Travelex prepaid debit cards

My husband, Nelson, and I traveled to France in June ’09 and to England and France in July-August ’10. Each time, we took cash to Washington Dulles airport and, before our flight, found a Travelex counter and got a Cash Passport prepaid debit card in euros. Each had a magnetic stripe but no chip.

What I particularly liked is that these prepaid cards were not linked to any bank account, and if one were lost, stolen or compromised, Travelex would put an immediate stop on it and issue us a new card.

Because we got a better rate having one account with more money rather than two accounts, we got two cards linked to the same account.

One advantage — with the card in the local currency (euros), we were not charged a currency-conversion fee for each transaction; something like $4 each time can add up. (In England we carried cash, British pounds.) Also, we could go online to check our transactions and the balance.

On a couple of occasions in France, my Travelex card did not work the first time. I asked the person swiping the card to try again. It always worked on the second try.

Upon our return, I was able to cash in the euros on my card at the counter at Washington Dulles. The Travelex agent told me I could do that at an ATM machine, as well.

I cut up my Cash Passport when I got home, but it’s best to wait a month, check your balance and then destroy the card. Last year, a merchant made a mistake and credited $158 back to my account; I almost missed that.

Funnily enough, I ended up losing my backup MasterCard in France this time and someone tried to use it. I had to put a stop on the card, and it took two weeks to get a replacement.

GRETCHEN COVER

Indian Harbour Beach, FL

ITN contacted Travelex Currency Services, Inc. (global headquarters in London; North American headquarters at 29 Broadway, 1st Floor, New York, NY 10006; e-mail retail.marketing@travelexamericas.com or visit www.travelex.com/us) and asked about fees, etc. The following information was received.

There is no fee to load money onto the British-pound or euro Cash Passport card, whether it’s purchased online or at a retail store. (Travelex does apply a small margin to the exchange rate at the initial time of purchase. The margin is applied to the spot rate; spot rates are typically reserved for large-volume, interbank transactions.)

Additional benefits for in-store purchases kick in at $250, $500 and $1,000. At $1,000, all three of these are offered: $0 Fee Buy Back, no service charge and a discounted rate. In select stores, the rate is discounted heavily when at least $2,500 is put on a Cash Passport.

There are advantages to having two cards linked to the same account. If one of the cards gets lost or stolen, the customer can notify our card services team and they will deactivate the lost card. The secondary card will still have the remaining funds available and can be used at any time. If both cards are lost or stolen, both can be replaced within 24 hours.

The exchange rate is locked in at the time of purchase; there will be no rate fluctuations while the card is being used because it is denominated in the currency of the destination country. Our online rates can differ slightly.

A Cash Passport can be reloaded in participating stores within the US, over the phone via the call center (using a toll-free number) or at our website.

There are several ways to cash out a Cash Passport. Because exchange rates fluctuate on a daily basis, we cannot promise to cash out the card at the rate at which it was purchased. However, if the card is purchased online or at any of our retail stores in the US, with a minimum of $250 we offer $0 Fee Buy Back, meaning that when the customer returns from his trip, within 90 days any Travelex retail store within the US will cash out the foreign-currency card to US dollars at our best daily rate without any markup.

The customer can also, upon his return, withdraw any remaining funds at an ATM or unload the card over the phone with a member of our Card Services team. If the card is cashed-out via the call center, Travelex will withdraw the funds from the card at the prevailing daily rate of exchange, deduct $20 from the balance and send a check in US dollars for the remainder to the customer’s address.

The card can continue to be used at merchants’ throughout the US wherever MasterCard is accepted. Like the ATM transaction, funds will be converted based on the rate of exchange on the date of the withdrawal transaction.

Travelex Americas - Currency Services