We have some friends visiting for a month from the US. They have asked whether it might be a good idea for them to get and use a Wise debit card for day-to-day purchases while they are here, instead of their normal credit card. Their reasoning was that (a) they have heard that cash is rarely used in NZ these days, and (b) they wish to save credit card foreign currency fees.

I haven't heard of Wise so looked into it on the 'net. It seems legit and appears to do many wondrous things at claimed low cost. However from their site I don't understand how it works as a day-to-day debit card in another country. Does the card need to be put into a credit balance in the foreign currency (by buying the foreign currency through them) - then just use the card like any other debit card? Or does it somehow link to your local bank account and debit from there?

I would welcome comments and advice from anyone who has had experience with this.