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The £754 million cost of cards abroad
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Prepaid cards are not free to use. There are still fees to pay, but it’s worth doing your homework to see how these charges compare with those levied by your bank.
Some issuers charge you to purchase the card. For example, the Lloyds TSB Travelcard costs £7.50.
Other charges include cash withdrawal fees, which are levied if you use the card to take money out of an ATM, and loading fees. A loading fee is charged when you put money onto the card.
These fees vary, which is why it’s important to compare the cost before deciding which prepaid card to opt for.
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Currency exchange companies Caxton FX and FairFX offer some of the cheapest prepaid cards. FairFX offers dollar and euro prepaid cards. There’s a £9.95 application fee for either, although this is waived if you apply through moneysupermarket.com and load more than $20 (or €10) on to the card.
Caxton FX also offers euro and dollar cards, and it has recently launched a Global Traveller card – a better option if you’ll be travelling outside the euro or dollar zone.
Neither FairFX nor Caxton FX charge you to load money onto your card, although you’ll be charged for cash withdrawals. FairFX charges a flat rate of $2 or €1.50 for withdrawals. Caxton FX also charges a flat fee, although its fees are slightly higher – there’s a $3 charge per withdrawal on its dollar card and a €2 charge on the euro card. Global Traveller Card holders will be charged £1.50 per withdrawal.
These fees are lower than those levied on many prepaid cards as it’s quite common for providers to levy a percentage fee, which can work out more expensive.
Some cards – such as Indigo Travel and ICE Traveller – will also charge a 2.75% “conversion fee” (similar to the foreign loading fee charged by most banks) each time you use their debit cards abroad. But neither FairFX nor Caxton FX levies this additional charge.
