Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania review

It is a debit card, so purchases are paid from the balance in the bank account rather than from a prepaid balance. The card sits on the Mastercard network, so it is accepted wherever Mastercard is taken. There is no card top up step to manage.

Conversion costs 2.5%. That is the charge applied when a purchase settles in a currency other than the one held on the account, and it is the only fee listed for the card. Customers who pay in the currency their account holds avoid it altogether.

Monzo Flex converts at 0% and Bitpanda at 0%, both lower than 2.5% here. Wise sits at 0.1%, also lower. So on the charge that matters for a card used outside its home market, this card costs the most.

On currency conversion fee it ranks 180 out of 237 brands compared, and the cost score is 2.2. Both point the same way: the fee that separates cards like this one sits at the expensive end of the field.

Mostly not, unless the spending stays in the currency held on the account. Conversion costs 2.5%, above 0% at Monzo Flex, 0.1% at Wise and 0% at Bitpanda. On a trip where every day ends in a different currency, that gap adds up quickly.

Customers who pay mostly in the currency their account holds and want a plain debit card. Regular converters are better served by a card charging 0% or 0% for conversion. This card suits local spending rather than multi currency use.

It runs on the Mastercard network, so the card is accepted wherever Mastercard is taken, including abroad. What changes outside the home market is the price of the transaction, since conversion stands at 2.5% on any spend settled in another currency.