Help! US Currency advice for teenager.

oscarsmum

Hi,

My daughter is travelling to New York 3 days after her 18th birthday at the end of this month. She was hoping to take a pre-paid travel card with her as the Youth Hostel she is staying in doesn't have any safety deposit boxes so she felt this would be the safeset way. However the cards take 7-10 days to arrive but you need to be 18 to apply for one.
I wondered if anyone has any ideas of a way round this, or any other suggestions to what would be a safe but convient way of getting access to her money, without taking her own bank card and paying through the nose everytime she buys something or uses an ATM.
I would really appreciate anyones advice,
Thanks
Kate

simongregson

You buy the card (with her money obviously!) and just give her the PIN etc. as it is pre-paid this isn't a risk.

I think you can buy the cards at the airport or post office, although the rate is probably not as good as some of the online only companies.

Or get old fashioned travelers cheques in us$

ferf1223

many places in the US will require a photo ID to use a credit card (which is what a pre-paid card looks like and how it will likely be treated)...so may not work for purchases...for ATM withdrawals it would be OK.

Edited to add - chip and PIN isn't in widespread use in the US - you still sign for card purchases.

Ascot_Ed

I just posted this on another thread re US bank accounts

I have a NW flex and Citi account in dollars but ended up using a different method for my son. He is in the USA on a one year study programme and we have funded him using a CaxtonFX prepaid mastercard in US$.

There are no charges for the transactions he does in dollars, we load using a UK debit card, you can have a secondary US$ card, he can withdraw cash from an ATM in the US for no charge, you cannot overdraw as you are limited to the amount if funds on the card. Basically you can use it anywhere they accept mastercard and you either sign or PIN for your transactions.

When you load the card you get the prevailing dollar rate and you are charged the equivalent in GBP to your UK debit card. (So none of those punitive charges from your own bank)

We have found it great. He uses the card for most things, I can track the account online here and you can load it from anywhere in the world. The dollar rate has always been competitive. I don't check everytime but it has always beaten the high street currency shops although not quite as good as the rate you might get from Nationwide.

There is a charge for the card but they credit this back in dollars when you make your first load. There is an additional charge if you choose to have a secondary card but it is maybe £5-£10.

Now the main card was applied for in my name. The secondary card is linked to the main one and is in my son's name. At the time of applying my son was under18 and there was no problem.
As far as I know he has never been asked for ID although I was recently in NY. This was not age related however and I expect was just a fraud prevention measure.

WolfSong2000

Whenever I go to the USA I just take a debit card...used to use a Lloyds TSB, but charges were horrendous, so opened a bank account with Nationwide - charges are minimal and as it's a visa debit I've had no problems getting it accepted anywhere

cmatt360

Ascot_Ed wrote: »

I just posted this on another thread re US bank accounts

I have a NW flex and Citi account in dollars but ended up using a different method for my son. He is in the USA on a one year study programme and we have funded him using a CaxtonFX prepaid mastercard in US$.

There are no charges for the transactions he does in dollars, we load using a UK debit card, you can have a secondary US$ card, he can withdraw cash from an ATM in the US for no charge, you cannot overdraw as you are limited to the amount if funds on the card. Basically you can use it anywhere they accept mastercard and you either sign or PIN for your transactions.

When you load the card you get the prevailing dollar rate and you are charged the equivalent in GBP to your UK debit card. (So none of those punitive charges from your own bank)

We have found it great. He uses the card for most things, I can track the account online here and you can load it from anywhere in the world. The dollar rate has always been competitive. I don't check everytime but it has always beaten the high street currency shops although not quite as good as the rate you might get from Nationwide.

There is a charge for the card but they credit this back in dollars when you make your first load. There is an additional charge if you choose to have a secondary card but it is maybe £5-£10.

Now the main card was applied for in my name. The secondary card is linked to the main one and is in my son's name. At the time of applying my son was under18 and there was no problem.
As far as I know he has never been asked for ID although I was recently in NY. This was not age related however and I expect was just a fraud prevention measure.

cheers for the tip off - can use this for spending money saving :T

oscarsmum

Thanks everyone for your replies. I had thought about applying in my name but wasn't sure if ID would be needed. She has a Nationwide account so might go with that option as that was second choice anyway.
Thanks again,
Kate