Travel Money Card - Compare Best Prepaid, Euro & Dollar Currency Cards - November 2024

Compare Euro Currency Cards - Compare Dollar Currency Cards - Compare Prepaid Currency Cards

What is a travel money card?

Prepaid currency cards look exactly the same as your regular debit/credit card. The main difference is they are specially set up for foreign currency and are provided by FX brokers such as Travelex, The Post Office, Virgin, Caxton, My Travel Cash etc...

One of the best advantages is the safety. Lose your currency card and you've lost just a bit of plastic, cash on the other hand...

Some travel money cards are preset to specific currencies such as Euro currency cards and Dollar currency cards. Other are GBP Pound Sterling "prepaid" cards.

There are many factors involved in comparing prepaid cards, the most obvious being the exchange rate. However, the best exchange rate may be all well and good, but you must check for ATM/transation fees, FX fees, reloading fees etc.

Advantages of a currency card vs cash

• Accepted worldwide - Use it at millions of ATMs, shops and restaurants in hundreds of countries worldwide, wherever the MasterCard or Visa logo is shown.
• Chosen Currency - Choose your currency card in a specific currency, Euros, Dollars or Sterling.
• No FX Fees - No foreign currency exchange rate charges as already in the foreign currency of your choosing.
• Lock That Rate - Fixed exchange rates at time of loading, unlike other debit/credit cards.
• No Credit Checks - great for individuals with poor credit history and students etc.
• Secure - PIN protected so no-one else can access your money if you lose your travel money card or it's stolen.
• Replacement Card - As they are typically connected to either Masercard or Visa, you are also prorected in the event of the card being lost or stolen, with a replacement card being issued.
• Budgeting - They allow you to budget for your holiday, by allocating the exact funds you can afford, stopping you ruynning up debts on a traditional bank-linked debit/credit card
• Cashback Anyone? - Some prepaid cards offer cashback on purchases such as the My Travel Cash currency cards which offer 1% on purchases.

Tips on Using Your Pre-paid Currency Card

• Make sure wherever possible you pay using the foreign currency on the prepaid card. Changing currency using these cards won't be the best way of saving money.
• If you have a spare curency card, keep that safe in a safe at the hotel. If you lose the first card, you can call the FX company and get it disabled and use the replacement card immediately.
• Some petrol stations abroad use a machine to take credit/debit cards. Be careful using these as they usually take a security deposit which can remove the funds temporarily - meaning you can't spend that amount for a few days.
• Use an alternative card for security deposits at your hotel abroad, as the amount of monewy can be withheld for some time.

Don't use Most Traditonal Debit Cards for Spending Money Abroad

Your standard UK debit card is NOT the best way to spend abroad. Extra charges make it the most expesnive way for foreign currency. To give an example:

• Natwest debit card: 2.75% loading fee, 2% Cash Withdrawal (£2 min £5 max), £1.25 Spending Fee
• Santander debit card: 2.75% loading fee, 1.5% Cash Withdrawal (£1.99 min NO max), £1.25 Spending Fee

There are some specialist credit cards (not prepaid) that will often be the best foreign currency option.

• Halifax Clarity has 0% loading fee worldwide and no cash withdrawal fees (although you get charged 12.9% variable APR even if repaying in full).
• Aqua Reward again has 0% loading fee worldwide and gives 3% cashback (max £100) with no interest charge if paid in full (very important otherwise huge interest APR of 34.9%!).

Recent Card Changes

• 6 months ago Caxton NZD Card: NZD Exchange Rate decreased from €2.0879 to €2.036
• 6 months ago Caxton PLN Card: PLN Exchange Rate decreased from €5.0156 to €4.8861
• 6 months ago Caxton SEK Card: SEK Exchange Rate decreased from €13.5692 to €13.2081
• 6 months ago Caxton ZAR Card: ZAR Exchange Rate decreased from €23.1927 to €22.5669
• 6 months ago Caxton EUR Card: EUR Exchange Rate increased from €1.1369 to €1.166
• 6 months ago Caxton USD Card: USD Exchange Rate increased from $1.2247 to $1.256
• 6 months ago Caxton AUD Card: AUD Exchange Rate increased from €1.8467 to €1.8938
• 6 months ago Caxton CAD Card: CAD Exchange Rate increased from €1.6732 to €1.7159
• 6 months ago Caxton CHF Card: CHF Exchange Rate increased from €1.1092 to €1.1376
• 6 months ago Caxton DKK Card: DKK Exchange Rate increased from €8.4783 to €8.6948