Advice for nomad banking

How are things coming with your decision making? Also, my wife, kids, and I regularly travel in various parts of East/SE Asia (Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.), and we usually spend 3-6 months a year in Japan. Feel free to message me with questions or such.

4 years of ongoing world travel with my family. We prefer the Capital One ecosystem for banking and credit cards, and have consistently had good results. Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Morocco, EU region - no problems with ATM withdrawals or credit card use. We have a backup credit card just in case, and I think we needed it a handful of times in Japan for the Go taxi app.

Also check on how much cash you actually need. We usually get out one large withdrawal when we need it, and typically fees from that local ATM are the equivalent of $3US. We mostly use our credit card, and find our cash needs decreasing over time.

We have been full time nomads for almost 8 years. we carry debitATM cards from 3 different banks that we keep locked unless we are using them. Capital one, Charles Schwab and Fidelity. We use the CS the most (refunds AtM fees)and this is also the account connected to WISE which is how we do money transfers for things like rent, tours, and massages if the provider doesn't take CC. We have found over the years that some machines won't take certain cards, so having a backup or 2 make the most sense.

We are currently in Mexico and cash is king. I pay with CC or wise whenever possible but most of my day to day spending is cash. THe opposite was true in Chile. I think I spent less than $50 in cash and was practically giving it away at the end of our trip.

Fidelity Cash Management account is basically the same as the Schwab account, if you already have Fidelity. They reimburse ATM fees worldwide as well.

Hey there! I’ve been a nomad for about 8 years and have used a Schwab account as my checking account the entire time, and it has been great! All atm fees are reimbursed no matter where in the world you are or how expensive the fees might be.

Also, one other nomad tip: check out Anytime Mailbox for a mail management solution.

Happy trails!

What banking features are you looking for?

Nomad Christina Gawlik uses Schwab. You might also post a comment in the recent "Around the World in 367 Days" podcast episode to see if Zach might reply.

I don't know anything about the Schwab account, but … We lived in the middle east for 7 years and did a lot of traveling all over Europe and Asia. We used Capital One 360. The online tools are really good and we were able to easily access cash at ATMs, rarely paying ATM fees. The APY on their performance savings is currently at 3%, which is pretty good.