{"id":22536,"date":"2026-08-13T10:16:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T10:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog?p=22536"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:16:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T10:16:31","slug":"prepaid-card-without-bank-account-erasmus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/prepaid-card-without-bank-account-erasmus","title":{"rendered":"Prepaid card without bank account for your Erasmus"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve been granted the Erasmus scholarship, have the grant pending to be collected, and in a few weeks you’re going to start paying rent, groceries, transport, and leisure activities in another European country, you probably have a problem.<\/p>\n

At that moment, relying solely on your Spanish bank card can be impractical, especially if you want to keep clear control of your exchange money without mixing it with the rest of your expenses. A prepaid card without a bank account<\/strong> can help you with exactly that. With it, you can separate the Erasmus budget, pay comfortably across Europe, and manage everything from your mobile.<\/p>\n

The idea is simple, but very useful. If you know how it works, what advantages it has, and in which cases it’s better to use card or cash, you can start the exchange with much less stress.<\/p>\n

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How a prepaid card without bank account works for an Erasmus<\/h2>\n

The first step in this process is to request your prepaid card<\/span><\/a>. The prepaid card without bank account is normally requested from an app, you don’t need to open an account in a Spanish bank or in the destination country. Identity verification is usually done with your ID document and a selfie, and in many cases the virtual card is activated almost immediately, while the physical one arrives by mail if you request it with enough time.<\/p>\n

In an Erasmus, this is very convenient because the card works in any Visa or Mastercard<\/strong> merchant in Europe, just like a normal card. Additionally, you can use it with Apple Pay, Google Pay<\/strong>, and pay contactless. Basically, it works both for paying at a coffee shop and for shopping online from your mobile. In the case of Bitsa, it also includes its own IBAN, which makes it easier to receive money without depending on a traditional bank.<\/p>\n

Budget and expense control during Erasmus<\/h2>\n

When you go on Erasmus, the situation is a bit more complicated than normal because money starts taking another form: accommodation, food, transport, leisure, short trips… everything mixes very quickly if you use the same card as always.<\/p>\n

One of the best decisions you can make is to separate that money into a prepaid card. This way you can load each month what’s planned to live there and see how much you have left without having to open the bank app every five minutes. Additionally, the budget shouldn’t be the same everywhere. Keep in mind that living in Paris doesn’t cost the same as in Lisbon or Berlin, so adjust your budget to the real cost of the destination.<\/p>\n

If you’re going with a grant, a practical way to organize it is to divide it between the first and second payment. Reserve a part for the landing and another for the following months. And if you use Bitsa<\/span><\/a>, real-time alerts help you not lose sight of what you’re spending, which is exactly what’s most appreciated when small daily payments start accumulating.<\/p>\n

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Paying with card or withdrawing cash: what’s convenient according to the country<\/h2>\n

It’s a fact that not all countries work the same. During Erasmus, you’ll need to know when it’s better to use card or cash. In many places you can pay almost everything with a card, but in others it’s still convenient to carry some cash. Markets, less digitized transport, or small bars in some countries still work mainly with cash. However, in destinations like Scandinavia or the Netherlands<\/span><\/a>, cash is barely used.<\/p>\n

Here we’re going to give you a basic tip to avoid silly expenses, and it’s that when you pay with a card, always choose the local currency of the destination country. If you accept the merchant’s automatic conversion, many times you end up with a worse exchange rate. And if you have to withdraw money from an ATM, it’s usually better to withdraw large amounts and do it less often. Keep in mind that fixed fees penalize small withdrawals.<\/p>\n

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Discounts and resources that work better with a separate card<\/h2>\n

Now, if you’re going on Erasmus, it means you’re a student, and if you’re a student, you’ll have access to resources that really reduce the cost of the trip. The ESNcard<\/span><\/a>, for example, gives you access to discounts on transport, leisure, and travel. The European Health Insurance Card<\/span><\/a> covers necessary healthcare assistance during a temporary stay in the EU. Additionally, in many destinations, there are also transport bonuses or reduced rates for students.<\/p>\n

Having a separate card for Erasmus will help you really see how much you save with each discount, because all those payments go through the same place and don’t mix with your usual home expenses. It’s a fairly clean way to keep control and turn your mobile into a kind of portable office for everything you need to manage during the stay.<\/p>\n

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Still have doubts about your prepaid card before Erasmus?<\/h2>\n

Before you leave, it’s normal to have a lot of questions and doubts come to your mind. Here we leave you an FAQ section that can help you:<\/p>\n

Can I receive the Erasmus grant on a prepaid card without a bank account?<\/strong>
\nYes, if the card offers its own IBAN<\/span><\/a> or accepts transfers. In products like Bitsa, that allows receiving money without depending on a traditional bank account.<\/p>\n

Does it work in EU countries with currency different from the euro?<\/strong>
\nYes, it normally works in Visa or Mastercard merchants, although the charge will be converted to euros according to the issuer’s or payment network’s conditions.<\/p>\n

What do I do if I lose the card during Erasmus?<\/strong>
\nBlock it from the app as soon as you realize. Since it’s prepaid, the damage is limited to the available balance. With Bitsa, in seconds you can access the app, block the card, and transfer the money you have to another virtual or physical one.<\/p>\n

Can I reload it from the country where I’m studying?<\/strong>
\nYes, as long as the issuer allows reloads by transfer, card, or other method from the app.<\/p>\n

Do I need a bank account in the destination country in addition to the prepaid card?<\/strong>
\nNot necessarily. The card can serve as a spending base, although some students later open a local account for convenience if they stay longer.<\/p>\n

As you may have observed, going on Erasmus with only one home bank card means exposing your main account with every payment, every withdrawal, and every improvised purchase. With a prepaid card without bank account<\/span><\/a>, you can separate the exchange budget, receive money with your own IBAN, and pay across Europe from your mobile with much more control.<\/p>\n

If you want a concrete option that brings together those three points, Bitsa will help you a lot. The ideal thing is to have it prepared before leaving, so you don’t lose the first days of exchange resolving banking issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Going on Erasmus? Use a prepaid card without a bank account to separate your grant, control expenses & pay across Europe without fees. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":22410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[285,240],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fintech-product-travel","category-producttravel-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22536"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22634,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22536\/revisions\/22634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitsacard.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}