Who runs this site
Shuddha Chowdhury runs Travel Card Index and researches traveler payment fees and card acceptance across the 49 destinations covered on this site. He maintains the destination data, the fee math used in the examples, and the travel kits sold here.
This is an independent one-person site. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any bank, card network, or card issuer.
Why this site exists
Most travel-money advice is either generic ("bring a travel card") or written to sell a specific card. This site exists for the narrower, more useful question: in this specific country, how should you actually pay? When does cash still matter, which ATM habits cost money, and when should you refuse the "pay in your home currency" prompt.
How the destination data is compiled
Each of the 49 destination pages is built from a per-country data record: the local currency, a digital-payment score (1–10), a cash rule, and a card recommendation. The records are compiled from publicly observable payment behavior — card acceptance patterns reported by travelers and merchants, published ATM fee schedules, and the fee structures of the cards discussed. Fee figures shown in examples are typical traveler-facing ranges, labeled as such, not quotes from any specific bank.
Pages display the date they were last reviewed. When country behavior changes (for example, a country becoming meaningfully more card-friendly), the data record is updated and the dependent pages are rebuilt.
No fake reviews, no invented numbers
This site does not publish customer reviews, star ratings, testimonials, or countdown timers, and it never will under this policy. Every dollar figure in an example is either simple arithmetic shown on the page or a typical range labeled as an estimate. If you find a number that looks wrong, email and it will be checked and corrected.
How the site makes money
Two ways, both disclosed: compact paid PDF kits sold directly through Stripe ($5–$7), and some card links that may be affiliate links (labeled, with rel="sponsored"). The free pages are complete on their own — the kits are condensed, offline versions of the same material. See the full editorial policy.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or refunds: travelcardindexsupport@gmail.com. Refund requests for any kit are honored within 30 days, no questions asked — there is no physical item to return.