Today I received my "my travel Cash" prepaid mastercard Considering I only ordered it yesterday I am very impressed (though I did pay £5 for the 2 day service). This prepaid mastercard is easy to get, following the on-screen prompts and filling in the form gets this sent out asap. You have to pre pay the card despite it being free to get one, but I topped mine up with £25 and so I still have that £25 on the card so it is mine to spend. There are three types of cards this company does. One is for the Euro zone, the other is for the USA and another for other currencies. I chose the other currencies and it is suitable for any country that accepts mastercard. Firstly it is not printed with my name on it, so it cannot be used as ID but then it is not used for that purpose. I guess they have hundreds of these ready to ship and send them to the people who order them and link the cards up to an account that gets created. I was going to get two of thee cards but seeing as it has no name on it I will simply leave this one in the Philippines with Joy when I return to the UK next March. I guess it will be a cheaper alternative to other remittance services (though I will report back after trying it). From what I have read about their exchange rates, they are supposed to be favourable. Though I plan to withdraw some cash with my current account debit card and this mastercard once in Pinas to see which works out the best. Here is a link to their site
Thanks Kuya, more good info. It's going to be interesting to compare exchange rates, charges and cost etc to see the overall picture. I notice the website states no ATM charges. I guess they mean by them as plenty of ATM's in Pinas will charge a fixed amount like P200 each transaction. Not all ATM's, but quite a few. Well, the ones I used did. I especially remember BDO machines charged P200 and at the same time put a limit of P5000 per transaction. Anyways, just something else to be aware of.
I bank with Natwest so it will be nice to see how they stack up against this card. Which reminds me... I had better order 10,000 pesos before the economy tanks again
Looks quite good, compared to many. The fee structure is very similar to the one I use. Still these things have the downside of a 3% foreign currency tarriff and that will probably be after the usual spread of around 2% on the exchange rate, then you have all the banks in the Phils charging 200 peso per withdrawal and just to add insult to injury the Philippine banks reduced the amount you could withdraw using a foreign credit or prepaid card from 20,000 per transaction to 10,000 per transaction back around 2008. You know that some banks in the Phils charge 76 peso just to receive an electronic transfer these days! Mastercard will work over there but you do know that a great many establishments will prefer Visa if they can get it. Also many places over there may get spooked by the fact your name is not on it? Does it require you to sign it on the back? Chip and pin is getting more widespread over there but any time you try to buy stuff with a chip and pin they will ask you to sign for it as well, crazy I know, but 99% of places I ever used a chip and pin card at did this!
Well certainly a good plan to try making withdrawals using your debit card and this one and it's always a great idea to have a back up card. But I doubt after the card charges and exchange rate stuff that it will be a lot cheaper than the likes of Western Union or that World remit service.
Since O2 stopped their excellent O2 Money Visa Card, I've switched to Neteller + Mastercard. Its not as good, but at least loads and purchases are free.
Im still using caxton card it never fails you can load it (any one of the 3 cureencys) on line by text or call them and they will ring you back anywhere in the world plus there exchange rates on dollars and euros is excellent and your name is on the card i alw3ayw get good rates on piso my missus is using the dollar card now
I already have Caxton too. Seems OK, although I haven't had the opportunity to use it so far. I think I originall got the idea from you Keith.
Ive been with them since august 08 never a glitch and with 3 of them in the phils you can if needed get 60,000 in 1 day
Quick update.. I've used this card twice since I got here. One thing I like about it is the fact it works on any ATM machine, whereas my banks debit card does not work on a BDO machine (Banco De Oro). As for the exchange rate versus my bank? I have no idea yet as these still take a few days to show up online...
Sounds good so far Kuya. Thanks for updating. I'll be interested in seeing the exchange rates, but to be honest the simplicity and convenience is worth a few pesos anyway. Last time I used BDO ATM it stated that a P200 fee would be charged.
Another update, this mastercard works with booking flights via Cebu Pacific on their website As for their rates compared to my banks, actually they are very slightly more expensive (though it might turn out that they are cheaper if my bank charges me for the ATM fees later on - which I think they will), but still being accepted at all machines makes these more use than my current account via card it has to be said.
Glad to hear that flights with CP were booked OK. You sound quite pleased with it. Have you used in a retail environment yet? Anyone notice there's no name printed on the card?
It used to be the case that the ikobo visa card (which had no name printed on it) worked quite well in the Phils, I got one for Ana long time back. Personally though I used to get asked to sign every chip and pin transaction on my bank card as well as them being suspicious of most of my other cards Very strange
At the time they just could not quite adjust to the fact that, if you had a PIN and you put it in the machine then they had the money, it was like well have we really got the money? We want to be able to prove we really have the money
