Union Bank Albania review

The card type is debit, and it is issued by Union Bank Sh.a. on the visa network. Spending draws straight from the account balance at the till, and the card behaves like an ordinary bank card. It is built for everyday banking in the bank's home market.

The free ATM allowance is ALL 0, so ATM withdrawals are paid for from the balance rather than included. The median across the cards listed here is €0, and the biggest allowance on the list is €2,000. Cash-heavy users should read the tariff before topping up at a machine.

The Bank of Albania is the regulator named for this bank, and the licence reference is 18. Supervision sits with a domestic authority, so the account is operated under Albanian rules rather than a foreign regulator's. The bank has traded since 2006, which is worth weighing against a newer setup.

The card is issued by Union Bank Sh.a., a named Albanian bank rather than an intermediary or an app wrapper. The account runs on the visa network, so it works like a conventional bank card with a balance, rather than a wallet holding money elsewhere.

The card runs on visa. Among the cards listed here, 58.6% sit on the same network, so acceptance follows Visa coverage in Albania. Anyone who wants a different network for travel or business payments would need to look elsewhere.

The account is built for AL, so treat it as a local spending card rather than a travel wallet. The median currency conversion fee across the listed debit cards is 1%, and travellers who pay in other currencies should check the tariff before relying on it. A travel-focused card suits that side of the spend better.

Union Bank Albania's free ATM allowance is ALL 0, while Wise lists £250. That gap is the reason many readers pick a travel-first card instead: frequent cash withdrawals abroad are where a home-market debit card costs you most. For local spending in Albania the difference matters less.