or £2 + difference in rate
Monzo
Mastercard rate
0
£200
3%
£0 or £3 + difference in rate
Starling
Mastercard rate
0
Unlimited
0
£0 + difference in rate



Comments

  1. Anonymous13 January 2019 at 11:33

    You may want to add Al Rayan Bank to your list, it only charges £1.50 per withdrawal and no other costs regardless of the withdrawal amount. I found it the best option for using in Egypt

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous14 August 2022 at 10:26

    You can also check out Wise formerly known as TransferWise

    ReplyDelete

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