Expat and tourist guide for local banking

manila

How to open a bank account in Philippines: a guide for expats and tourists

Why do you need a bank account in the Philippines? If you’re in the Philippines for a brief vacation, a local bank account may not be necessary. However, for long-term stays or if you’re planning to live and work here, a local bank account becomes indispensable. Not only does it save you from hefty international withdrawal fees, but it also facilitates smoother transactions such as paying bills, receiving your salary, or even doing online shopping. Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago

Foreigner’s Guide to Thai QR Code Payments with PromptPay

In Thailand, Cash is the king, but Thai people started to love cashless payments. In opposite to Western countries cards never get that popular here (but their popularity still rises and credit card companies are trying to put a lot of money into the Thai market to be more visible and available for customers). Many Asian countries created QR code system payments that are available for everyone and are easy to use. In this article, Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
wroclaw

How to open a bank account in Poland: a guide for expats and tourists

I am a Polish citizen, and for a few years, I live and travel abroad. I am especially interested in banking around the world, especially for expats. Below I will try to describe what the Polish banking system looks like and what are the best banks in Poland for foreigners. Why do you need a Polish bank account? If you live in Poland, you are going to need a local bank account for a few Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
Amsterdam

How to open a bank account in the Netherlands: a guide for expats

When do I need a Dutch bank account? If you live in the Netherlands, you are going to need a local bank account for 2 reasons. First, most Dutch stores don’t accept normal cards (like Visa, and MasterCard), but they accept Maestro cards (sometimes also V-PAY). Additionally, a lot of places don’t accept cash payments, so a Dutch card is a must. Second, if you work for a Dutch employer, you are going to need Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago

What is iDEAL? A guide about Dutch online payments.

The iDEAL is a Dutch online payment system. It is the most popular online payment method in the Netherlands. Not every shop/service in the Netherlands allow to pay by credit card, but almost every service allows to pay by iDEAL. Quite often it is possible to pay for government services (like water or trash tax). Additionally ex. train NS subscription you can pay only this way. How to pay by iDEAL? The iDEAL is mostly Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
maestro card Netherlands

Why my card doesn’t work in the Netherlands? Everything about the Dutch Maestro card.

In most countries in Europe we are used to using Visa and MasterCard cards, they are popular around the world and it is almost obvious that we can pay everywhere with these cards. Unfortunately, in the Netherlands card system looks a little bit different. Dutch people mostly don’t use these cards, so most places in the Netherlands don’t accept them at all. If you are only going to Amsterdam for a few days it is Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
Phnom Penh

How to open a bank account in Cambodia: a guide for expats and tourists

I went on 2 week holiday to Cambodia. First, I noticed that I could see many brands for different banks, everywhere. Second thing, like in Thailand QR code payments were pretty popular and there were many places where I could pay. The third thing getting money from ATM also costs money (around 4 – 5 USD for the machine owner). So I decided to learn a little bit more about banks, talk with local people Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
bangkok

How to open a bank account in Thailand: a guide for expats and tourists

Why do you need a Thai bank account? If you are in Thailand for a short Holiday only, you probably don’t need a Thai bank account, but if you are planning to stay longer, the local account could be pretty useful. Every time when you use a Thai ATM with a foreign card you need to pay a 200 / 220 baht fee to the ATM owner.  Additionally paying by card is not that popular Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
line rabbit pay

Rabbit LINE Pay: a guide for the only Thai financial service available for everyone

Most financial services in Thailand are not easily available for tourists. The only exception is Rabbit LINE Pay which allows easily to register for all foreigners. The service is quite convenient because it allows you to link a foreign credit card and pay in some places with line QR codes. Below I will show you how I opened an account and what I can do with it. Attention! In 2023, the article has become slightly Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago
Berlin

How to open a bank account in Germany: a guide for expats

When do I need a German bank account? If you live in Germany, you going to need a local bank account because of 2 reasons. The first one is that most of the German stores don’t accept normal cards issued in the whole world (like Visa, Mastercard), but they accept only local cards (Maestro, EC, V-PAY). Second thing is that, if you work for a German employer, you going to need a German account number, Read more…

By Damian Sowa, ago