Why we founded Compare Currency Cards

Having researched the foreign exchange rates available to tourists, we were astounded at the wild differences in rates that people were getting - and most of it was down to being in the right place at the right time.

For instance, did you know that if you swapped your money at an airport that you may get as much as 10% less foreign cash for your money compared with ordering your cash a few days in advance and getting it posted out to you?

That got us wanting to find out who offered the best value travel money - and it's generally currency cards. We now think that currency cards are the future of travel money.

What are currency cards?

Currency cards, (sometimes called a travel money card) are much like prepaid debit cards - with a twist. Instead of storing pounds sterling on your card, your UK money is exchanged by a foreign exchange firm - and then deposited on your prepaid card in either euros or US dollars.

However, there's one way that currency cards aren't like traditional prepaid debit cards - their charges are much lower. This not only makes them great value travel money, in addition, if you ever have to purchase anything that's priced in dollars or euros, it should be a no-brainer to use a currency card instead of your normal back card or credit card.

Most currency cards are free to use at point-of-sale, as long as if you're using the card to buy goods that are in the same currency as the currency on the card. That means that there are two main charges which you need to bear in mind when selecting your currency card - the exchange rate, and the ATM fee.

Help us to help you

Our intention is to provide the best general information about currency cards. We want to make sure that we only recommend the best currency cards, so we're very keen to hear your feedback on your own experiences using currency cards.

If you have any feedback on the cards which we list on this site, any suggestions to include additional cards or any suggestions to improve this site we'd love to hear from you.

Simply email info@comparecurrencycards.com and we'll take note of your comments.

Thanks!
The Compare Currency Cards team