Travelex Cash Passport

This must be the review site they cant control.. How did they get 4.8 on other review sites? Expensive withdrawal fees, wide spread on current exchange, can transfer funds between ppl to bank to your bank account. Show details

This has got to be the worse travel card EVER. 1) They have awful exchange rates 2) If you're in between travelling and not using the card, they charge you $4/month as an inactivity charge!! (They don't tell you this by the way!) 3) Trying to close the card is PAINFUL. Customer service is just crap. 4) It'll then cost you $10 just to close the… Read more

card.

There are SO many better other travel cards out there. Literally ANY other card is better then this one.

Avoid Travelex like the plague - you have been warned – Coerced at the airport to purchase a Travelex card because the agent contrived to have very few British pounds (even though Adelaide to London must be the most frequented route) within a week of arrival in the UK, the card started declining everywhere, despite the app showing a positive balance and after two successful ‘top ups’. Hours and hours… Read more

of my precious holiday time on the phone for Mastercard customer ‘support’ did not sort the issue out. Turns out, so they claim, one of the transactions in one store Travelex/mastercard got confused and decided to form a debt in AUS dollars, even though it was a British shop and the receipt shows I paid in British pounds. Further, I had topped up the card with nearly £500 ($1000 AUD) the night before, so there was ample credit to pay for the goods. When the card started declining, the app said I was in credit for more than £100 pounds but now showed a AUD debt of more than $250.

The calls raged on until after I returned to Australia, when they were trying to get me to fill in a ‘disputed transaction form’. As I kept telling them, I couldn’t complete the form because I wasn’t disputing a transaction, they were! I used their card to pay for goods in a British store, I had enough nearly five times credit in pounds to pay for the goods, the transaction was successful and I received the goods and a receipt which I still retain (and provided a copy to them). Yet in three telephone conversations with their card service people since arriving home, it was insisted that this transaction was the cause of the problem and I needed to fill in the disputed transaction form that I actually couldn’t complete before the case can be addressed. I am sure that if I tried to dispute the transaction, the claim would be refused by Travelex, since I had made the purchase and received the goods!

I made a formal complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and Travelex/mastercard let the report date lapse and the case went to case management. Finally, Travelex have just now cleared the erroneous debt under duress, without at any stage contacting me about the tardy and hard earned resolution and without either apology or compensation.

For your future safety, The three ways Travelex/mastercard failed: 1. Coercing people to purchase the Travelex card against their will through hard sale tactics (with the false promise there would be access to customer services should anything go wrong) and deliberately keeping low foreign cash reserves at the airport; 2. Complete failure of their product, causing inconvenience and embarrassment ; and 3. Appalling customer service - hours of waiting on line, unfulfilled promises of callbacks that keep you waiting in hotel rooms on holiday, and inappropriate demands once back on home soil (e.g. threats that the case will not be resolved unless you complete and sign inappropriate forms that could only be declined by the company); and failure to address the issue (I.e. an erroneous debt left in my name) without having to involve the AFCA.

Do not under any circumstances purchase a Travel card! You have been warned!!

Card works perfectly well if you know how to use it. Review by card user of 10+ years – We visit the UK and Europe every year and have never experienced a major issue with the card. The app to log in or even the web site work really well and both are more secure now they have captcha on it. It is simple to log in and see your transactions and current balance, we log in every two or 3 days during our trip to make sure we have no… Read more ·  1

unexpected charges. Never had the card declined in UK, France and Belgium. Customer service in my experience has been perfectly ok. Even though you get a slightly lower currency rate it more than makes up for foreign transaction fees charged on a credit card. It has saved us $1000’s in foreign transaction fees over the years. The terms and conditions on the card are really clear, you need to make one transaction every 12 months to avoid the charge. (You can just reload it with the minimum reload) as for the card expiring, surely you check your credit/debit cards aren’t about to expire before you go on your trip as you would your passport. We have used the card at both HSBC and Barclays and have not incurred any charges for cash withdrawals. Mostly we use it as a credit card. It’s one thing we wouldn’t travel without as it means you don’t need to carry large amounts of cash.

Professional service – Liverpool travelex. Very handy as I worked in Westfields. We were updated often on exchanges by Zia. Every time we went away she was very informative and gave me and my family the best service. Even when it came to ordering money for holiday trips. Show details

New card Much better – Very happy this card it's much better than the old Cash passport ...Travelex have lifted their game very good rate exchange is very good in ATM fees but in some countries there are fees but very small travelled to Thailand was very handy i have changed my opinion from the last review due to the new card!

