UKash Pre Paid travel Card

NiftyDigits

Jules2013 wrote: »

Thanks Nifty Digits! I was leaning towards Halifax clarity so that's good! As I am "of a certain age" is the Saga card a better deal than the Halifax one? Thanks again!

Halifax is better, especially if you can afford to clear your balances promptly. In other words, to pay down balances before statements have even been produced. Get to know your statement cut off dates.
Take a SAGA card too, as it's a VISA card. Not a bad idea to have one of each.

jeanpierre121

NiftyDigits wrote: »

and how would you know this?

this actually happned to me as well. a lady from their call centre told me the same and i got my money back after a few days. annoying, but they were pretty helpful

notadwarf

Their website is saying 5-7 working days to receive a card. On the telephone they are saying at least 10 working days. They offer a 4 hour call-back. The call was received many hours later - not by the manager as promised, but by the same person who dealt with the call.

I have been cut-off several times and they blamed it on their systems. Rarely when calling has my identity been checked!!

Even completing their cancellation form - with the correct information - they are trying the wriggle out of it saying that I have given them the wrong account information. I'd rather pay 3% extra on my HSBC Premier master card and not have this hassle and speak to the good people there.

JoseChungsDoomsday

These new companies will have a few teething problems, though it's no excuse for their call centres to not know whats going on.

I have a CaxtonFX $ card and wouldn't go to america without it

Alak_2

I'm posting my experience here with Ukash as it's being promoted as the top prepaid travel card. I ordered my card on 15 July. You have to load with at least 50gbp. At the same time, I ordered a Caxton card. Caxton ask for a £10 deposit, and you can have secondary cards linked to the primary account, which you can't do with Ukash. The Ukash card had not arrived by 23 July, while the Caxton arrived within 5 days. I called Ukash, and was told that they were having trouble with the card issuer and things were taking longer than expected. If you were travelling within the next couple of days, they were offering a refund, which would be processed 'quicker than their normal 10 working days'. The operator couldn't tell me why they didn't send an email to everyone explaining the delay.

While I was on the phone, the operator told me that the list of recently dispatched cards had just arrived and asked me to hold on while she checked if my name was on the list. It was (apparently) and my card arrived on 25 July. Getting the PIN worked OK, although you can't change it, ever.

(Meanwhile, my OH ordered another Caxton card on 20 July, and it arrived before the Ukash card! I don't know if you can change PIN numbers on Caxton cards).

Then I found out that the Ukash app is not for the travel money card (after fruitlessly putting my details in several times - why is this not made clear?). The Caxton app seems to work.

I haven't used either card abroad yet, we'll see if it all goes smoothly. The difference in rates between Ukash and Caxton is only 1 cent on the pound. I think Ukash being new, are having problems coping with the demand, and based on this initial experience I would not recommend them until there is a lot more experience with them.

MidasTouched

Saw this prepaid card advertised on moneysavingexpert as having the best FX rates and (what is important to me) charging no fees for ATM withdrawals abroad so decided to give it a go.

I Ordered my EUR card on 7th July. The application process took me around 4 minutes in total so a plus up front to Ukash for a hassle-free online experience.

The card arrived on 16th July, which is 7 working days from ordering - they advertised 5-7 working days when I was placing my order. Could do better especially since people tend to buy those kinds of products at the very last minute. I planned my holiday well in advance so luckily the somewhat long delivery timeframe didn't affect my travel plans.

The card arrived with activation instructions printed on the letter and also a handy tri-fold credit-card-sized booklet with info on how to top-up, check balance etc. I logged in to the account management portal (mytravelcard.ukash.com) immediately upon receiving the card to see my balance and there it was - some 1200 euros, (apparently) safe and sound.

Finally, I took the card with me on my trip to France and it worked fine in shops, restaurants and ATMs. The only times it didn't work was at motorway toll booths and self-service petrol stations. I found a topic in Ukash's FAQs where they recommend against using it at unattended points of sale, so fair enough. I wonder if this is the case with any prepaid card?

