My Travel Cash Card

mvening

Been struggling to find anyone on here who has had experience with this card:

My Travel Cash Card - $

It seems too good to be true (but we love things like that!)...I found it whilst perusing the moneysupermarket.com website.

my Travel Cash - US Dollar
Card Application Fee: Free
Shop or Internet Usage: Free
Loading Fee: Free (Debit Card)
UK ATM: Free
International ATM: Free
Minimum Top Up Load: $40

Plus:
Our expert says: "NEW BENEFITS – 1.00% cashback on all purchases made with your card, paid the following month directly to your prepaid card account PLUS no ATM fees when you withdraw cash abroad. EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Apply now to benefit from our moneysupermarket rate. FREE Express Delivery within 1-2 working days for orders over $1,000, otherwise $8.00"

This seems to beat the Caxton Card which has a higher loading minimum ($200) and costs to use it at a UK ATM.

Anyone had any experience? Have seen a few reviews and so far so good, it would seem. Which? seem pleasantly impressed.

ANy MSEers had a go with this one?

dzug1

You've missed out one major point - and really the crucial one and one that just about everyone ignores. What exchange rate (loading) do you pay to get those $$ onto the card in the first place? The answer is just less than 4% which is not that terrible but not that good either. Especially in comparison with Caxton.

It's no good looking for no/low fees if they are more than made up for on the exchange rate

benjus

No experience, but the markup on the exchange rate is about 3%. If you deduct the 1% cashback, that's still 2%. Not too bad, but fairly average.

Personally I would avoid cards in foreign currencies, because they tend to work out as more expensive overall, and if you have money left over you'll have to pay to convert it back to Sterling. I prefer to keep my money in Sterling and convert it as I use it, although I can understand that some people find it easier to budget if the money is already converted. If you're visiting multiple countries with different currencies, keeping the money in Sterling is even more advantageous.

If you're happy to keep your money in Sterling, you could look at the TravelEx cash passport globe, which charges 1.49% on all foreign transactions. You can save even more by getting one of the debit cards that charge nothing at all (e.g. Metro Bank).

mvening

dzug1 wrote: »

You've missed out one major point - and really the crucial one and one that just about everyone ignores. What exchange rate (loading) do you pay to get those $$ onto the card in the first place? The answer is just less than 4% which is not that terrible but not that good either. Especially in comparison with Caxton.

It's no good looking for no/low fees if they are more than made up for on the exchange rate

Thanks for that - but not sure I follow.

Caxton Load Exchange Rate is currently $1.5450 and MTC is $1.5307 (about 1% different) and no loading fee for either.

Caxton require minimum $200 and MTC $40 for a top up. What is the 4% you are mentioning.

Cheers...

dawniebug

I agree with mvening:

I've just looked at my Travel Cash's online calculator and it seems to be pretty close to Caxton in terms of what you're getting for your money!

I've heard pretty good reports of this card - my friend got one last year and loves it!

Great from frequent travellers by the looks of things, who get that cash back every month.

benjus

According to Google, the current money market exchange rate is 1.576, i.e. if there was no exchange rate tweaking at all, you'd get $157.6 for £100.

What you actually get with MTC is $152.85 for £100, so they are effectively charging you just over 3% by adjusting the exchange rate.

That's where this talk of 4%/3% comes from (the exact amount will vary with the rates).

dawniebug

I think most people accept that any provider alters the rate but 1.52 my Travel Cash Vs 1.54 Caxton = not much of a difference in my book? Don't know what any one else thinks?

mvening

benjus wrote: »

According to Google, the current money market exchange rate is 1.576, i.e. if there was no exchange rate tweaking at all, you'd get $157.6 for £100.

What you actually get with MTC is $152.85 for £100, so they are effectively charging you just over 3% by adjusting the exchange rate.

That's where this talk of 4%/3% comes from (the exact amount will vary with the rates).

OK - thanks for that.

I think your rate for MTC is a bit out (it is $1.5304 at time of writing) but for Prepaid Cards it seems competitive.

Best I've seen for cash is $1.5579 for £500 which is better, but then I have it in readies rather than on a card.

BTW - very responsive forum here - thanks a lot for all your feedback!

benjus

Strange - when I go to the MTC website it's still saying 1.528.

I'm not saying it's a bad card, but you can do better and as I said above I prefer to keep my money in Sterling until I actually spend it.

dzug1

mvening wrote: »

Thanks for that - but not sure I follow.

Caxton Load Exchange Rate is currently $1.5450 and MTC is $1.5307 (about 1% different) and no loading fee for either.

Caxton require minimum $200 and MTC $40 for a top up. What is the 4% you are mentioning.

Cheers...

Sorry - I was looking at the euro card. Todays rate 1.15 something on MTC - 1.19 something on the visa site - ie near the interbank rate. Which is a bit less than 4%

US doesn't look much different though.

TakeThis

dawniebug wrote: »

I think most people accept that any provider alters the rate but 1.52 my Travel Cash Vs 1.54 Caxton = not much of a difference in my book? Don't know what any one else thinks?

This is a website dedicated to getting the best from your £.

It doesn't take much to see that they give you 1% less than Caxton via the exchange rate, but only give some of that 1% back via purchases. Use the ATM and they keep that extra 1%.
Doesn't make much financial sense to give it to them in the first place.