Currency card

[ali-uk]

Hello, Happy New year to you all,

Does anybody know of a good currency card the one you preload with dollars before you go? We had one last time and it was a brilliant, we had one with Thomas cook and they for some reason ended it, and sent me the balance left on it?
We want to start buying now ready to go August.

Thanks
Ali

[erowlands]

Hi Ali,
we had a Thomas Cook one for out last visit in November, we bought it at our local TC shop in October so it looks like they are still going,we used it everywhere and it was ideal.

Eric

[steph_goodrum]

We bought our daughter a FAirfx one last year which has proved very good with exchange rate and reliability. She used it this trip and just loaded from her debit card as and when rather than put it all on there. She used her card to pay most times as they dont charge but also cash a couple of times for which they just charge $2.

[canarypam]

FairFX offer the best exchange rates I believe we use this and load money on
throughout the year.

[DisneyPrincess]

We got one from Thomas Cook in August - it was excellent [msnsmile] Im sure they're still doing them.

[Tony G]

I got a My Travel Cash one this time round. The exchange rate was good with minimal charges for using it abroad. Purchases cost nothing, with a nominal fee for cash withdrawals.

One of the reasons I chose it is they allow you to have a backup card, so if one gets lost/stolen, you can immediately switch your balance to the second card (which can be in a different name if you like).

[gpullan]

FairFX works perfectly for us each time. Benefit for us is that we just keep loading the card whenever we want when the rate is good or we have some spare cash. It makes saving up a whole lot easier.

[steph_goodrum]

Garry
I intended to do that for my daughters card but when we realised that there is not really any protectiion if they go bust as its not covered under the financial compensation act she just loads it from her debit card as and when its getting low , so although the exchange rate may not be so good when she loads it then she knows it is safe. Also from March they are introducing a minimum reload of $80. She finds it very useful though and is trying to find a similar one for her boyfriend to use whne he comes over here as he cant buy the Fairfx one in the US.

[gpullan]

Yeah i did think about that risk.

The card is actually issued by Newcastle Building Society and has the following statement:

The Card is issued by Newcastle Building Society ("NBS") pursuant to licence by MasterCard International Inc. NBS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority as an issuer of e-money (registration no. 156058).

Now although i have not looked into it and we are happy to use FairFX, this sounds like the issue of the money onto the card is regulated by the FSA. Again, not concerned as we've used them for 3 years but it's worth being cautious.

[steph_goodrum]

It was in the terms and conditions when we got the card last year Gary that it said there was no cover under the financial compensation scheme. Crown Currency had been trading for quite a number of years when it collapsed last year meaning several millions of customers money was lost which was what made me double check before we put too much on.