Terrible card!! Avoid! – I don't often write reviews, but want to warn people about the Travelex Money Card. Went to Europe for 4 wks, and using the card and app was horrible. Also, the WORST exchange rates, and long wait time to call their support staff. Use Wise card instead - so much better.

10% currency conversions – I was charged over 300 AUD on a conversion from euro to 2856 AUD. Do not use this card, their conversion rates are exorbitant. The complaint process involved multiple attempts until a customer service representative who was almost impossible to comprehend simply explained the 10% charge as currency conversion. Show details

Awful – Would rate lower if possible, card was double charged, took 4 weeks to 'investigate' pdfs of proof of double charge, then they called me at 9am from 2 random US numbers which of course I didn't answer and they closed the ticket and refuse to refund me. Classic crappy scam company, bare bones effort. Show details

Not great – I used this in Japan recently and while when it works it's fine, there were 2 main issues. It didn't update my balance on the app correctly so I never knew when it was down on funds and needed topping up. The only way I could get a correct balance was not the website. Secondly topping it up was a very convoluted process and pain in the neck. My… Read more

husband was using an alternative card - Wise - and this seemed to me to be a much easier process and the app was excellent.

Don't bother - useless – Purchased card and cannot top it up, website has been down for over 24 hours, made the mistake of trying to top up 1 hour short of the 24 hour limit, so waited overnight to be told that every top up attempt resets the 24 hours. Purchased card online and deposit money 20/12 @8.30pm - 21/12 7.30 pm attempted top up dumb message "Oops something… Read more

went wrong" call to be told about the 24 hours - no worries will top up in the morning 22/12 8.30am attempt top up same message, call to be told that every top up attempt starts the 24 hr period again. Incorrect email entered when account set up which got fixed but have never had to call someone so many times to try and sort. Gave up - as should not be so difficult. I would say don't bother.

Really disappointing – Unfortunately my most recent experience with this card was really negative. The card worked okay overseas which was good but that's pretty much the only good thing about it. When I went to purchase the cards the 'Travelex Price Promise 'was dismissed out of hand at the shop and then refused by the company online making it very difficult to… Read more

actually get them to adhere to their 'promise'. The person who sold us our card also entered our details incorrectly meaning I had to spend an hour on the phone sorting out my card when I got home and we couldn't top up my wife's card at all because we only realised her details were entered wrong when we got overseas. The Top-up function on the website was clunky at best and I had to try several times every time I did it. We have used these cards before and they were excellent but unfortunately they seem to have really taken a dive since then.

Worst customer service – When card was purchased lady entered details incorrect now can’t use card app or see balance in foreign country called toll free 24hour line was told to call back few hours later as they are to busy to help ???? As she has out date of birth in wrong I think ? But I have to wait ? Can’t access my own money lol What a joke Don’t be scammed to buy Show details

Terrible Reliability, No support - This card is more hassle than help – Got this card to travel through the US. 30-40% of the time it would not work, even in common places like service stations, hotels, cafes. Absolutely no support, you sit on hold for hours, get redirected in circles to different people with no resolution. Submitted a request for help 5 months ago and its still not resolved. Online login is… Read more

glitchy, unable to log into account

It's easy to top up money on the card but very difficult to get money off it. Not easy to cancel the card either

Absolute ripoff!!! – Do not touch this card. I just had my entire balance wiped out in fees - which included monthly inactivity fees of $4/month. In fact - Travelex were even charging fees against my zero balance and I had already accumulated a $112 debt!!! You cannot check transactions online. You cannot phone if your card has expired either as the phone system does… Read more

not recognise the ‘lapsed’ 16-digit number. The only option available to manage your account using the App or the website is to “top up funds”. Not likely. Buy and/or use this card at your peril.

Absolute Rubbish – The account was topped up without knowing the card had expired. When i tried to use it in Barcelona, realised it had expired. So rung travelex for a refund or a new card to be sent to the hotel i was in at Barcelona. Was told they could not do that but can only send to the original address in WA, Australia or i had to go to the office which the… Read more

closest was in London. When i came back to Australia after a month i contacted them again to resolve this. This was in October 2019 and till now, i still have not got my money because i need to find an office to go in to withdraw. The experience with them is just horrendous and it is very hard to rectify a very simple problem. Best to not use them at all.

