The writer also overlooks the obvious fact that many businesses in the U.K. accept MasterCard and Visa through banks in the U.K., and M.C. and Visa are accepted whether the card issuer is local or half way around the world.
If the amount is significant, he could also open a U.S. dollar account at a bank in the U.S.A. and would only have to go through the transfer process occasionally (the transfer cost is very high proportionately for small transfers, but the percentage is much less percentagewise on large transfers). If he has a U.S. bank account he could also get a debit card ("check card") from the bank in the U.S.A. and withdraw the funds from an ATM in the U.K.
Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com