Marcus Webb
Cash vs. Credit Cards: Country by Country 2026 and Beyond. I recently had the chance to pay close attention to how credit cards and cash were used in 14 countries. For the most part, cash still rules in a large portion of the globe but in many countries credit cards are widely accepted and are even preferred in some situations. I recently spoke at a travel conference in Budapest and spoke at length about this very topic and shared my notes on Cash vs. Credit Cards: Country by Country.
Countries that are essentially cashless
I pay most attention to a country’s card usage habits when choosing a destination for travel. Some countries are completely cashless for the majority of their transactions while others insist on cash for nearly everything. Countries that are mostly cashless and thus use mostly cards include Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Singapore and Hong Kong, both are very cashless with PayWave/Contactless transactions taking over for most transactions that are less than $30 dollars and performed in touristy areas and are readily accepted by most small vendors who deal in cash for very small transactions. It’s also worth noting that South Korea has adopted the use of card payments aggressively for transactions taking place at restaurants, in taxis, and even for street food. I really don’t pay much attention to card usage in countries for traveling unless it’s clearly stated otherwise as shown above and there are plenty of obvious cash only situations and can plan accordingly.
Countries where cash still rules
However, some countries are almost entirely cash-based, and traveling with credit cards can be very frustrating in these countries. As an example, Germany still has many small businesses that prefer cash, including many bakeries, cafes, restaurants, bars, and even some taxis. This is one of the main topics of discussion in Germany regarding cash and credit cards (bargeld). Japan is also a cash-based country, although it has made significant improvements in this area in recent years, meaning that cash is now required for some of the smaller restaurants, ryokans, temples, and rural areas. Many parts of South America (Peru, Bolivia, Colombia (outside of Bogota)) are also mostly cash-based, although cards are accepted in most tourist corridor restaurants and hotels. However, cards are not accepted in most local markets and small businesses.
Where ATMs and withdrawals work well
So far, the ATMs at Bank-owned locations such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BBVA and HSBC locations around the world have worked just fine for me for international withdrawals. The ATMs at independent locations, even those located in airports or tourist areas, have higher fees, and/or lower withdrawal limits. My approach to withdrawing cash is to withdraw larger amounts less frequently to keep down the fixed fee per transaction. For example, withdrawing $200 at a 3 dollar fee per withdrawal works out much better for me than withdrawing four $50 amounts at 3 dollars per transaction. I also always select to be charged in the local currency, and not my home currency. As noted above, the terminal will sometimes offer to charge me in my home currency, but this is called dynamic currency conversion (DCC) and it is always worse than my card’s underlying foreign exchange rate.
Card networks and acceptance
Visa and Mastercard are by far the most widely accepted card types, followed by a large group of regional and specialty cards, including American Express, Discover, JCB and others. Generally speaking, Amex is widely accepted in the US and in many parts of Europe but less so in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. If you carry an Amex it’s a good idea to also carry a Visa or Mastercard as well, as they will be far more widely accepted. Similarly, while Discover and JCB, and other regional card types may be widely accepted in their home regions, they are not generally suitable for international travel and should not be carried as a traveler’s primary card. In most countries where cards are accepted, contactless payment via ‘tap-to-pay’ is now widely supported on terminals, using the same technology to read a contactless-enabled card or mobile payment enabled phone. Setting up Apple Pay with Apple or Google Pay on your phone prior to traveling removes yet another item from your wallet.
The daily-carry mix that works
After analyzing and planning my many trips, I have landed on the following daily mix for my wallet: A primary card that does not have foreign transaction fees (e.g. a contactless-enabled American Express, Capital One, Discover or Citi card), a backup card on a different network (e.g. Visa and Mastercard) that I keep in my wallet separately from my primary card, my debit card for ATMs, and a small stash of local cash (about two days worth of small-denominations to use when a card is not accepted to pay for a service). Of course, the amount of local cash that I carry is very small; I carry enough to cover instances where a card is not accepted for a payment (e.g. at a restaurant that only accepts cash, for a taxi ride in a cash preferring city, for a tip, etc.) – about 50 to $100 local equivalent in total, for two days of travel. If I lose this amount of cash, the worst-case scenario is a small loss that can be recouped from my next ATM withdrawal. And, naturally, I carry this amount for only the duration that it takes me to get back to my hotel to put the cash in my safe. And, again, I only have this amount of cash on me because I never know when a card might not work. Most travelers end up carrying hundreds of dollars more in cash for longer periods of time; this money can be lost in a theft and not be able to be recovered.
How to think about the real cost
It is common for people to confuse price with cost of travel. Headline price for a flight, a hostel, a meal is a starting point for calculation of total cost of the trip. Actual cost of the trip, as it is the case with many other things in life, can be from 20% to 40% higher than the initial calculated cost, mainly due to charges for credit card transactions, additional charges for flights and train tickets, various small expenses along the way that in aggregate can blow a hole in a traveler’s budget. It is very important to keep an eye on expenses during the trip in real time and compare to initial plan to stay within the budget in the second half of the trip if the first half already is over budget. Cheap travel is not always good travel, and good travel often can involve splurging on things that cost less than the accumulated cost of series of small overspends along the way.