If I could click 0 stars I would! Don't waste your cash!!! – An absolute load of rubbish! I wish I have never gone to the trouble (and let me tell you it was a massive amount of trouble in the first place!) of getting this stupid card. I got it because I needed multiple currencies and didn't want to carry the cash around. I couldn't use it in Thailand... no Travelex ATM's that they tell you are everywhere… Read more

to use free of charge. I couldn't use it at the Trevalex airport money exchange booth..."... nothing to do with us"... I couldn't use it at the regular ATM's without a substantial fee being applied! Also couldn't use it in Singapore. And the things that have prompted this negative review specifically?... 1) I am being charged a $4us inactivity fee each month...with no notification! (thieving fools!) 2) I cannot purchase things online with it...because its a currency card and not a debit ( I guess?) (dodgy fools!) 3) I cannot even access most of the pages on the online portal...it just takes me back to the login page...I can't get into my personal information. I can't get into the transfer page to transfer the money out....my only option is to go to an Australian ATM and try and withdraw the amount left on the card in local currency at a fee of 2.95% of the total....or try and find another Travelex booth in a shopping mall and pay them the %fee and a one-off $20 charge or whatever it is. It's nonsense! Given the fact the COVID has grounded us all and so all my planned trips have been cancelled, Travelex is making a fortune off of people trying to be a safe traveler before they travel.. cash card is better than cash - that's what we get told.

I will never use any travelex product ever again nor anyone affiliated with them!

Save your cash - find a bank provider that has free overseas transactions included in the account and sign up before you go overseas.

Fees for what exactly? – Had a traveled card for travelling overseas (U.K). As that’s not an option anymore, transferred back to AUD from GBP....huge charge. Using the card in Australia to buy shopping etc, get charged each time. Using the card to purchase items online.....getting charged. Waste of time and money. If there was a option for 0 stars I would have submitted that .

Don't use this card – I was travelling and then there was a security problem with Travelex cards world wide so they shut the service down completely. Other issues like a fee for instant transferals. Show details

Terrible card – This card incurred a $10 fee each time I withdrew while in Thailand and then it stopped working for about a month. At the same time the site went down, along with the app so couldn't check my balance (also the site is still down after almost 2 months). It became really difficult to do anything with the card so I eventually had to transfer my money… Read more

leftover on my card to my bank which incurs a $10 fee and the rates are terrible too. The only silver lining was the customer service when I reached them eventually was okay. I would recommend the Citibank or ING cars instead that has no withdrawal fees.

Cash out or transfer rates are the worst – Used Travelex card in US a few years ago - all good and not too bad exchange rates. Around about 3% off mid rates. Two cards - one as back up - online app worked well etc. So was very happy. So I used them again to go to SE Asia in January. Delivering the cash and cards was on time and very efficient at their branch. Initial load rates were about… Read more

4% off mid rate. So reasonable. But upon return found top up and cash out rates now 10% off daily mid rates for THB and 7% for SGD (giving buy / sell spread of 20% and 14% respectively) which upon comparison was the worst anywhere in Sydney. So advise is: - there are better providers out there, even the ANZ was more like 6% spread. So banks are providing better rates. - Suggest to keep cash and deplete card balances before returning. Then you have a choice of who to use to convert back to AUD. I saved 9% using a currency converter in the city compared to Travelex for the cash - Sadly looks like I will get ripped off on card balance cash out. Also falling victim to and not being able to deal with the ransomware issue destroys their security and reliability credentials. When overseas I could still log on to see balances and transaction but not top up during all this (though not through main web site). Goes to show how important IT security is - sadly could be a total loss of business for them.

Terrible experience – One star too many. Difficult to transfer funds onto with a user unfriendly app. The ransomware hit Travelex whilst I was in Spain, I could not access funds, check my balance etc. Luckily I had another bank travel card with me and had not transferred too much money onto Travelex. Got back to Australia and withdrew the money and cut up the card. Never again. Show details

Travelex shut down all services then – Travelex shut down all services without warning Dec 31 then diverted calls from the official help lines in UK for customers to overseas call centres, for Australian Manila. 1. TRAVELEX Refused to communicate properly saying they were doing a normal system upgrade and I should be patient. I should check with my bank they are the probable issue for… Read more

delays. 2. When that excuse wore off, just point blank refused to accept customers needed help. I was missing 2200 dollars, I was in America they refused to assist and accept they were at fault. Still missing money 17 days and now they are saying its my fault $500US is missing because I irresponsibly used The Travelex Mastercard to pay for something in USA, the card is not supported to be used to make payments in an overseas country. I'm still trying to work that one out, that why we all got a travelex card wasn't it. Maybe I'm the dumbest people's on the planet. Get a travelex card, load with foreign currency but your not supposed use it, just donate back to Travelex. Why hasn't the banking authorities acted. They must know.

