Debit cards in Australia and New Zealand?

Question

My question is do they accept debit cards in australia and new zealand. my visa debit card i have is from wells fargo and im from california. will it work in australia and new zealand. i am going for 12 days in just about 11 days until i leave.

Answer 1

I live in Australia, and have used my Visa Debit Card overseas many times, including in N.Z. The principle is the same as a Visa Credit Card. If you are still unsure, try contacting the place that issued the card and check with them. Have a great holiday!

Answer 2

The answer is yes and no. Yes for cash from some ATMs and purchases where you select Credit and sign. No if you try to use your PIN to purchase with EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale, which I think is called Interac in some parts of the US.)

Visa debit cards (including temporary ones like the Cash Passport Card issued by Travelex) work on the Visa/Plus network worldwide. Generally, if your debit card has a Visa or Plus logo on it, you can use it in any ATM with the same logo. There are plenty of Visa/Plus ATMs in Australia and New Zealand.

Unfortunately, this does not extend to making purchases with a PIN overseas because Australia and NZ use different POS (Point-of-Sale) protocols. Still, if you can use your Visa debit card by pressing Credit and signing, then you should be be able to make POS purchases alright because the purchase is no different to a credit card purchase from the merchant's point of view.

Keep in mind that people have reported problems with Wells Fargo Visa Debit cards working in Australia when they don't use a four-digit PIN. If you use a longer PIN, you may want to consider changing to 4-digit before you come just to avoid any hassles. 6 digit PINs are used in Australia, I'm just saying, why take the chance?

Answer 3

Debit cards only work domestically (ie country of issue).  You will need a Visa card or Mastercard.  Failing that... good old fashioned cash is still an acceptable form of exchange.

Answer 4

Yes it should work.  You will need to call the bank and let them know when you will be Australia and New Zealand.   Take their phone number because you will need to call them.   Buy a phone card that you with a lot of minutes so you can call them.  Make sure you get a phone card that can be used outside of the U.S.    

You will need to call wells fargo alot.   They tend to go overboard and deny transactions even after you tell them.  I read this on a forum.

Some locations you will need to tell the merchant you will need to sign for the purchase because your country has not upgraded to chip n pin.  

Do not use your debit card for hotel or car rental they will put big holds on your card.  You a credit card or another debit card from a different bank.

You may have a hard time using a Visa debit card in New Zealand.  It should still work at atms or you can go inside an request a cash advance.   Tell the bank to treat it like a credit card cash advance.    You will get extra fees both ways plus the foreign transaction fee.

Some banks wait tell the statement is printed out before you get the fees charged.

Carry your passport and ID.  Some countries allow or require merchants to request ID for Card transactions.

Answer 5

A Visa debit card should work, it doesn't matter which bank it's with as long as it's either Visa or Mastercard.  

Double check with your bank, and make sure they know that you're travelling overseas.  Banks will often put a stop on accounts when unusual overseas transactions show up.