USA-to-US visitor

[anaxcrosswords]

A friend will soon be visiting me in the UK, travelling from America. He only uses a debit card (not a credit card). I don't know yet whether it's a MasterCard.

Will he need to convert $ to Sterling before or on arrival, or would he be able to use his card at ATMs here?

Advice gratefully received.

[friedgreentomato]

He should be able to use his debit card here if it has a mastercard or visa symbol on it as most debit cards have one or the other

[bookbinder]

You'll get a more-accurate reply from a bank. Check with your bank.

[Anngel]

In my experience of using debit cards abroad you can use Mastercard and American express in some machines. HOWEVER, for each encashment he would be charged a fee by his bank and the exchange rate will depend on his bank. That said, we have found that, because banks deal in large sums, the exchange rate was favourable.

[boxtops]

He needs to check with HIS bank - and notify them (if necessary) that he'll be spending outside the US. OH travels in Europe and not all ATMS will accept his MasterCard, but they'll accept his Visa.

[anaxcrosswords]

Thanks guys - he informs me his card is Visa, not MasterCard (so can I assume that's more acceptable?), but he's going to check with his bank anyway.

[boxtops]

It will depend on HIS bank, not our advice, ana - best he checks.

[nohorn]

Some American charge cards do not charge an exchange fee for the differences in currency. So he should ask his 800 number charge card about that fee.