Advice on pre paid Credit Cards

[ChrisSue]

Although we have travelled abroad often we've never used a pre paid card but we are thinking of getting one.
Just looking for advice on which one is best please

 

[PlacidoD]

You will get lots of replies on this one. I have used a FairFX card for years without problems.

It gets occasional use in the UK when/if my main bank account stops working online.
And as with all these cards I can make instant online exchanges e.g from Sterling to Euros. I did that over the weekend in the middle of the night when sterling was particularly strong ready for my late April trip to France. I pay for almost all transactions in Europe using that card. I just keep a few 10s of Euros in my wallet.

Given that I have had my card for ages I would be unaware of any marginal benefit one card has over another. But I do strongly recommend the use of this type of pre-paid card. The other obvious advantage is a limit to the loss that can be sustained. Worst case scenario is that you lose the money deposited rather than the thousands that might be in your main bank account or available as headroom on a conventional credit card.

 

[Figaro]

Revolut for me, always works as it should and good currency conversion rates during banking hours.
I use the free basic option but there are premium cards which offer a few bells and whistles

 

[carolyn]

There are lots now. Revolut, Starling, Monzo to name 3 . With Revolut you can convert sterling into foreign currency wallets when the rate is good. Starling has the advantage of larger fee free cash withdrawals. We have all 3.

There are others but the above are easy.

 

[Howard B]

Not pre paid but we use a Currensea card when travelling overseas. Its linked to you bank account and always has a good rate. You can set your limits, check the rates or freeze the card etc using a phone app

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[Mleabon]

With Revolut you can set up an account that has Euros in so that you pay in the local currency. There is a conversion rate to move money from your £ account to your Euro account.

 

[BrochMike]

we are thinking of getting one

I've never felt the need personally as my usual debit cards work fine, fee free, across the world.

I'll be watching the thread but...
I'd really be Interested to know - why?

 

[VXman]

I don't see the advantage of pre paid over a normal (good for overseas use) debit or credit card.

We use chase debit card but just put money into the account as and when needed so there is never going to be much in it if it did get stolen/lost.

Other than that we use a Barclaycard reward credit card. Again good exchange rate with no foreign use charges. Excellent for taking cash out too. As a credit card losses will be minimal as long you report it lost/stolen as then the cc company will be responsible. Being a credit card you get extra protection on purchases too.

 

[ChrisSue]

Our reasoning is that we would only need to have one card on our person which we could put enough money for the day on. We are going to Toulouse and last time we were there I had my pocket picked

 

[Mr Mrs T]

Wise might be worth a look also.

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[ChrisSue]

Just .looking at FairFX which says it can be used anywhere with a Mastercard facility. I can't see anything on the Revolut site showing any restrictions. Does anyone know if a, Mastercard only is an issue or b, if there is a restriction with Revolut please

 

[funflair]

Just .looking at FairFX which says it can be used anywhere with a Mastercard facility. I can't see anything on the Revolut site showing any restrictions. Does anyone know if a, Mastercard only is an issue or b, if there is a restriction with Revolut please

Revolut works for us, I took out a Premium plan for a year as we were travelling to New Zealand and making a lot of transactions (there are limits on the free card) I like that you can create a disposable one off use card for internet transactions, you can set up a banks card or account to automatically top it up and then just “go spend” still the best currency conversion rate I believe.

 

[funflair]

I've never felt the need personally as my usual debit cards work fine, fee free, across the world.

I'll be watching the thread but...
I'd really be Interested to know - why?

You say “fee free” but there will be a % to exchange from your purchase currency back to £, whether it is a big deal is another matter and might depend on how much you are spending

 

[Themselves]

I use Starling. It works a treat. Pay in local currency if you want to with no exchange rate fees. Pays a small amount of interest. Can be locked via your phone in case the light -fingered make off with it.

 

[carolyn]

I've never felt the need personally as my usual debit cards work fine, fee free, across the world.

I'll be watching the thread but...
I'd really be Interested to know - why?

That’s fine for you but most high street bank debit cards aren’t fee free. You don’t need to bother but most people will. We have a Lloyds premier account and for the last few years the debit card has been fee free but their standard account debit card certainly isn’t. You just need to look at Martin Lewis website to see the fees the main banks charge.

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[Barclaybasher]

Our reasoning is that we would only need to have one card on our person which we could put enough money for the day on. We are going to Toulouse and last time we were there I had my pocket picked

I always carry at least 2 cards - i have Revolut and Starling prepaid and other cards and cash.

Not all cards work every time

And...no I don't have a Barclaycard.....

 

[Mleabon]

I accidentally used my Tesco card to pay a foreign bill and was shocked at the charge.

 

[seanandjules]

I use Starling. It works a treat. Pay in local currency if you want to with no exchange rate fees. Pays a small amount of interest. Can be locked via your phone in case the light -fingered make off with it.

Same. Their fees are good and the immediate notification is nice.

Have started using Wise as they've upped their game a bit (worked for a Dubai company so needed a account in USD) - they do tell me when it's a good idea to move the USD to UKP. Need to work out whether their actual fx rates are any good as I only use them when I need to.

 

[MerlinUK]

We use the Revolut card. It was the best thing we ever did.

One of the primary advantages for us is that Revolut uses interbank exchange rates for currency conversion. This means you can often get a better rate than you would with traditional banks or currency exchange bureaux, which typically add a higher margin on conversions.

They also minimise extra charges by offering fee-free transactions in multiple currencies up to certain limits. When you spend abroad, you’re less likely to incur the hefty conversion fees that many banks levy.

 

[Lenny HB]

We use Revolut, big advantage of pre paid cards are you can top up currencies when rates are good and if the rates fall you can convert back if you don't need that currency and often make a profit.

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[Widge]

Revolut for me, always works as it should and good currency conversion rates during banking hours.
I use the free basic option but there are premium cards which offer a few bells and whistles

We have used revolut since 2016, and it has evolved a lot since then, but use it to transfer money from our pensions in the UK to France every month. but we have just booked a holiday and I used my natwest credit card to pay just under 3000€ for the flights, and got a better rate than revolut with no charges, but this was buying something, but I checked on their calculator the same amount but cash, and it was a lot more expensive.