pre-loaded cards for a teenager

CathGriff

I am trying to research preloaded cards for my son who is 16 and going to Zambia on a working visit at the beginning of July. He will be in the city - Lusaka - for some of the time but will need to take cash for the time spent in the village working. If they are stuck because of BA strikes (the group are flying BA) or volcanic ash problems then a pre-loaded card also seems a good idea - especially if I can add to funds from the UK.
There seem to be very few cards accessible to him in his own right at his age and few which I could take up in my name but get an additional card for him.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to whether this is a good idea, what cards are best etc etc.?
He has a Santander Debit card for his bank account - would this be acceptable in Zambia? Is this the best card to take?
CathG

Applepips

The Santander card will depend on if it is a debit, credit or plain old cash card and also which service the card uses. Visa and Mastercard are almost universal something like a Solo might be met with shrugged shoulders.

I had one of those disposable Post Office debit cards for booking cheaper Ryanair flights, they mostly don't have a chip in them so some shops don't accept them, also the fees are pretty high; around £3 per top.

stephb34

Thomas Cook prepaid card you can take it out in your name keep the 1st card to top it up on and give him the second card that he signs with his own name and he can use that. They are mastercard and chip and pin, there are 7 types of card only the sterling 1 you need to pay to top up the others are free. Im having a mental block at the minute but im thinking zambia is south africa and they do a south africa card so you could get this one and save the fees of the sterling one. You can open them in any thomas cook shop, make sure you ask for their best rate or you could get stung and they do them in about 10mins you just need id and your cash.