Is the Caxton FX Pre-Paid card any good?

MJaye

Has anyone heard of the Caxton FX card? Is it anything to do with the Fair FX card?

What's your opinion on it and is it any good in comparison to the ones recommended on the website like WeSwap and Revolut?

Thanks
MJaye

Kernow666

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews97119.html


https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.caxtonfx.com


http://www.money.co.uk/prepaid-cards/card-issuers/Caxton-fx-Prepaid-Card.htm


https://www.topcashback.co.uk/caxton_fx_prepaid_currency_cards/reviews

Neil49

I've used a Caxton card for many years and aside from a few glitches with their website and topping up it has been generally ok.

I've had euro and $US loaded on and it has worked fine when abroad. I've had a look at some of the reviews suggested by Kernow and they look quite bad, however, a lot of the issues raised have been caused by people not understanding how they work and the strict controls imposed when topping up.

If I was going to get a similar card now I wouldn't bother with this type of prepaid card unless you wanted a means of purchasing currency when you considered the rates to be competitive and were happy to leave the money on the account year after year. If you want something for a one off holiday then it is not worth the hassle.

I've also noticed that their exchange rates aren't as competitive as they used to be. We recently went to Spain and we purchased cash from M&S at a better rate than Caxton were offering on the same day.

To sum up, there are better options out there.

stingrayj

always been very efficient. i've used one for five years or so, vg for ATM withdrawls. BUT I'm trying to find out how much they 'load' the exchange rate when you spend abroad. Can anyone help?

Neil49

stingrayj wrote: »

always been very efficient. i've used one for five years or so, vg for ATM withdrawls. BUT I'm trying to find out how much they 'load' the exchange rate when you spend abroad. Can anyone help?

I don't quite follow what you mean.

If you spend €75 in a restaurant then that is what is debited from the euro balance on your account with Caxton, no more, no less. The only loading is when you add funds from your UK bank account which is converted to your chosen currency on your card. Even then, the rate they quote when you top up is the rate used. At that point in time you could calculate the markup.

Similarly, if you withdraw €200 from an atm, that is what is debited from your balance.

sillygoose

Same here used one for years, managing it via text messages was not bad but the app on my phone makes it a doddle. Mainly used in Greece where cash is better for paying for stuff. As cash machine withdrawals are free it saves having a bundle of cash to worry about as we just take out cash as we need it.
Exchange rates are usually competive with main exchanges pre-order rates.
I charged up mine with quite a lot just before the brexit vote so most my forthcoming holiday will be with euros bought at 1.31.
For some reason MSE has something against it and doesn't ever mention it now in official articles but they used to, I don't think Caxton is such a bad deal it should be excluded so must be other reasons...
.

eDicky

sillygoose wrote: »

For some reason MSE has something against it and doesn't ever mention it now in official articles but they used to, I don't think Caxton is such a bad deal it should be excluded so must be other reasons...
.

Better / cheaper alternatives probably...

stingrayj

Neil49 wrote: »

I don't quite follow what you mean.

If you spend €75 in a restaurant then that is what is debited from the euro balance on your account with Caxton, no more, no less. The only loading is when you add funds from your UK bank account which is converted to your chosen currency on your card. Even then, the rate they quote when you top up is the rate used. At that point in time you could calculate the markup.

Similarly, if you withdraw €200 from an atm, that is what is debited from your balance.

I work across the world and always top up in sterling. When I say pay for a meal in Indonesia it's in rupiah, or in Vietnam it's in dong. Caxton load the exchange rate, but by how much?

eDicky

stingrayj wrote: »

I work across the world and always top up in sterling. When I say pay for a meal in Indonesia it's in rupiah, or in Vietnam it's in dong. Caxton load the exchange rate, but by how much?

It's probably 2-3%. If they don't tell you in their T&Cs or a fees and limits page on their website, you can calculate it when using the card. Compare the rate you receive, the amount in GBP taken for a purchase in rupiah, for example, with the mid-market rate shown on xe.com at that time.

Doshwaster

I've been using the Caxton card for years without trouble. They used to have separate Dollar, Euro and Sterling cards but now you can store them all on the same one and switch balances between currencies online.

I now use Clarity as my main overseas card but Caxton is a useful backup.

Browntoa

Ive swapped from this to supercard mainly to avoid having to preload