Travelex Money Card review
- Initial Load Fee
- 1.1% of initial load value or $15, whichever is greater
- Reload fee
- 1.1% of transaction value or $15, whichever is greater
Summary
The Travelex Money Card lets you carry 10 currencies, with no fees for international ATM withdrawals or top-ups made through Travelex, but a 1% fee for BPAY loads from your bank account.
Details
Features
| Available Currencies | AUD, USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, THB |
| Multiple Currencies on One Card? | Yes |
| Number of Cards Issued | 1 |
| Minimum Load Amount | $100 |
| Maximum Load Amount | $50,000 |
| Maximum Load Amount (Annual) | $75,000 |
| 24 Hour ATM Cash Withdrawal Limit | $3,000 |
| 24 Hour Purchase (POS) Transaction Limit | $15,000 |
Fees
| Card Issue Fee | $0 |
| Initial Load Fee | 1.1% of initial load value or $15, whichever is greater |
| ATM Withdrawal Fee | Overseas and domestic: $0 but some ATM operators may charge their own fee |
| Inactivity Fee (Monthly) | $4 |
| Card Replacement Fee | $0 |
| Currency Conversion Fee | 0% |
| BPAY Reload Fee | 1% of the reload amount |
| Account Closing Fee | $10 |
Restrictions
| Minimum Age | 18 |
| Available to Temporary Residents? | No |
Travelex Money Card supported currencies
You can load funds and spend them in these 10 currencies:
- Australian dollars (AUD)
- Canadian dollars (CAD)
- Great British pounds (GBP)
- Euros (EUR)
- Hong Kong dollars (HKD)
- Japanese yen (JPY)
- New Zealand dollars (NZD)
- Singapore dollars (SGD)
- Thai baht (THB)
- US dollars (USD)
Features of the Travelex Money Card
- Support for 10 currencies. As well as Australian dollars, you can load 9 supported currencies. This gives you a way to avoid exchange rate changes and manage your travel budget.
- No currency conversion fees for other currencies. If you're paying in a currency not supported by the card, the funds will be converted as part of the transaction, with no currency conversion fee. In comparison, some other cards charge a currency conversion fee of around 2–4%.
- Complimentary Wi-Fi access. This card offers complimentary Wi-Fi access at millions of locations around the world through Boingo. Just pre-load $100 or more on your card, then register via the Boingo website to get up to 3 months of free Wi-Fi. You can also get an additional 3 months free for further top-ups of $100 or more.
- Worldwide acceptance. You can use this card in over 200 countries and regions around the world, wherever Mastercard prepaid cards are accepted.
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals. The Travelex Money Card does not charge a withdrawal fee at overseas ATMs. There's also no ATM fees in Australia if you have Australian dollars loaded on the card. Just keep in mind that some ATM operators charge a fee, which is typically displayed before you make a withdrawal.
- Card management. You can check your balance, load foreign currency, view details of current exchange rates and manage other details for your card through the Travelex website and Travelex Money app. There are also no fees when you top up through the Travelex website or app.
How much does the Travelex Money Card cost?
- Purchase fee. There is no purchase fee when you order the Travelex Money Card online through the website or Travelex Money App. When you get one in-store, you won't pay a fee if you're loading foreign currency directly onto the card but when loading in AUD, you'll pay 1.1% of the initial load or $15 (whichever is worth more).
- Reload fees. There are no fees when you reload this card through travelex.com.au or the Travelex Money App. In-store, there is no fee for loading foreign currency. But other types of loads attract the following fees:
- Loading AUD in-store: 1.1% of the initial load or AU$15 (whichever is worth more).
- BPAY from a bank account (not through Travelex): 1% of the reload amount.
- Monthly inactivity fee. A fee of $4 per month applies if you have not loaded or made a transaction with this card in the past 12 months. This fee won't be charged if you start using the card again, if the balance on your card is less than the fee or if you cancel the card.
- Closure/withdrawal fee. A Mastercard Prepaid fee of $10 applies when you close your card or withdraw from your card funds.
How to apply
You can apply for the Travelex Money Card online or through the Travelex Money App. You can also get one in a participating Travelex store. Just make sure you meet the following requirements.
- Australian address. You'll need to provide a valid Australian residential address, including if you're not an Australian resident.
- Identification. You need to provide a valid form of government-issued photo ID, such as your driver's licence or passport.
- Age. If you apply online or through the Travelex Money app, you'll need to be at least 18 years of age.
If you get a card in-store, it will be ready to use once you load funds onto it. But keep in mind the exchange rates in-store may be different to those online.
If you order a card online or through the app, you'll just need to activate it and load funds before you can use it.
Your reviews
Amy Finder
Editor
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Bill
October 17, 2018
If I have a Travelex money card with Euro and English pounds loaded, can I use it to touch and go on public transport and taxis overseas? Would there be fees attached?
