Why you should carry at least two bank cards during your holidays

There are several reasons for traveling with more than one bank card. In this article we explain what they are and how to avoid unforeseen troubles during the holidays

Undoubtedly, this summer is being atypical, but, despite the health crisis in which the country is immersed, there are many who maintain their vacation plans, even if it is closer to home than usual. Those who want to make a getaway during these dates, probably do not worry about the number of cards they carry in their wallet. However, going on a trip with just one “plastic” can end up being a headache . Next, we analyze why it is advisable to travel with at least two cards on top.

Reasons to bring two vacation cards

The most common thing is that when making a trip we take the same cards that we usually use on a day-to-day basis; however, this is not always the best option. Although it is difficult to set an adequate number of cards with which to leave the house, it is advisable to carry at least two cards in your wallet , since if one of them stops being operative, we will have a second as a spare.

✅ If our main card is lost or stolen, it is broken or degraded, or it is swallowed by an ATM, a second card will allow us to continue withdrawing money and paying for purchases . Also, some merchants may reject our regular card, in which case we may use the replacement card.

✅ On the other hand, if we always use a debit card, we should also carry a credit card with us . In addition to the fact that we can use it as a replacement “plastic” if the debit card fails, we will need it to contract some services . For example, car rental companies often require their customers to provide a credit card to charge the vehicle’s security.

✅ Finally, not all cards have the same advantages and some may be more useful than others for traveling . For example, our usual debit or credit card may be very useful in our day-to-day lives, but it may not be the most convenient to use abroad due to its high commissions. Thus, if we intend to travel abroad, we can include in our portfolio a card that allows us to withdraw money for free outside of Spain and that, in addition, does not charge us fees when paying or withdrawing cash in a currency other than the euro.

Freeze replacement cards

To increase the security measures of our cards, we can keep the cards that we do not use deactivated and activate them only when we need them. This way, if our replacement cards are lost or stolen, we will make sure that no one can use them.

Most Spanish banks allow their customers to temporarily freeze their cards through their mobile application in a very simple way and to unfreeze them later, when they are needed again.

Plan B: pay with your mobile

If we do not want to fill our wallet with cards or it gives us respect to carry more than one with us for fear of losing them or being stolen, we have an alternative: pay with our smartphone.

We can link our cards to a wallet such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay and pay with our mobile, even if we have left our cards at home. These virtual wallets will allow us to link a large number of cards from different banks and pay with them in any business with contactless technology.

In any case, it is still advisable to carry at least two physical cards in your wallet and not rely only on your mobile, since not all dataphones are prepared to pay with this technology (in Spain contactless POS terminals are very widespread, but they may not the same thing happens in our destination country). In addition, in case of losing the phone or running out of battery, we will need to resort to physical cards.

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