The Rooster Card can be used abroad anywhere that accepts a VISA card, and there's no need to contact us to let us know you're going abroad.
Parent/Guardians will first need to make sure that the spending abroad option is turned on in the card settings;
From the Family Dashboard, select Card underneath your child’s profile
Select Card Settings
Toggle on/off Spending abroad (in-person)
The Rooster Card is free to use abroad but please note that some foreign ATMs may charge their own fees on top of the transaction value.
The Rooster Card can be used anywhere that accepts VISA payments via chip and PIN and contactless transactions.
You cannot use the card to make magstripe purchases where your card is swiped and then you sign. This is blocked because these are much more vulnerable to fraud.
Additionally, you cannot use your Rooster Card for payments via Chip and Signature. This method of payment is more common in areas such as: US, Mexico, parts of South America such as Argentina and Colombia and some countries in Asia including South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.
The Rooster Card is a great option for kids to spend their own money on holiday, but NatWest Rooster Money is only available to UK residents, and we may reach out to you for more information if we notice that the Card is being used abroad for a sustained period of time.
How do overseas transactions work with the Rooster Card?
As soon as a payment is made then a card authorisation is performed to make sure that there are enough funds available to pay for the transaction. This authorisation uses the exchange rate at that point in time, and at this stage the money is still in your account but held separately from your balance as a pending transaction.
However, final settlement (this is when the merchant finally takes the funds from your account) can be performed a number of days afterwards, by which time the exchange rate may have changed.
For example, if you buy an item for €12 euros and the exchange rate was £1 = €1.1 when the authorisation was made, you will see a charge of £10.91 on your account. If, by the time the merchant collects the money, the exchange rate has changed to £1 = €1.2 the merchant will still collect their €12, but this will now only cost you £10. NatWest Rooster Money will then make an adjustment to return the £0.91 back to your account.
Note: with FX transactions the rate can fluctuate in either direction so the adjustment can also be negative. At the point of authorisation most companies (Rooster included) will authorise an amount slightly higher to protect against over spending. This hopefully means that most FX adjustments are returning funds to your account.