Regardless if you’re planning a business trip to London or much-needed getaway in Bali, one thing that’s critical for your safety and success is keeping your money safe. Fortunately this is where an international prepaid card can surely come in handy.
The Lowdown on International Prepaid Cards
Also referred to as prepaid travel cards, international prepaid cards are designed to ensure spending abroad is both effortless and straightforward. There are two primary types of international prepaid cards:
General Travel Prepaid Cards
A general travel prepaid card is like a traditional debit card in that it can be used for purchases and doesn’t need to be activated. What sets this type of product apart are its features, which include emergency funds as well as cash replacement after it is being used abroad.
The general travel prepaid card has many features that make it a great choice for when travelling overseas. For instance, they come with emergency cash replacement and chip/PIN capability as well as international ATM access.
However, not all prepaid cards are created equal. Some can come with a chip, but others might not be able to and this could lead some people into difficulties when travelling in Europe where the use of chips at ATMs or unmanned kiosks is almost standard practice nowadays.
Multi-Currency Prepaid Travel Cards
A multi-currency prepaid travel card is a great way to ensure that you have the correct currency in your pocket when traveling abroad. You can load cash for specific currencies on this type of card, which also allows travelers peace before setting out thanks to locking down an exchange rate with purchase at home or even ATMs.
Prepaid cards are a convenient way to access your money without the need for an expensive bank account. However, some prepaid card providers restrict you from loading currencies that they don’t offer. So before signing on with one make sure it has enough international options.
Why International Prepaid Cards are the Best Travel Companions
Prepaid cards are a great way to travel internationally. They offer many valuable benefits and one of the most important ones is that they can be used anywhere with an ATM, which means no more high fees for withdrawals from your bank account back home.
It can make managing your money a lot easier.
Adhering to a budget is already challenging enough without adding travel into the equation. When you’re out and about, there’s always some temptations that will make it tough for us to try our hardest not to spend too much money.
Maintaining control over expenses while trying not to break your bank accounts sounds like quite an impossible task. Fortunately, this is where your prepaid card can come in handy.
If you’ll use a credit card for travelling, it can be easy to spend more than intended especially if there isn’t much care taken with how much is spent. Fortunately though, using prepaid cards makes budgeting easier by limiting your available balance. This helps limit overall spending and keep track of where every penny goes.
It comes with fraud protection.
International prepaid cards offer card holders the same level of fraud protection as with credit and debit cards. Some issuers limit your liability in cases where you are unable to determine that an unauthorized transaction has been made on your account, if you report it within two days.
Some international prepaid cards go the extra mile and provide a zero liability policy that protects cardholders from losing their money even if an incident is not reported before charges appear on billing statements.