When are these cards not suitable for travellers? Do they have any down sides?
To begin, the same downsides that happen if you use a prepaid card in your own town instead of your regular card.
For me this is already a huge downside over just using one of my regular credit cards.
In addition, for these prepaid travel cards,
To me it offers no advantages at all and I wouldn’t consider using one.
These cards are made for travelers who have the cash and do not need to “borrow” money from the bank using a regular credit card, but they want the benefits of credit card in terms of ease of use and acceptance.
Having said that, comparing them to credit cards does not make sense. The better way is to compare them to debit cards.
I have used this exact type of cards from three local banks in the past few years, and I am happy with them. They are safer as I only load them with the expected amount I think I’d need, the availability of multiple currencies makes the exchange rate perfect. However, the local banks in my country adds a small % on top of the exchange rate as “fees”, this is the only down side I can think of, but on the long run I think they are OK, it will save me from the temptation of not paying my credit card bills and paying the minimum due which will make the bill higher.
Also, losing the card is not a problem, as you can login to the bank online and move the amount to your current account and then use your debit card.
Bottom line, check the rate for exchange using these cards and if there’s any hidden fees that aren’t available with normal credit cards issued by the same bank.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
5 Mar, 2024
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