Cheers
Charisse Finder
October 17, 2018
Hi Bill,
Thanks for reaching out to finder.
You can use the Travelex money card to make contactless payments as long as the public transports and taxis have Mastercard payment terminal (EFTPOS) that has contactless symbol. If you will be using the card to pay in any currency other than the currency available on your card, a foreign exchange margin applies to the transaction amount.
You can visit Travelex’ website to see the full information on their rates and fees.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Charisse
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Robyn
October 07, 2018
I need to use a travel card to go OS. However, I am going to Switzerland, Hungary, and Austria – I’m not sure if Austria has euro, but the other 2 don’t. What’s the best way for me to work out my money if cards like Travelex don’t hold currency that I want? I have used Travelex before in USA.
Thanks 😊
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May Finder
October 08, 2018
Hi Robyn,
Thanks for your question.
Apparently, there are no travel money cards that can hold all the currencies of the three countries you’ve mentioned. However, you may want to do deeper research on a practical way of bringing money/cards to those countries. You may need to consider the fees charged for currency conversion and international ATM withdrawals when comparing your options. Furthermore, you may like to check the following guides instead to get an idea of which card you could possibly get and use overseas:
- Travel Money Guide to Switzerland
- Travel Money Guide to Hungary
- Travel Money Guide – General for all other countries.
Best to check the reviews of your chosen card to make sure that it provides you the benefits considering your travel plans and spending habits.
I hope this somehow helps.
Cheers,
May
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Kathy
August 02, 2018
I’m trying to sign up for the free wi-if but it says my card is not eligible
Joel Marcelo
August 02, 2018
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for leaving a question on Finder.
You are supposed to get free WiFi from Travelex. All you have to do is to load at least $100 on your Travelex Money Card, enter your card details at mastercard.boingo.com, and wait 24 hours for it to be verified. If you can confirm that you have the steps I mentioned, you can contact them directly to ask what could be causing this decline.
Cheers,
Joel
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Elly
February 05, 2018
it says $0 ATM fee’s but $10 cash out fee.
so does that mean it costs $10 to take money out at a ATM?
Arnold
February 16, 2018
Hi Elly,
Thanks for your inquiry
The account does not charge you for ATM transactions but please note that other ATMs may have their own charges. The closing/cash out fee you are referring to applies only when you want to close the account and withdraw the remaining balance on the ATM.
Hope this information helps
Cheers,
Arnold
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Tim
July 23, 2019
I have used Travelex Money Card in the U.S. Travelex Money Card is basically Cash Passport with a “Travelex” logo printed on it. I have found it be fine to use for small transactions, e.g. purchasing meal at an airport, souvenir at gift shop. However, I have not always found it reliable for instances where your address details have to be transmitted with your CC details through the EFTPOS system. Cash Passport uses what’s called the Address Verification System (A/V.S.) as one means to verify the cardholder. All it does is try to match up the numerical components of the cardholder’s address – as stored in Cash Passport’s records – with the billing address provided to the merchant If the system does not recognize a ‘match’ for whatever reason, then the transaction is declined.
I used it a number of times pver the past 5 years with a particular motel in the U.S. with success. But then the last time I used it. the card was rejected because of some formatting error with the address. The staff member serving me didn’t seem very knowledgeable (she wasn’t the manager), and suggested I call Cash Passport. They told me it was an address error, and I asked them to detail me exactly how my address was recorded in their system, right down to lettering, full stops, spaces, abbreviations, etc. Then I instructed the merchant to enter my address again exactly as provided to me by CP. Still no joy. The CP consultant advised me that the only other option with the card was to withdraw from an ATM. On this occasion I did so, and had to withdraw a number of times, because ATM’s in that area had a USD $200 limit, and charged for each transaction. I suspect the merchant I was dealing with could have overridden the decline if she knew how (I provided I.D. and verification of my address). Unfortunately the manager was away for a few days.
I did have another card to try, a debit card, and that did not work either.
Unfortunately, I did not get much help from Mastercard in trying to understand exactly why the transaction declined. They just told me it was an A.V.S. failure to do with ‘bad address’. Some cursory research suggests to me that A.V.S. is capable of some false positives, and is not reliable with prepaid cards. Furthermore, U.S. and Canadian providers using A.V.S. don’t seem to ‘handshake’ very well with CC’s issued outside of those countries… in terms of verification of address. (I believe Cash Passport is ‘issued’ by Heritage Bank).
In my case, I suspect the decline was a combination of the merchant’s system and Cash Passport’s AVS.
Moral of the story? Have a contingency plan. Take a mix of money sources (which I did), e.g. backup card, currency. And find out in advance where your nearest ATM’s are, especially in a small town/city. If you are taking your CC linked to your native home account, make sure you advise your bank of your travel plans before you go (which I did). And preferably use a travel card that doesn’t employ A.V.S., which I am doing now.
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