Keeping Cash and Accounts Safe While Travelling

How travellers should generally choose between cash, credit cards and digital payment methods is explained in detail by reisebuch.de in the guide Paying Safely While Travelling: Cards, Cash or Digital Alternatives?. This article addresses a different question: How can you prevent a loss, theft or compromised smartphone from disabling your entire travel budget at once?

The Most Important Points at a Glance

The best protection does not consist of a particularly clever hiding place for your money, but of separation and redundancy. Cash, cards and digital access should be distributed in such a way that losing a bag or smartphone does not eliminate all payment options at the same time.

A three-level approach has proved effective:

Daily needs: some cash and one card readily accessible
Reserve: a second card and cash stored separately
Digital access: secure your smartphone, banking and payment functions particularly well

The second card therefore definitely does not belong next to the first one in your wallet. Travellers who also want to protect themselves against pickpocketing, distraction theft and theft from accommodation can find additional advice in our article How to Avoid Theft While Travelling.

Cash: Not Too Much – But Not None at All

Cash is by no means obsolete when travelling. Technical problems, cards not being accepted or a failed smartphone can occur even in places where electronic payments are normally taken for granted. In some countries, and particularly in rural regions, cash remains important.

How different the situation can be is illustrated by the United Kingdom, for example, where contactless payment now dominates. In the USA and Canada, cards are also standard, although cash can still be useful for smaller expenses.

Carrying large amounts of cash, on the other hand, creates an unnecessary risk: stolen banknotes can neither be blocked nor recovered.

For many trips, a cash reserve sufficient for around one or two days is enough. The appropriate amount depends on the destination. Anyone travelling through sparsely populated regions may need a larger reserve than someone on a city break in London, Amsterdam or Stockholm.

Travellers who are unsure what an amount in the local currency is actually worth can use the reisebuch.de Currency Converter while travelling.

Cash should also be divided:

In your wallet: only the amount you are likely to need that day
At your accommodation: the larger part of your reserve
When travelling with someone else: divide it between two people wherever possible

A wallet containing €500 in cash, two credit cards and all your identification documents is convenient – especially for a thief.

Two Cards Are Considerably Better Than One

A single credit or debit card is an unnecessary weak point, particularly on longer trips. It can be lost, retained by an ATM, temporarily blocked or not accepted by individual businesses.

It therefore makes sense to have:

one card for everyday use,
a second card as a reserve,
cards from different banks wherever possible,
separate storage.

For long-distance travel, a combination of different card networks can also be useful.

A backup card is particularly advisable for a first trip to the USA. Credit cards are the principal means of payment in many places there and are also required for car hire and hotels.

Don’t Forget a Credit Card for Hotels and Car Hire

Debit and credit cards are not always equivalent when travelling. Particularly with hotels and car hire, having a sufficient credit limit can be crucial.

Hotels frequently use credit cards for guarantees and pre-authorisations. Our detailed guide Paying at Hotels: Which Payment Method Makes Sense? explains what happens in these cases and which type of payment is suitable when.

The situation can be even more critical when hiring a car. Some rental companies do not accept debit or prepaid cards for deposits. Anyone collecting a hire car in Mallorca, for example, should therefore check the rental company’s conditions carefully before travelling. The available credit limit also plays an important role on road trips with a hire car through the USA.

Where possible, the backup card should therefore also have a sufficient credit limit.

Your Main Bank Account Does Not Have to Travel With You

Travellers who want to reduce their financial risk even further can use a separate account for travel and keep only the amount they need in it.

The advantage is obvious: if a card is compromised or account access is breached, your entire available assets are not automatically at risk.

Simply using a sub-account within the same online banking system, however, provides less protection if an offender gains access to the entire online banking account.

It is therefore worth carrying out a brief security check before departure:

check the cash withdrawal limit
check card limits
reduce the bank transfer limit
activate transaction notifications
check whether the cards can be used abroad
make a note of telephone numbers for blocking cards

Travellers who want to calculate their holiday costs more accurately can also find currency information, tipping advice and other practical travel resources in the Travel Information section.

ATMs: Don’t Just Look at the Fees

When withdrawing money abroad, the issue is not only whether an ATM dispenses cash, but also which exchange rate and fees are applied.

So-called Dynamic Currency Conversion can be particularly expensive. The ATM offers to charge the amount directly in euros instead of the relevant local currency. This apparent convenience may come with an unfavourable exchange rate.

Our guide Paying Safely While Travelling contains more information about these potential charges.

As a general rule, ATMs operated by banks are usually a better choice than standalone machines run by unfamiliar operators in tourist centres.

The same principle applies here: do not withdraw all the cash you will need for the entire trip at once simply to save a few euros in fees. Carrying a large amount of cash increases the risk of loss.

Your Smartphone Is Now Part of Your Travel Funds

A stolen smartphone is considerably more problematic today than it was only a few years ago. The device often contains:

banking app
transaction authentication system
credit cards
Apple Pay or Google Wallet
email account
booking confirmations
hotel and flight tickets
copies of identification documents
personal contacts

The phone has therefore become the central access point for the entire organisation of a trip – and frequently for the traveller’s finances as well.

A short device PIN such as 1234 or your own year of birth is not sufficient protection. A longer PIN or secure password combined with biometric security is advisable.

Remote location and remote locking should also be set up before departure.

