Prepaid money cards for Euros - experiences?

123rachel

Hi all,

I'm a student and will be travelling to Finland on an Erasmus exchange for almost four months later this year. Given Finland is an expensive country, in addition to the pound/euro exchange rate, I'm hoping to make my money stretch as far as I can.

As I'm only there a relatively short time I thought it might not be worth opening a bank account, but wondered about prepaid money cards.

Have any of you used these cards and do you have any recommendations on which one to go for, or any other advice?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Kernow666

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards


read that for starters

eDicky

Don't rely on a single source of funds, always have at least one backup.

Metro Bank has no fees for the use of its card in Europe, perfect MasterCard rates, issued immediately when you open an account in one of their London area branches.

The Norwich and Peterborough BS Gold Classic current account has no fees for using its debit card in any currency, excellent straight Visa exchange rates.

123rachel

Thanks, this is helpful, I will look into the Metro Bank and Norwich and Peterborough BS options!

eDicky

123rachel wrote: »

Thanks, this is helpful, I will look into the Metro Bank and Norwich and Peterborough BS options!

Ok, but hopefully you checked Mr Kernow's link. Revolut is the modern versatile solution, for free.

deadkenny

Watch out for hidden fees. I got scammed at the airport collecting cash from Moneycorp where they convinced me to go with a prepaid card for same rate and no fees in cash machines or usage. They neglected to point out the small print which says they charge a fee per month for non usage, so anything remaining will get eaten away. If you want to cash it out through them, more fees. I tried paying the balance into my paypal account in Euros (to avoid exchange fees) which I'd done some years ago with another prepaid card but it rejected the card.