[Closed] Talk to me (please) about prepaid currency cards

I use fairFX - I have 2 cards, one US dollars and the other is charged up with sterling and can be spent in any currency (they do a euros-only one too). All are mastercard FWIW. Never ha d a problem with either (have done euros & swiss francs, plus dollars with the other one)

They're not the only supplier, of course, but were well reviewed when I got mine and CBA changing now, even if better ones exist (I dunno - moneysavingexpert would tell you).

If you do decide on them, use a referral from somebody [url= https://www.fairfx.com/ref/bljop ](my link's here)[/url] and you both get a small benefit (see below)

As a valued FairFX customer we’d like to thank you by giving you £2.50 for every single new customer you refer when they order their first FairFX Card!

We'll also waive the normal account opening fee of £9.95* for all of your referrals PLUS give them an extra £2.50 if they load more than £250 in their first transaction. Simply share your voucher code or referrer link (below) with your friends and colleagues and we’ll do the rest!

I used a Thomas cooks one last year, their rate was crap. So we put 200 Euro's on that and put the rest in our Normal bank account. We got a decent rate over their using the ATM machines. Yes there is a charge, i think it was 2 Euro per Transaction. But the rate was 1. 15 Euro to the pound as opposed to 1.05 Euro to the pound using a pre paid card.

Also got a good rate changing cash in the shops in Greece, no commission either.

I've got two pre-paid cards from [url= http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/ ]Travelex[/url] in regular use - one for US$ and one for € - but have also used one for ZAR. My experience has been very positive and I'd certainly recommend them.

You can order the card on-line and pick them up at an airport / other location. Your currency is exchanged at a quoted rate the day you order (visible on the website); the balance then sits on your card in the relevant currency. There are no per-transaction charges for cash withdrawal or spending. The exchange rate for pre-ordering the card on-line is almost identical to pre-order rated for cash and is generally very competitive, and re-charge is done at a similar 'market' rate.

You can log-in on-line to see your transactions, and get SMS warnings when your balance drops below a certain value.

The only possible transaction fee that I've come across is some banks charging for top-ups - Co-op/Smile did this and always tried to pass it off as a charge from Visa. In contrast First Direct don't charge.

If you order via Quidco you get a small cashback payment as well.

Make sure your details are PERFECT for reloading if you use the Thomas cook cash passport. Thomas cook chose the wrong postcode for my card and managed to create no record of my girlfriends card.

We spent 2 mornings on the helpline. The online transfer wouldn't work at all for her and then when they start attempting transfers with slightly wrong details there is a risk the card gets locked down.

They wanted my bank account address to exactly match the source account. But this depends on how the database is filled.

Next time I would ask to register it online on their premises and attempt a phone transfer also on their premises before I went on holiday.

why not just get one of the paypal ones which is linked to your paypal account, assuming you have an account. Been using it for a couple of months now and cant fault it, will let you know how i get on with it in france next week.

+1 for fairFX..

Go to the travel kiosk at beamount let's as their travel card doesn't charge you for cash machine withdrawals

Go to the travel kiosk at beamount leys tesco as their travel card doesn't charge you for cash machine withdrawals

I use Fairfx too.

The only thing I was told to be aware is that they can hold shadow transactions for up to a few weeks, that can affect the amount of money avaialble to spend.

This was on a trip to America though, not sure if it would apply in Europe.