How to get a large amount of cash abroad if a debit card stops working?

I will suggest Bitcoin.

As a western-world citizen, – “France” -, you are able to open coinbase.com account. There, you could invest / trade / or withdraw / exchange Bitcoin to Cash and vice versa.

The account required long-time verification procedure, so emergency – this is not your salvation. However, for the future, you could bypass this procedure, by sending em scan of your passport, something like bill payment for water/garbage with your current address location. And 2-3 days – they will open you account. Thereafter, you register your debit/credit card inside your account – deposit a little, and push “BUY Bitcoin” button – there is large exchange with low spread, you deal would be good even if you will decide withdraw this “emergency pillow” on the next day. However, the volatility of Bitcoin is high. Today – it is 8k$, at the summer – will be 200k$, year after – might be again 8k$… because of “halving” mechanism…

Nevertheless, you could keep your coin-base account in cash or even empty. And in such situation like yours now, you easily could buy with your valid debit card – bitcoin on-line, thereafter – find in the Ireland someone – who will exchange you your Bitcoin to Cash. Easy-peasy. There are thousand of different platforms, where peoples connects with each-other, however – beaware – there are plenty of scammers, who will bring to connect gun and grab your bitcoin.

Anywhere else, you could find a real Bitcoinomat, like ATM – and withdraw cash via this device. I’ve seen one right in France, Bordeaux in the center of city. There was something like “boutique of Bitcoin”. There is exist map radar.

For example, in the Switzerland, you could easily Buy/Sell Bitcoin via any trainstation’s ATM… It is thousand of thousand places, easily reachable… Seems, something good might be found in Ireland too.

Additionally, when I’ve traveled to Paris, I’ve realized that only one card – is not a safe case. I’ve hide couple of thousands of euros in my main bag, inside hidden pocket. Plus I’ve gathered with me another card of another bank. So, my first debit card – was my main horse, restaurants and caffes, metro and Montparnasse Tower / Louvre, etc… But everytime I could lost this my work-horse card. And I’ve everytime been calm, cause of in my back, safe hidden pocket were another card and cash couple of ths euros. Also, my wallet, every-day time keeps couple of hundreds, because, there might be such situation – that service not payable via card, cash-only…

In addition to other answers: keep some cash separately from your cards. 200 USD or 200 EUR are welcome (almost!) everywhere and can get you a lunch, a local SIM (and a phone). A local currency may be better (depending on where you are).

If your concern right now is the hotel, you can book the hotel online and pay using your bank’s app or other online payment methods. If you include breakfast and possibly even more meals, you are even covered for those costs.

With Apple Pay, Skrill, or PayPal, if you can find someone you trust who also trusts you, you can pay them, then they give you cash.

This is not a general answer, but since your situation and your example were in Europe, doesn’t your bank allow you to identify yourself at an ATM? Every ATM I went to in Spain had an option to withdraw cash without a card. I never tapped it since I didn’t have an account there so I don’t know how they authenticate.

Western Union is probably the most straightforward.

Something very similar happened me last year. Was on holidays in the Canaries, lost my wallet and had stupidly brought out both my ATM card and my credit card. Rang my bank cancelled the cards but they had no local associated banks. Thought I had emergency cash cover on my travel insurance but couldn’t get through to the insurance company, and burned through my phone credit trying to.

So was left with no cash, no phone credit, and due to fly home the next day. Eventually emailed a friend at home through the hotel WiFi, we both googled our nearest Western Union office, and he transferred me enough to cover me to get home. I had the money within two hours of first mailing him.

Neither of us had ever used it before, but the process was fairly straightforward. I’d definitely recommend it again in an emergency.

Both Visa and MasterCard offer worldwide card replacement services for lost or damaged cards. There may have a fee attached, which will probably be taken from your bank account but as far as I can tell Visa will get a replacement card to you pretty much anywhere in the world within a couple of days and I assume MasterCard would be similar. Its literally part of the services they provide.

Both providers also do emergency cash advances, probably either via a teller at a local bank or possibly via a card-less transaction at a nearby ATM. And getting a new card definitely sounds like it would save a holiday or trip, especially if you’ve only just started it!

Visa page for lost / stolen / damaged cards. Relevant snippets of text:

Get a new card
Visa can work with your Bank to expedite the replacement of your card and send it globally within 24 to 72 hours.

Call at any time. Freephone numbers are supported 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Language support is available in a multitude of languages.

MasterCard page for lost / stolen / damaged cards. Relevant text snippets:

Wherever you are worldwide, you can always call Emergency Services with any card-related need. When you call our global directory, you can count on a representative who speaks your language, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Emergency replacement cards
Emergency cash advances

For the sake of this specific question, the toll-free emergency card services numbers for Ireland (other countries can be found at the relevant provider’s link above) are:

• Visa: 1-800-55-8002
• MasterCard: 1-800-55-7378

Clone your debit card to Google Pay, Apple Pay or other country specific app installed on your NFC-enabled phone. It is really unlikely that your card and phone breaks the same time. (As Michael Hampton already answered).

My second choice would be:
At the hotel reception: cancel your reservation. Make an online booking on the spot with 100% prepayment through booking.com or the hotel’s site. You will not physically need your card to do this.

Sign up for Google Pay / Apple Pay and add your credit/debit cards to it. You can then make contactless payments with those cards using your phone. Open the app and then touch your phone to the payment terminal. This works if your debit card is Visa Debit / Debit MasterCard, but not for Visa Electron / V Pay / Maestro.

This will not allow you to get cash, but it certainly will allow you to pay for your hotel, restaurants, and virtually anything else in most of the world where international travelers commonly go.

However, be aware that some card issuers, payment processors, and/or terminals may have absurdly small spending limits on purchases made with Google Pay / Apple Pay, or may not accept the payment at all.

As always, it is a good idea to travel with at least two different cards from different financial institutions.

Some banks offer “emergency cash” facility where they will give you cash, usually via ATM or office of their “friendly” bank.

My advice for anyone who wants to get out of a difficult situation is to not get in that situation in the first place. In this case, the easiest way would be to take a second debit card, or a credit card, with you.

But in case you’re already abroad and are stuck with a single broken card, you could ask the hotel if it’s possible to pay by bank transfer (using your phone). If so, ask them if you can transfer a larger amount in exchange for cash. Or, depending on where in the world you are, you might use PayPal to do something similar

Another option would perhaps be e.g. Western Union, but I’ve never used that myself. I suppose you could transfer money to them, and pick it up from a WU office yourself.

If all else fails, contact your country’s embassy for help.