BoursoBank's Ultim bank card

What we thought of BoursoBank’s Ultim card

Since 2019, we’ve used the BoursoBank Ultim international bank card every day and all over the world, the debit version for Marie and the credit version for Romain: tried, tested and approved, we recommend it without hesitation!

BoursoBank, formerly Boursorama Banque and renamed in October 2023, isn’t a neobank like N26 or Revolut: it’s the online bank of Société Générale, a French bank.

• Customer service is easy to reach by phone and by message, and responsive in an emergency, particularly for blocking a card (a service we’ve had to use twice).
• We’ve always received our new bank cards quickly whenever we renewed them after they expired.
• The card’s insurance quickly reimbursed us for two disrupted trips, a cancelled flight in Italy and a cancelled train in France.

And above all, using our Ultim cards every day in France and on all our trips abroad, we’ve never paid a single bank fee! Which is a huge perk.

Transparency and affiliation: this article contains affiliate links. If you open an account with BoursoBank by clicking these links, we earn a commission that helps fund the blog.

Fees abroad: what’s free, what isn’t

✓ No fees on payments abroad, whether in euros or other currencies, on any continent, by bank card or contactless payment

✓ Free, unlimited euro withdrawals; foreign currency withdrawals are fee-free for up to three withdrawals a month (then charged at 1.69%)

✓ Free card as long as you use it at least once a month (the card costs €9/month if you make no payments; a withdrawal doesn’t count)

Remember to use the card at least once a month (paying for bread or a coffee is enough). For us that’s no hardship since our Ultim cards are our everyday cards.

The Ultim card’s travel insurance

The Ultim card’s insurance covers costs from a transport delay or cancellation of more than four hours, up to €400 per delay: meals, hotel nights and transfers. We’ve used it twice, for a cancelled flight in Italy and a cancelled train in France, and each time the insurance reimbursed us for the hotel and restaurants we paid for on the spot. For a train, the coverage only applies in France.

Beyond €400, you need real travel insurance, and that’s what we take out for every trip outside Europe: what we thought of Heymondo travel insurance.

The other perks

Works with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay

The card works with contactless payment on phones and watches: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Garmin Pay. Handy so you don’t have to pull out your physical bank card for every payment.

Why get a card marked “credit” for travel?

There are plenty of perks to having a card marked “CREDIT”, especially when traveling. It saves you from getting turned down:

• at car rental counters: they most often require a credit card to hold the deposit. A card marked “debit” is very frequently turned down at the desk.
• at hotels and other lodging: they can place a hold on a deposit without actually eating into your available balance, since it’s never charged.

At BoursoBank, the deferred debit Ultim card is marked “CREDIT” precisely for this reason, and it’s widely accepted for your travel bookings, while still being a straightforward deferred debit: you pay at the end of the month, with no consumer credit and no interest. It’s the best option, in our view.

To get a deferred debit Ultim card, BoursoBank requires 6 months as a customer and €6,000 in your account balances. The card comes with a one-time €10 fee for switching debit type.