Travel cards and cash passports

Currency-exchange fees are unavoidable whatever you do. Travel cards offer convenience and the security of carrying less cash – but how much does this cost?

What are they?

Travel cards are prepaid cards on which you load money and then convert a set amount into one or more foreign currency “wallets” within the card. The cards allow you to load New Zealand dollars and a range of other currencies including: Australian dollars, US dollars, UK pounds, or euros.

Apart from the convenience of having a number of currencies on hand, a selling point of these cards is that you can lock in the exchange rate when you load them. So if you’re planning a holiday you can keep an eye on the exchange rates and load your card when the rates are favourable.

The cards

There are 3 of these cards:

Kiwibank’s Loaded for Travel (Visa)
Multi-Currency Cash Passport (MasterCard) – offered by ANZ, ASB, BNZ, SBS Bank, TSB, several credit unions and major travel agents
Air New Zealand OneSmart (MasterCard).

Westpac also offers a Visa Travel Card (see below) but this doesn’t have foreign currency wallets. You can load only NZD on it – so we haven’t compared it with the other 3 cards.

Become a Gold or Silver member to find out more about travel cards and their costs.

Card comparison table

Air New Zealand OneSmart

This card has other features beyond being a travel card. It holds your Air New Zealand Airpoints as well as your prepaid money. You can use the NZD funds on your card to purchase Airpoints dollars if you want to buy an Air New Zealand flight but don't have enough points.

You also accumulate Airpoints (at a rate of 1 Airpoint dollar per NZD200 domestically or per NZD100 overseas) when you use the card to buy “eligible purchases”.

Westpac Visa Travel Card

Unlike the other travel cards this can be loaded only in NZD and is converted as you spend – so you can't lock in the exchange rate. It’s really just a preloaded debit card. But you can use it online, over the phone, withdraw cash from overseas ATMs, and at any outlet that accepts Visa.

The minimum first deposit is $50 (which includes the $20 purchase fee). A replacement card costs $20 plus a courier fee ranging from $10 to $25. Use it in an ATM and it will cost you a whopping $8 for each overseas withdrawal and $1 for New Zealand withdrawals unless you use an ATM belonging to one of the ATM Global Alliance banks. On top of that, overseas withdrawals and transactions will have a 2.5 percent currency-conversion fee.

It’s valid for 3 years and has no inactivity, closing or transfer fees. You simply call the bank and transfer the funds to a Westpac account, or visit a branch and withdraw them as cash if you want to clear your balance after your trip.

Article

Travel cards