I get many questions on my blog about moving to Norway and travel, but one thing that I recently got a question about was money. How much money can you bring from the United States to Norway legally in cash and what is the best way to transfer funds to a Norwegian account.
While I personally am not the best person to ask about this subject, I do know a little bit and will share with you what I know.
It is super easy to open a bank account in Norway. But the catch is that they do not give you an ATM card very easily. That seems to be the ‘trick’.
Also, I do not know what the legal amount is of cash that you can bring into Norway, but what I did that worked out really well for me was buy some of the best prepaid cards that I could find.
I know that people pretty much deal with finances on a ‘plastic’ and credit card basis. At least that is what I noticed from my experience.
I know that I don’t know much about it and it is not much information here, but I wanted to put the topic out there so you all can comment and leave your ideas, thoughts and suggestions in the comments below!
7 responses so far ↓
1 Martin In Bulgaria // Apr 19, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I thought the idea nowadays with a recession caused by credit was to get away from credit. Pity that cash driven societies can’t make a return. My opinion is the less you use a bank the better they are bad for your wealth and health.
2 Caroline // Apr 19, 2009 at 4:30 pm
A very interesting topic for expats. I’ve never had any issues in Norway but in the UK it was another story. When we arrived in the UK we had no credit record as they do not accept any credit records from South Africa. We had to wait over 1 year to get a credit card/any type of small credit and use it diligently to build up a track record (use and pay whole amount straight away). The whole aim of course being to eventually apply for a bond to purchase a property. Credit cards are like anything else in life - if managed correctly they can be very useful.
3 G bjorvatn // Apr 22, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Norway uses mostly debit cards. Very few people really use credit cards.. I had many credit cards before I moved here. Now, none purely debit..
4 Dan Mihaliak // Apr 29, 2009 at 4:05 pm
You can bring up to $10,000 US without reporting in almost every country now. The max was $5,000 until recently.
5 Andy @ Stock Investing // May 15, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Strange to read that in Norway, they do not give ATM cards easily. Is there any thing related to ATM cards ? I think the banks should not have any issue with ATM cards. All the banks around the world issue ATM cards easily, whereas Credit card is something which need credit history.
6 Anders // May 17, 2009 at 11:46 pm
As a Norwegian, I found that rather puzzling aswell. I think it’s probably because while we use our cards as debit cards, they are in fact credit cards (VISA, MasterCard etc.) without any credit. This is rather handy because you can use them abroad in developing countries, you can use them online and use them even if the pay terminal in a store is offline.
I doubt you’ll have any problems getting a pure debit-card like VISA Electron, but they are generally only used by (pre)teens.
7 Shannon // Jul 4, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Hei Kristie… It’s been awhile since I read your blog but I have always enjoyed your adventures in Norway. Too bad you have moved back. I’m spending the summer here.
I do have a great link for all the bank notes and coins from Norway. Some new expats or travelers may find it useful. I know I did. Link: http://www.norges-bank.no/templates/section____11336.aspx
BTW do you know if it is possible to get a bank account in Norway without living in Norway? I just thought it might be easier to have a bank account here as well since I plan to move here next summer when I get married.
Feel free to email me!
Thanks,
Shannon
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