After your holiday: don’t forget to check your finances.

After returning from a holiday, you should carefully go through your bank and credit card statements. By checking the transactions soon afterwards, you keep an eye on things and can quickly clear up any issues. Here are some tips on what to pay attention to after your holiday.

Checking your bank and credit card statements

Paying with card on holiday is quick, easy and convenient. If you receive push notifications when you use your card and also keep an eye on the transactions in your banking app, you can easily see what pay-ments you have made during your holiday. However, it is also important to carefully go through your bank and credit card statements once you are back at home. 

If there are any unusual transactions, you should contact the bank that issued your card as quickly as possible. It is useful to provide receipts, invoices and any written communication you have with the re-tailer or service provider. Depending on the card and the bank, there are different deadlines and pro-cedures to follow; usually, a bank will provide a form for you to claim back a debit transaction.

Change your security settings

Some bank-card providers allow you to change your country settings or security limits in your online banking portal or banking app. After returning from holiday, don’t forget to change your settings back, for example to indicate that you will be using your card only in Germany or Europe.

Avoid additional costs

When travelling abroad, it is best to check with your bank in advance what costs you might incur when using your card or withdrawing money in a foreign country or currency. You can find this information in the list of prices and services provided by your bank. Keep in mind, however, that when you withdraw money from an ATM, the ATM provider may also charge you for this service.

Outside of the eurozone, it is important to pay attention to which currency is in use at the check out or ATM. It is cheaper to decline to have the cost converted to euro and instead simply view the price and pay in the currency of the country you are in. 

What should you do with your remaining holiday cash?

Even though many people generally use only cashless payments on holidays, sometimes you return from travel outside the eurozone with cash in a foreign denomination. Smaller amounts don’t have to just end up sitting in a draw somewhere: you could donate them to collection points, for example at the airport. Many non-profit organisations also accept foreign currency and use it to fund social projects. Exchanging foreign cash for euros usually only makes sense for large amounts of money, because the exchange rate is often quite bad. 

Keep an eye on your holiday budget

After the trip, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your total expenses for the holiday. Then you can see where you spent the most money, if you budgeted enough money and if there were any unexpected costs. This summary will help you improve financial planning for your next trip.