Does online banking work when you travel?
Usually, yes. Banking apps and websites encrypt their own traffic wherever you are, and most logins from abroad go through without drama. What changes is how your bank reads the situation: a login from a country it has never seen you in looks like the thing its security systems exist to catch, so it may ask for extra verification, a code to your phone, or a call. Keep your banking app installed and your registered number reachable, and most of this stays a minor speed bump.
Things also break at inconvenient hours when you are abroad. Both of our picks run 24/7 support over live chat and email, so there is help at 2am: NordVPN and Surfshark both answer around the clock.
How a VPN helps, and how it can get in the way
The clearest help is on the networks you borrow while travelling. Hotel Wi-Fi, cafe networks and airport hotspots are all run by someone you know nothing about, and while your banking app encrypts its own traffic, a VPN puts your traffic beyond the reach of the network you are sitting on, all of it, not just the banking. The second help is location: connecting through your home country makes your login look like every other login you have ever made.
Now the other side, because it exists. Some banks treat traffic from data-centre addresses cautiously, so a VPN connection can itself be the unusual thing a bank reacts to. If a login misbehaves, switch to a server in your home country, or turn the VPN off for that session and rely on the app's own encryption. Consistency is the habit that helps most: the same device, the same app, and roughly the same way of connecting each time.
What a VPN does and does not do
Encryption is what a VPN is genuinely for. It also gives you a choice of where your connection comes from, with servers in dozens of countries on either of our picks. What it is not is magic. Two things a VPN does not do. It does not make a connection faster: a VPN will not make slow Wi-Fi faster. Encryption adds a small overhead, so a struggling connection will struggle slightly more with a VPN on. You buy one for protection, not performance. And it does not guarantee that any particular site or service will behave the way it does at home, your bank included, which is why the table below carries two honest rows you will not find on most pages. The 30-day money-back guarantees on NordVPN and Surfshark are the honest way to test either one on the connections you will actually use.
Recommended VPNs for travellers
NordVPN, best for short trips and month-by-month plans
It is the one for you if you are covering yourself, or you and a partner, and want something simple to run and easy to forget about. One plan covers 10 devices, and the apps are quick to install and easy to switch off and on as you need. Plans run by the month, the year or over two years, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Surfshark, best for long stays and unlimited devices
It is the one for you if one subscription needs to cover everyone. Connections are unlimited, so every phone, laptop and tablet you travel with, and anyone you share a place with, runs on the same plan at once. That suits a stay that stretches to months rather than weeks. It sells the same three terms and adds bonus months on the longer two, with the same 30-day money-back guarantee.
How to choose between them
The differences that matter fit in one table, and the last two rows are there to name two promises you should not believe from anyone, us included.
| Feature | NordVPN | Surfshark |
|---|
| 1 month | $14.99 | $16.45 |
| 1 year plan, total upfront | $65.88 (12 months billed) | $50.85 (15 months billed) |
| 2 year plan, total upfront | $94.23 (27 months billed) | $67.23 (27 months billed) |
| Devices per plan | 10 | Unlimited |
| Kill switch and auto-connect | Yes | Yes |
| Independently audited no-log policy | Yes (2025) | Yes (2025) |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Guarantees access to any blocked site, anywhere | No | No |
| Makes slow Wi-Fi faster | No | No |
On a single month NordVPN is cheaper. Over a year or two Surfshark is. On everything else the choice is about shape rather than money: 10 devices and a simple setup on one side, unlimited devices on the other.
Setting up before you travel
Do the setup at home, on Wi-Fi you trust, before the airport. Install NordVPN or Surfshark on each device, sign in, and connect once to confirm everything works. Then turn on two settings both apps include: the kill switch, which stops your traffic travelling unprotected if the VPN drops, and auto-connect, which brings the VPN back up when your connection returns. It is also the moment to log in to your bank once over the VPN, from home, so the first time is not from an airport.
Both apps work on mobile data as well as Wi-Fi, so a travel eSIM bought before you fly is covered by the same setup.
Final recommendation
For a shorter trip, NordVPN is the pick: 10 devices covered and a 30-day guarantee that outlasts most holidays. For a long stay, or anyone who wants every device on one subscription, Surfshark covers unlimited devices.
Buy either one for what it is for: encryption on the connections you will use constantly when you travel, and the freedom to choose which country you connect through. Your bank handles its own security either way; the VPN's job is everything around it.
