Travelex Supercard - Goodbye!

michaelm

I just got the same letter. This is a real blow to may family as we're going to America twice later in the year, and our daughter is getting married in County Donegal in August, and we had been kind of relying on the Supercard. We've made good use of it in the last couple of years, particularly for large transactions, such as booking flights to America from Dublin, paying for hotel accommodation etc.

So is there any real alternative to Supercard? I don't mean a loaded card, but one which is tied to your bank account and acts like your bank card?

chamelion

doesn't anyone use a curve card? use that in conjunction with something like santander / halifax / capital one cards that don't charge any forex fees.

nk8

michaelm wrote: »

So is there any real alternative to Supercard? I don't mean a loaded card, but one which is tied to your bank account and acts like your bank card?

I am after the same too. These types of cards are called proxy cards and Supercard was provided by Wirecard AG. I personally, do not know of any other proxy card that is similar to the Supercard in anyway.

Supercard's benefits to me were a simple 2.99% for foreign cash withdrawals to a linked credit card (no further interest was charged from the credit card), and obviously the foreign payments without fees, just the straight exchange rate.

There is the Halifax Clarity card and Creation but they don't, as far as I am aware have the same benefits when withdrawing cash at an ATM, they are fee free for foreign transactions only, please correct me if I am wrong though.

takman

nk8 wrote: »

I am after the same too. These types of cards are called proxy cards and Supercard was provided by Wirecard AG. I personally, do not know of any other proxy card that is similar to the Supercard in anyway.

Supercard's benefits to me were a simple 2.99% for foreign cash withdrawals to a linked credit card (no further interest was charged from the credit card), and obviously the foreign payments without fees, just the straight exchange rate.

There is the Halifax Clarity card and Creation but they don't, as far as I am aware have the same benefits when withdrawing cash at an ATM, they are fee free for foreign transactions only, please correct me if I am wrong though.

Halifax Clarity card and Creation Everyday offer both fee free spending and withdrawals abroad.


I have a Halifax Clarity Card but have now gone to using Monzo aswell which is a prepaid card with no fees for purchases or cash withdrawals abroad.
Plus with Monzo you get the benefit of no "negative" marks on your credit report when you withdraw cash that you get with credit cards such as Halifax Clarity card and Creation Everyday.

BlondBoy

Feels like a natural conclusion to what it always was - a market research exercise. At the time of launching the beta, Travelex said it was an attempt to better understand its customers spending. Else they change cash at a bureau and go away again.

Its business model was never likely to make it any money. Sounds like it's been losing them more than they predicted. And they'll probably learn just as much from their prepaid card.

Agree with others above - the beta product was terrific. Tried the live product a couple of times, but found the Halifax Clarity and Lloyds Avios more reliable and easier to use.

File under 'market research dressed up as a product' and move on, I think. But the beta was good while it lasted.

PeacefulWaters

In other words, you can't make enough money out of offering a perfect exchange rate.

A_T

It always seemed like a loss-leader and Travelex obviously weren't getting much out of it. Shame thought as it was the only way to use the long period 0% purchase cards abroad with no fees.

michaelm

I'm not looking for a credit card of any description. That ship has sailed where I'm concerned, and credit card companies should be shut down for their disgraceful practices. So I'm only after what NK8 has described as a "proxy card", preferably one with good exchange rates and 0 fees.

A_T

michaelm wrote: »

I'm not looking for a credit card of any description. That ship has sailed where I'm concerned, and credit card companies should be shut down for their disgraceful practices. So I'm only after what NK8 has described as a "proxy card", preferably one with good exchange rates and 0 fees.

So you want to use a debit card? For your holiday why not just transfer your cash to Monzo or Revolut?

worried_jim

I had the Supercard as part of the original beta and it was fab- used it in Turkey and Egypt, loved the unlimited atm withdrawals as my holidays are all about cash (local bar bills etc).

Then they started charging for atm withdrawals so I switched to Revolut who had unlimited cash usage, again used it in Turkey and Egypt last year and now they have limited their atm usage to £200pcm fee free.

I did use my supercard this week to buy my Turkish visa for 2017 @ $20 with out any charges and was going to keep it as an emergency back up to Revolut but I have since discovered and now joined -

https://monzo.com/download/

as it (for now) offers unlimited cash atm withdrawals at the Mastercard interbank (or as close to) rate with out a fee which is more suited to my style of holiday spending. Just had to top it up with £100 to qualify (transfered £62 back from Revolut so only spent £38 today) and they say I shall have the card by Saturday- not needed till mid June but good to get sorted now.