The Starling Bank fee free debit card is like a well known brand of DIY product – it says what it says on the tin! This debit card offers account holders the opportunity to make purchases and cash withdrawals overseas, without any foreign transaction fees or commission. However, with all cards, there is a possibility of a “local charge” when overseas. Like you, we are unable to travel at present due to various travel restrictions and lock downs. We are however using this time to prepare for future trips. One of the key tasks being to obtain this card.
The application process proved to be quick and here it is stage by stage
- Download the Starling Bank app
- Apply for the bank account through the app. Note – you cannot apply for the account through the website – it’s “app only”.
- Upload a photograph of your ID
- Make a video of yourself – presumably the Starling Bank team use this to verify against the photo ID
- That’s it!
The Starling Bank fee free debit card arrived within three days. You choose the card PIN number yourself online. This is a great feature and does away with having to change a PIN when you ontain a new bank card.
At the present time, the card has been used only in the UK. I do not envisage any issues with usage overseas. The exchange rate is the Mastercard commercial rate.
Starling Bank fee free debit card – alternatives
There are various credit cards that offer fee free usage overseas for purchases and some offer no fees on cash advances. However, you will pay interest on cash advances/cash machine withdrawals from the date of the withdrawal until the debt is repaid. Fee free debit cards are fewer in number, but this article from Which? may help you. Full details of the Starling Bank card and app are available here.
In the past, we have compared rates using various cards whilst overseas. The details are available to read here
Works well … being tested whilst on lockdown in Turkey!