Local Pre paid debit cards. Any charges ?

[kedikat2903]

I want to get a local pre paid debit card for on line payments for residency etc. Does anyone know if there are any charges when using them ? Is there a yearly charge ? Is there a charge when using it on line or in shops or ATMs? I looked on Turk bank and Iktisat websites but couldn’t see that information. I realise I will have to pay a fee to get one. None of my debit cards work on line here in TRNC. I have a Wise Visa card and a Revolut card. Thanks

[Chriswright03]

If you look here there is a thread running about charges for ATM's. A search will show quite a few more but this is the most recent,

https://kibkomnorthcyprusforum.com/view ... =8&t=53043

Also it may depend on which card you are talking about. I have both Revolut and Starling and working out the charges is a nightmare. Starling does not charge to withdraw cash but with Revolut there is a monthly limit. Some ATM's charge some don't. I am in the process of trying various ATM's at the moment with my Starling card.

[kedikat2903]

Thanks Chriswright03. I have edited my post as it was a local card I was enquiring about. So thanks for answering. I have a Wise Visa card and a Revolut card. Both newly issued in the last 2 or 3 months. The Wise card seems only to work in Turkish banks ATMs and the ATM charges 4.99% . Although I haven’t tried all the ATMs at different Turkish banks. It doesn’t work in shops or Turkish Cypriot bank ATMs. This seems to be a problem with the new Wise Visa card as older Mastercards do work at all banks,shops etc.My Revolut works in some shop card machines,not all. Didn’t work in the Turkish Cypriot bank I tried. Both companies are not sure why this is happening but it does seem to be the newer cards. I would be grateful if you could post which ATMs you’ve tried and any charges made. Thanks

[Chriswright03]

Yes when I have tried more ATM's I will update the other thread so that it is as current as it can be. I tried to take money out of Turk Bank but saw there were charges so cancelled the transaction. On checking my app later I saw it showed that I had in fact taken the money out. I spoke to them at the bank on the day and they advised me to wait a couple of weeks and see if the money was returned to my card. It wasn't so yesterday I contacted Starling who made enquiries and reimbursed my account.

On further checking I saw that the amount I did manage to withdraw from Capital bank the same day was the same as the amount for Turk Bank and therefore maybe there were no charges. I will try them again to verify.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

My Revolut works in some shop card machines,not all. Didn’t work in the Turkish Cypriot bank I tried. Both companies are not sure why this is happening but it does seem to be the newer cards. I would be grateful if you could post which ATMs you’ve tried and any charges made. Thanks

Re Revolut, to date I've never had a problem for merchant transactions in any shops. Some shops don't accept cards in general and some have the occasional machine fault which banjaxes any cards but generally, if they take cards and everything is working, Revolut is 100% in my experience.

Re ATMS if you have the free Revolut card option you can draw the equivalent of £200 in local currency in a rolling month without charge I find.
So if the rate of TL is 12 you can draw out 2400 TL for free.
If you go over there is a charge but it doesn't seem to be particularly prohibitive and might be cheaper than using say a British Santander card. Don't know for sure.

Now I don't use it to draw sterling out so if you were to draw £200 in sterling out there maybe a charge and also that charge maybe the ATMs charge rather than Revoluts?

Now here is the strange bit and tbf this might have changed.

I have a Revolut Visa card,
Head Office has a Revolut Mastercard.

I got my card first as she likes me to be the canary with anything new. EG Let's see if you get defrauded before I dip my toe.

So I had an ATM I used to get my £200 in TL out of but when I used Head Office's card it was a no go.
I tried hers in another machine and no problems at which point I noticed they were slightly different. God knows why maybe I clicked a different option?

Which made me think that whereas in the UK any card will fit any machine maybe out here they might be a bit more Visa or Masterchef specific?

Don't know for sure and never tested it since as I continue to use two different ATMS but if you are in the Lapta/Alsancak area I can point you to a machine that gives you £200 equivalent in TL without charge depending on whether you are a Visa or Mastercard person.

[benjaminbutton]

Credit West ATM was out of order 12.30. At least it appeared not want to dispense TL regardless of amount. Hopefully it wasn't because I was using UK debit card.