When I ran out of funds I logged in again to the mytravelcard portal to top-up. The links took me to the Ukash website to which I had to login separately in order to top-up (annoying). But once logged in the top up went through with no problems. It would be useful to have a mobile app to manage your account and top-up.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the service. I would give it a 9/10 but because of the long delivery timeframe, clunky top-up process and lack of a mobile app it's a 7/10. Worth noting that this is a new company so it would be interesting to see how they will react to some of the feedback people are giving and if they will act on it.

In summary:

+ very good deal on FX
+ no ATM fees when you withdraw abroad
+ hassle-free application
+ decent acceptance abroad (in my experience)
+ the little booklet that came with the card (it was actually quite useful!)

- long delivery timeframe, you have to order it well in advance
- separate websites for topping-up and checking balance
- no mobile app
- card not accepted at motorway toll booths and self-service petrol stations (I'm an avid driver so these things are quite important to me)

NiftyDigits

If you use a Prepaid card for purchases, Kalixa Pay is better.
If you live close to London and intend to travel within the EEA, pop into a branch of Metro Bank and get a debit card.
Prepaid Euro card is only ok if you can't get a Metro Bank card and you intend to make a lot of small ATM withdrawals.

Cell

MidasTouched wrote: »

Saw this prepaid card advertised on moneysavingexpert as having the best FX rates and (what is important to me) charging no fees for ATM withdrawals abroad so decided to give it a go.

I Ordered my EUR card on 7th July. The application process took me around 4 minutes in total so a plus up front to Ukash for a hassle-free online experience.

The card arrived on 16th July, which is 7 working days from ordering - they advertised 5-7 working days when I was placing my order. Could do better especially since people tend to buy those kinds of products at the very last minute. I planned my holiday well in advance so luckily the somewhat long delivery timeframe didn't affect my travel plans.

The card arrived with activation instructions printed on the letter and also a handy tri-fold credit-card-sized booklet with info on how to top-up, check balance etc. I logged in to the account management portal (mytravelcard.ukash.com) immediately upon receiving the card to see my balance and there it was - some 1200 euros, (apparently) safe and sound.

Finally, I took the card with me on my trip to France and it worked fine in shops, restaurants and ATMs. The only times it didn't work was at motorway toll booths and self-service petrol stations. I found a topic in Ukash's FAQs where they recommend against using it at unattended points of sale, so fair enough. I wonder if this is the case with any prepaid card?

When I ran out of funds I logged in again to the mytravelcard portal to top-up. The links took me to the Ukash website to which I had to login separately in order to top-up (annoying). But once logged in the top up went through with no problems. It would be useful to have a mobile app to manage your account and top-up.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the service. I would give it a 9/10 but because of the long delivery timeframe, clunky top-up process and lack of a mobile app it's a 7/10. Worth noting that this is a new company so it would be interesting to see how they will react to some of the feedback people are giving and if they will act on it.

In summary:

+ very good deal on FX
+ no ATM fees when you withdraw abroad
+ hassle-free application
+ decent acceptance abroad (in my experience)
+ the little booklet that came with the card (it was actually quite useful!)

- long delivery timeframe, you have to order it well in advance
- separate websites for topping-up and checking balance
- no mobile app
- card not accepted at motorway toll booths and self-service petrol stations (I'm an avid driver so these things are quite important to me)

That's a good review actually - nice one.

As mentioned before I had problems logging in abroad, and the 'double' logging in only made it worse. I still don't know how I had managed to reach my transaction limit (so called) but given my one experience of customer service I'm not going to bother trying to get an explanation when it no longer matters.

I didn't get a booklet at all.

And the inability to obtain a balance from a foreign ATM was a major downer.

I'll look elsewhere next time unless things evolve, in which case it'll be worth trying again.

NossenBer

Ukash website now says they charge E1.50 for ATM withdrawals and E3.00 per month dormancy fee after three months. Have they changed t's and c's and can they do that after I have got my card?

NiftyDigits

NossenBer wrote: »

Ukash website now says they charge E1.50 for ATM withdrawals and E3.00 per month dormancy fee after three months. Have they changed t's and c's and can they do that after I have got my card?

No change in the T&C to the Travel Money Prepaid Mastercard: Ukash Travel Money Card

Aaa...they have more than one link. This one for their Prepaid Mastercard: Ukash Prepaid Mastercard

Just make sure that you applied for the correct card.