Carry a modest cash backup even if you intend to use mobile payments for most purchases. A payment plan should continue working when a phone battery dies, verification fails or a particular merchant cannot accept your preferred method. The government visitor guide presents mobile payments, cards and cash as complementary options.
Give cash a clear purpose
Use it as resilience rather than carrying the entire holiday budget in banknotes. Small everyday denominations are easier to manage than a wallet containing only large notes. Keep some funds separate from the phone and main cards, so losing one item does not remove every payment option at once.
Prepare access to more
Before travel, ask your bank about overseas card use, withdrawal conditions and account alerts. Identify the card networks accepted by an ATM before attempting a withdrawal and read the displayed fees. Avoid repeated unexplained attempts after a decline; contact the issuer through a known channel instead. Your own bank and the machine operator may have different limits or charges.
Test the whole system
Make sure more than one adult in a traveling party can pay independently. Keep bank support details accessible securely, and know how to lock a lost card. A small purchase early in the trip can reveal a setup problem while there is time to solve it. The practical answer is not cash versus digital payment. It is a combination that lets you buy an ordinary meal or reach your hotel even when one method stops working.
Official references and further reading
References checked 6 September 2026. Recheck operational requirements before travel.
