In these countries you can't pay by card, or you may have a problem. It's better to remember before traveling

We live in the era of new technologies, where payment models are so diverse that sometimes it is difficult to remember all of them. In addition to classic Visa cards, the leading ones include: Blik system. Please remember, however, that not all payment methods will be available everywhere in the world. There are countries where we are unlikely to pay by card.

Payment card for traveling. You won't use it everywhere

Some time ago, journalists from the fly4free.pl website asked their users where they only use cash when traveling. It turns out that when it comes to European countries close to us, you can usually easily pay by card, but the more exotic ones, the situation is much different.

Based on World Bank data, it can be concluded that cards are used least often in specific regions of the world. Of course, we are talking about poorer and underdeveloped countries such as: South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Niger, Afghanistan and Comoros. Moreover, the same thing will happen to us, among others: in Tunisia, but we also have small opportunities in Egypt, Albania, Jordan and Indonesia.

Research on this topic has been carried out many times. She presented her views, among others: British company “Payments Cards and Mobile”. In 2022, Morocco became the leader of its ranking when it comes to cash payments. It turned out that about 74 percent transactions take place here without using a card.

Data on this topic was also collected by kiwi.com. The travel portal points out that we cannot pay by card not only in the most inaccessible places on Earth. Merchant Machine research was cited, which shows that we will have problems paying by card, among others: in Iran – it is worth having EUR or USD with you, because we cannot withdraw cash from local ATMs and cashless payments will not be possible. The next place is Tuvalu, an island country located in the Pacific Ocean – we won't see any ATMs here. There are also countries, such as the Philippines, where the card can only be used in the largest cities.

Problem with card payments in Europe

It must be admitted that when it comes to access to card payments in Europe, we are in a much better situation than many places outside our continent. However, you should remember that even here there are places where it is safer to have cash. Such a country, apart from Bulgaria, will be Romania and Greece, as well as Slovakia. As for Poland, it does not fare well in the rankings either – in 2022 it was ranked 9th when it comes to the highest percentage of transactions using cash.

We don't have to worry about card payments in Europe, among others: in Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Great Britain. While traveling, have you ever forgotten that the card itself is not enough?