Hi all. My friends and I are leaving the UK on the 5th october to go travelling for a year. Thailand 1 month, Australia 11 months. I was thinking of taking a cash card with me to use abroad. Has anyone heard of these cards or used one? Or is it just best to take my UK debit card with me with a bit of cash? Let me know what you guys think. Regards, Lee.
They do seem to be a very popular way of dealing with money abroad. There were some fairly recent threads on the cards you mentioned, but you'll have to search. I'd also suggest a web-search for reviews to help you decide. Good luck.
I wouldn’t use a debit card or a credit card, and instead I use prepaid currency cards as they are much cheaper when used abroad, especially now Nationwide charges for use abroad. Both debit and credit cards charge around 2.75% on all transactions (i.e. 2.75% of how much you spend), and most debit cards charge another 2% fee on ATM withdrawals. Nationwide was the exception. However some prepaid cards have foreign exchange fees of around 1.5% and have much lower ATM withdrawal fees, so they are much cheaper to use - and they are MasterCard or Visa enabled so they can be used just like a debit card at ATMs or at restaurants, hotels etc.
This site, -snip-, compares lots of different providers – so should help you find the best card for you.
Hopefully it will help
Cheers, Radhika
Thanks Radhika. I'll check the site out!
I use a FairFX card. So far it's been pretty simple to use (in terms of topping it up) and the fees have been reasonable. Definitely better than a bank card. Still, there's plenty of these cards about, so shop around.
Are the cards linked to your bank account or do you have to top them up? If so, how do you do it?
No, the pre-paid cards are not linked to any bank account– you usually have to top them up by debit card or by bank transfer online or by phone. Check with the provider you choose though
Radhika
Have you checked to see if your bank has global partners---my Australian bank [WESTPAC] has BANK AMERICA in USA & SCOTIA in MEXICO which are the banks which i used not incuring the $5 ATM fee just a 2% exchange fee during my 4 months
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