I’m going to be in New Zealand for 8 months is the monzo card best card to take ???
I suspect that Starling would be better.
2 Likes
Revolut or Wise.
With Starling as your spare UK–denominated account.
I understand Revolut or Wise to hold NZD, but why Starling for the UK denominated / UK bank account?
Don’t just take one card.
1 Like
When considering a visit to New Zealand, I saw that you can actually open a Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) New Zealand dollar (NZ$) bank account (including debit card) in advance of arriving there. You just need to complete forms on line and then pop into a BNZ branch and show ID. I don’t know how you’d fund it, however - probably an expensive international transfer! Or turning up with lots of cash and exchanging/banking that.
Wise also offers the chance to exchange money and maintain a balance in NZ$ and gives you the chance for money to be paid into your NZ$ account directly from another NZ account (in NZ$). Their partner in NZ? BNZ. Revolut will also allow you to maintain a NZ$ balance - funded from you balances in Sterling, US dollar or Euro, but you don’t get to pay directly into the NZ$ account directly like with Wise. I think CaxtonFX and FairFX also allow you to carry a NZ$ balance but at a fairly abysmal exchange rate from other currencies.