Accidentally travelling with a large amount of cash – can I quickly transfer it to a debit card?

You can order pre-paid visa or credit card (mastercard), top-up and use it as a normal credit card. Pre-paid master cards are easy to get, even on-line without usual ID procedures. Even some airlines (e.g. Ryanair) offer you some cards. Choose the right one and it can cost only 1.5% fee for use. No annual fees and free to top up. If you have relatives or friends in France it would not be difficult for them to get one for you to use.

You may also try to call directly Mastercard in France on 0-800-90-1387 and see if they can help you.

Check few more pages for more details:

• compare mastercard cards in France at mastercard.com

• PCS Prepaid MasterCard

  The card launched in November 2010 and was one of the first Instant
  Issue prepaid card in France. The card is now sold in 20,000 retail
  locations and is established as one of the market leaders in France.

• The Pre-paid Multi-currency Cash Passport

  Multi-currency Cash Passport is a prepaid card that allows you to load
  multiple currencies on to one card. You can pre-purchase travel money
  ahead of a trip, so you can have access to local currency from ATM’s
  and retail stores anywhere that MasterCard is accepted.

Just take the cash and put it in the hotel safe when you get there – not likely you’ll get mugged in the airport – make sure you have holiday insuarnce that covers cash. After the holiday, bring it home and stick it back in your bank.

Most other methods are not used much anymore in Europe – traveller’s cheques/eurocheques/etc – besides, you will lose money when buying/using TC anyway.

I’d suggest you find a bank in your local country, and consider opening a Euro denominated bank account with them. Depending on your other banking needs, you might even be able to get this account for free. Otherwise, you’ll likely have to pay a monthly fee, but you’ll only want it for a month or two.

(Many banks offer accounts in other major world currencies, but not all. Ask your current bank, then failing that try a few others. As you say you’re in the UK, try CitiBank – they charge fees unless you use them as your main account, but lots of people who travel a lot really like them)

Then, when you have the account open, pay the cash in. Finally, when abroad, use the cash card from that account to pay for things in Euros, or take cash out. When you’re done with the trip, if the fees are too high, close the account.

In general though, your best bet for spending money abroad is detailed in this answer – get a cash card with no overseas fees and withdraw from an ATM. If you go somewhere a lot, it may make sense to open a bank account in that currency, to avoid exchange rate risks. Depending on costs and the countries involved, that might make sense to be a bank account opening in your home country in a different currency, or in a country in that currency (as an overseas / ex-pat account)

I would suggest turning them into traveller’s cheques. It’s not an ideal solution, as they’re accepted in fewer places these days, but most hotels will still cash them, so you could do that as you go.

The advantage is that you can register the cheque numbers, and get them insured, which you can’t really do with cash. So if you got mugged, at least you can get it back.

Alternatively, spread it around your stuff, separate pockets etc, and just hand over one pocket if you get mugged 😉 Fake wallet time!

I am not sure if you can open a bank account in France if you are not a resident. When I stayed in France for almost two years, it took me quite some time to open a bank account, even while working there. Finally I had the best service at the post office.

What might be a solution is to use the gift card of the same post office. These gift cards are international recognized Visa cards. Any surplus after you return could then be spent as if was a normal visa card. You can charge these cards with any number between 40 and 799 euro’s. Downside might be that you can’t retract money with the cards from an ATM, but you can pay with visa almost anywhere. You could choose to keep some part of your money as cash together with some of these temporary cards.

The nice thing about them is that in case of theft you are insured.

If you are scared of being robbed, try to put the money onto a card and pay the fee. Consider this fee as an insurance premium. If you don’t want to pay the premium, take the risk. By reasonably storing the money, you can reduce the risk of being stolen.

An alternative might be traveler’s cheques. They come with an insurance against theft: stolen cheques are replaced. However, traveler’s cheques are not well accepted any more. You might encounter difficulties to use them. It is possible to to convert them into cash. But then you may incur fees as well.

I would try to get information on the costs associated with the different options and take a decision accordingly.