halifax clarity vs caxton fx

dantheman144

first post so go easy on me . I had a caxton fx card and used it and all was well . then I read that the Halifax clarity card was the best so now I have one of those. ive used it and all was well with that too. I also applied for a supercard but haveent used that yet. im going away in a couple of weeks and was wondering what card to use. from doing some reading I assumed it would be between the supercard and the clarity card as the mastercard rate is slightly better than the visa rate . one thing that confused me was that when I checked what rate I would get if I loaded my caxton fx card (1.40) it was a better rate than the clarity card (1.39) . am I missing something? I assumed the clarity card would beat it hands down.. I know its a very insignificant amount but just wondered .. any ideas?

adindas

dantheman144 wrote: »

first post so go easy on me . I had a caxton fx card and used it and all was well . then I read that the Halifax clarity card was the best so now I have one of those. ive used it and all was well with that too. I also applied for a supercard but haveent used that yet. im going away in a couple of weeks and was wondering what card to use. from doing some reading I assumed it would be between the supercard and the clarity card as the mastercard rate is slightly better than the visa rate . one thing that confused me was that when I checked what rate I would get if I loaded my caxton fx card (1.40) it was a better rate than the clarity card (1.39) . am I missing something? I assumed the clarity card would beat it hands down.. I know its a very insignificant amount but just wondered .. any ideas?

It might be because you are not comparing at the same time span. Keep in mind exchange rate is changing all the time.

SnowTiger

Presumably €1.39? I'd guess that is yesterday's rate, whereas the rate offered by Caxton is for now (today).

By the time you go away you might find the rate is higher or lower. It's a gamble whether you should lock yourself in to Caxton's rate now.

The Euro seems to be at it's peak. I think it will drop now that the Greek problem has been (perhaps temporarily) avoided.

So, stocking up with Euros on the Caxton card might be a good idea. No charges or fees I guess?

Two downsides with pre-pay cards: are they accepted everywhere a proper card is?; how easy is it to get your money back if fraud or chargeback happens?

adindas

SnowTiger wrote: »

Two downsides with pre-pay cards: are they accepted everywhere a proper card is?; how easy is it to get your money back if fraud or chargeback happens?

Also my personal experience, at sometime in the future you will need to replace the card as the card has expired. There is a fee to pay for the new card. If you did not replace the card and your card is expired, you will loose all of your money in the card. I lost £10 on my FairFX prepaid card due to this.

redux

adindas wrote: »

Also my personal experience, at sometime in the future you will need to replace the card as the card has expired. There is a fee to pay for the new card. If you did not replace the card and your card is expired, you will loose all of your money in the card. I lost £10 on my FairFX prepaid card due to this.

If the card has been used a certain amount, they may make a discounted or free offer for the renewal fee. Mine was free a few months ago, even though I had only used about £10 in the past 12 months, and not a huge amount the year before.

I think Kalixa is also worth a mention on here. Better exchange rate than Caxton or Fairfx, and all currencies.

adindas

redux wrote: »

If the card has been used a certain amount, they may make a discounted or free offer for the renewal fee. Mine was free a few months ago, even though I had only used about £10 in the past 12 months, and not a huge amount the year before.

We can not take this into account as this is random to each individual. I lost £10 remaining in my card.

redux wrote: »

I think Kalixa is also worth a mention on here. Better exchange rate than Caxton or Fairfx, and all currencies.

I wonder why people keep talking about Pre-paid cards like this. Pre-paid cards such as Caxton or Fairfx, Kalixa will never ever beat the free fee for foreign transaction debit cards. Take also into consideration of card replacement fee.

Also they are history due to their inferior exchange rate compared to other alternatives. It will suit to people who do not follow the trend.

In addition to fee free debitcards, read about the new comers, Revolut and/or Travellex Supercard.

grumbler

adindas wrote: »

Also my personal experience, at sometime in the future you will need to replace the card as the card has expired. There is a fee to pay for the new card. If you did not replace the card and your card is expired, you will loose all of your money in the card. I lost £10 on my FairFX prepaid card due to this.

You could have cancelled it and got the money refunded.

redux

adindas wrote: »

We can not take this into account as this is random to each individual. I lost £10 remaining in my card.



I wonder why people keep talking about Pre-paid cards like this. Pre-paid cards such as Caxton or Fairfx, Kalixa will never ever beat the free fee for foreign transaction debit cards. Take also into consideration of card replacement fee.

Also they are history due to their inferior exchange rate compared to other alternatives. It will suit to people who do not follow the trend.

In addition to fee free debitcards, read about the new comers, Revolut and/or Travellex Supercard.

Perhaps if you'd logged in to Fairfx a month or two before renewal you might have spotted something.

Kalixa does not have an inferior exchange rate, or I would not have suggested it.

As for Supercard and Revolut, I was on the Supercard email list a couple of months before MSE promoted it, and they never told me about the upcoming launch. My Revolut card was due to arrive within 2 days some time ago, still not here yet, so all I have is a phone application that I can't sign into.

ManAtHome

I have both Clarity and Caxton - mainly use the Clarity and keep the Caxton as a 'euro in my sock' emergency back-up. I have been loading a bit more than usual to the Caxton recently due to the excellent rate (a few hudred euros in t'sock), but will still use the Clarity as the main card.

I'm now on my 3rd Caxton card - haven't been charged a renewal fee yet.

Revolut_Official

Hi redux,

Apologies for the delay on your card! If you need the card urgently please contact our in-App support chat and we will be able to get an emergency card out to you very quickly.

redux wrote: »

Perhaps if you'd logged in to Fairfx a month or two before renewal you might have spotted something.

Kalixa does not have an inferior exchange rate, or I would not have suggested it.

As for Supercard and Revolut, I was on the Supercard email list a couple of months before MSE promoted it, and they never told me about the upcoming launch. My Revolut card was due to arrive within 2 days some time ago, still not here yet, so all I have is a phone application that I can't sign into.

redux

Revolut_Official wrote: »

Hi redux,

Apologies for the delay on your card! If you need the card urgently please contact our in-App support chat and we will be able to get an emergency card out to you very quickly.

How am I supposed to do that?

I can't log in to the app, as it wants a passcode. I assume this comes in the post either with the card or preferably separately, or maybe by email.