A functioning mobile data connection can also be important in an emergency. For longer trips abroad, an eSIM for international travel can therefore be useful; for North America, we also have our dedicated guide to eSIMs for the USA.

Public Wi-Fi: Be Particularly Careful When Banking

Free Wi-Fi in hotels, airports, railway stations and cafés is convenient. An unfamiliar public network, however, should not be the first choice for sensitive applications.

Anyone who needs to use online banking or access other sensitive accounts should use their own mobile data connection wherever possible.

reisebuch.de examines the risks in greater detail in Eight Tips for Using Public Wi-Fi Networks While Travelling. Among other things, the article covers manipulated networks, data protection and secure connections.

Also important: do not access banking websites via links in emails or text messages. A supposed message from your bank suddenly asking you to confirm your account or log in again should always be treated with suspicion.

Mobile Payment Is Not the Real Problem

Apple Pay, Google Wallet and other digital payment systems are not inherently less secure than a physical card. What matters more is how well the smartphone itself is protected.

The problem arises primarily when a traveller is completely dependent on the smartphone.

Anyone who stores their boarding pass, hotel reservation, credit card, online banking, tickets and emergency contacts exclusively on a single device risks considerably more than the price of the phone if it is lost.

At least one physical backup card should therefore remain available independently of the smartphone.

Valuables at the Hotel: The Safe Helps – But It Isn’t a Vault

Leaving money, backup cards and passports lying openly in a hotel room is not a good idea. In many cases, the room safe is the better solution, although it does not provide absolute protection.

Our older but still useful guide Keeping Valuables Safe on Holiday explains the advantages and disadvantages of different storage options.

The detailed article How to Avoid Theft While Travelling also deals specifically with theft from hotels and other accommodation.

A supposedly original hiding place – cash in a toiletry bag, inside a sock or between items of clothing – offers little reliable protection. There is also the not entirely theoretical risk of forgetting your own reserve when checking out.

Never Leave Your Travel Funds in the Car

A hire car is not a safe. Wallets, cash, backup cards, passports and smartphones should not be left visibly – and preferably not left unattended at all – in the vehicle.

This is not always easy, particularly on road trips. Travellers carrying all their luggage should therefore at least distribute cash, cards and documents separately and take the most important valuables with them.

Our article When a Trip Goes Wrong – Breakdowns and Mishaps on Holiday contains more information on dealing with typical problems while travelling.

Travelling Together: Divide Money and Cards Between You

Couples and families have a simple security advantage over solo travellers: they can divide their means of payment between several people.

Instead of one person carrying all the credit cards and cash, each person should, for example, carry one card and some cash.

An even better arrangement:

Person A: main card + some cash
Person B: second card + some cash
Accommodation: additional cash reserve

If one bag is stolen, at least part of the travel funds remains available.

Solo travellers need to achieve this physical separation by using their accommodation, luggage and means of payment kept close to the body. Our guide Travelling Abroad Safely and Without Worry provides further general advice for international travel.

Card Stolen or Lost: Speed Matters Now

If a card disappears, it should be blocked immediately. Many banks allow this to be done directly through their app. The relevant card-blocking telephone number should also be written down separately before travelling.

Important: emergency information should not be stored exclusively on the smartphone. That may be the very device that has also been stolen.

A small emergency note should contain:

names of banks and card providers
card-blocking telephone numbers
mobile network provider
your own telephone number
last four digits of the cards
insurance details
important emergency contacts

PINs, online banking passwords and complete credit card details, on the other hand, should not be kept together on this note.

Following a theft, a report should be made to the local police as quickly as possible. This can be important for insurance claims and replacement documents. Our article How to Avoid Theft While Travelling also contains a concise emergency overview.

Will Travel Insurance Pay?

Not every loss is automatically insured. Travel baggage insurance in particular contains numerous exclusions, excesses and maximum reimbursement limits.

Before taking out additional policies, it is therefore worth checking existing insurance and what it actually covers. reisebuch.de compares the most important types in the article The Purpose and Benefits of Different Types of Travel Insurance.

Particularly strict limits often apply to cash. Insurance is therefore no substitute for sensibly distributing your travel funds.

Reisebuch.de Tip: Divide Your Travel Funds Between Three Places

For most trips, a simple system is sufficient:

Wallet: daily spending money and one card
Accommodation or separate luggage: cash reserve and second card
Digital: secured smartphone with banking and mobile payment

Anyone who also uses a separate travel account can limit the potential financial loss even further.

At first, this may sound more complicated than keeping everything in one wallet. In reality, preparation takes only a few minutes. In an emergency, however, it can determine whether a theft is merely annoying or temporarily brings the entire trip to a halt.

Checklist: Secure Your Travel Funds Before Departure

take two cards and keep them separately
divide cash between at least two locations
check card and withdrawal limits
activate transaction notifications
check whether cards can be used abroad
check the available credit limit for hotels and car hire
update banking and smartphone software
use a secure screen lock
activate remote location and remote locking
keep card-blocking numbers somewhere other than only on your smartphone
never keep a PIN together with the card
do not carry the backup card in your normal wallet
avoid public Wi-Fi networks when banking
regularly check account activity during the trip

Further Guides on reisebuch.de

Travellers who want to prepare systematically for their financial and personal security while travelling can find further information on reisebuch.de:

Keeping Cash and Accounts Safe While Travelling: How Travellers Can Protect Their Travel Funds