What Prepaid Cards

The Fairfx Travel Money card is the latest prepaid card to launch in the UK. It’s promoted as the safer and more convenient way to travel with your holiday cash, and is available in either US Dollars or Euros.

The Fairfx Travel card is MasterCard branded, and is accepted wherever you see the MasterCard brandmark. It’s not linked to your credit card or bank account and you do not need to pass a credit check to get one.

You are not able to spend more than you have loaded onto your Fairfx card so you can be in control of your holiday spending.

What’s Good

The Fairfx Travel card is a 21st century replacement for traditional travellers cheques or foreign currency. Unlike some travel cards that carry the Maestro brand mark, and therefore have limited acceptance when travelling outside of the UK, the Fairfx Prepaid card is fully MasterCard branded, and is accepted at 30 million locations around the globe.

The Fairfx card is free (but you must load a minimum of £50 – depending on the currency that you choose), and you can also get a second emergency card for a small charge. This card can be stored separately, and used if your main card should become lost or get stolen.

The Fairfx Travel Card can be reloaded for FREE on the internet/phone using a Debit or Credit card, and it has no monthly fee.

Unlike some other Prepaid Travel cards or foreign currency bureaus, Fairfx offer extremely competitive exchange rates and 0% commission when you load your card with funds, so you get more Euros or Dollars for your pound.

What’s not so good?

Whilst the prepaid Fairfx card has no monthly, reload or purchase transaction fees, it does have ATM cash withdrawal fees. Therefore, if you intend to withdraw cash frequently, consider that you will be charged 1.5% OR €1.50 or $2.00 (depending on which type of card you select).

Tip – Don’t just get a prepaid Travel Card to put cash on in the UK, and then withdraw at the ATM on holiday! Use the card to pay for food or rubber rings instead, as your money will stretch much further!.

The current Fairfx terms and conditions do not indicate the maximum amount that may be withdrawn from the ATM, nor whether any usage restrictions apply such as car hire, which are often restricted on other prepaid cards.

If you have funds left on your card upon your return to the UK, consider at the same time of purchasing currency getting a sterling card (Fairfx anywhere card) as any transactions made on this card, will be subject to a 1.5% transaction fee and not the normal 2.75% fees that some travel money cards charge.

For example, if you select either the US Dollar or Euro card, and use the card in the Sterling Fairfx anywhere card in the UK to purchase goods in Pound sterling (£), a 1.5% fee will be added to the transaction.

Application Process

The application process is straightforward and you can apply for your free Fairfx Travel Card at the FairFX Travel Money website. Once you have completed the application process, your Fairfx Prepaid Travel card will be sent to you in the post within 7 days.

Once you receive your card, you can go to the Fairfx website to activate your card and get your PIN number.

Card Design

The Fairfx Travel card comes in one design, but what does it matter? You are on your holiday!