Terrible, awful, stay away from this card! – I used the Travelex card in 2013 when in France and it was a disaster. In 2019 I went to Japan and when I exchanged cash I was advised that the card was much better 6 years on. The card maybe better but everything else is terrible. I ended up paying over $70 in fees and charges. The app stopped working on 29/12 and never worked again during my… Read more

holiday. As many here say the “help “ from Travelex is non existent.

When I went to “re exchange” my money back into AUD I was told that they couldn’t offer me the very good rate I was entitled to via this receipt document I had because their “system was down”. So I lost out there too.

I would never use travelex money card again.

Ruining my holiday- just a joke – Travelex app and online not working for over two weeks at least. Emails to help desk gone unanswered. Cannot top up my funds or get balances. A total and complete failure. Left me without cash in Peru and Bolivia where credit cards and not often accepted. Just a complete disaster Don’t know they are still in business

Travelex - have taken my money – Travelex has been down for over one week and how they have communicated with their customers is nothing short of disgusting. How can a company this size not have back up options. I would recommend everyone going to the bankers ombudsman and insist on all funds to be returned immediately. Show details

DO NOT USE THIS CARD !!! – Trying to top up card & after numerous phone calls to Travelex (bounced around call centre at least 12 times) was advised that their system is down and there is nothing they can do - Travelex going under !! DO NOT USE !! Show details

Terrible – Fees on this card is ridiculous!! They state there is no fees only to be bombarded with them! And when you dont use the card you get charged more fees! Company is rigged and so are their products! Show details

Devastating! – Fees are shocking. We didn't get anywhere near value for money. Do not recommend this card to anyone. Am trying to retrieve whatever little is left, but can find no way to do this, either with the bank online or calling. Awful service and no backup help at all. Show details

So sorry I chose this card – Unfortunately after some consideration I chose this card. I attempted to use it in my travels to the US for car hire, travel arrengements and accomodation. In more cases than not I was uanable to use it on the basis it is pre-paid (even when I offered up my own credit card details for any further charges). This was extremely frustrating because… Read more

I had transferred much of my savings into USD on the card.

It was accepted in most stores and some restaurants.

I therefore returned home with USD on the card and some nasty credit card charges for the card I was forced to use when the cash passport was rejected.

With exchange rates falling I decided to keep the USD and use it on my next US trip (knowing its limitations). This decision introduced me to a fee known as a "non-use" fee, which I didn't discover until I had lost $100 AU. All in all I made a very bad decision (even after my research) and I will now go searching for a more appropriate credit card for overseas travel.

Avoid like the plague – Attempted to change PIN at RediATM as instructed, ATM took the card. Then locked out of the website and the website helpline was also unable to access the account using their own temporary password. The only option is to issue another card that takes seven to ten working days to arrive by which time I'll be overseas anyway. Unable to cash out the… Read more

card or for a new card to be issued in time for my travel so all the money I had for my trip is unavailable. To add insult to injury they wanted to charge for a new card and will no doubt charge me for getting my own money back. If they can't fix a problem this simple in Australia I'm glad I was not dependent upon them when I was overseas.

You would be better off using your usual bank card – All this company does is add fees onto each transaction. They prompt you to join however, do not give you an opportunity to read the PDS. So you do not know what you are signing up for. FEES FEES FEES. Shame on you Heritage Bank. Show details

Defaulted to AUD to double dip on fees + bad exchange rate to withdraw – I used the Travelex card while in Greece which uses euros and I had only euros loaded onto the card. I noticed that some merchant machines would ask whether I would like to pay in AUD or EUR. I didn't have AUD on the card and I was in Europe so I don't know why that was even an option. To make things worse, the default was set to AUD....… Read more

?????!!!!! Unfortunately at one retailer I was charged in AUD, they pressed enter for me without asking me or even looking at it themselves. I lost money because of a terrible exchange rate, and was also charged a currency conversion fee on top of that. So a 56euro transaction ended up costing me approximately an extra $10-15 for no reason other than reconverting my money and fees. Coming back, the only way to get your money out of the card is through Travelex which has a really bad exchange rate, and charges a $10 fee to withdraw the money. I wasn't aware of this and should've withdrawn all my money overseas and converted it elsewhere. Not happy.

Useless product – Had a credit of AUD3059 when I left home, converted approx half to Euro. Every merchant in Europe where I tried to use the card and every Euro ATM rejected the card. Travelex admitted the card was NOT faulty as I was able to complete a single transaction of AUD293 in Singapore. So, $3059 - $293 =$2766. Cash out value? AUD2384. Loss = AUD382. … Read more

Nearly 14% fees on a pre loaded card!! Pure greed. These guys are fortunate not to have faced the Australian Banking Royal Commission, because this is worse than any credit card fees I have ever paid. When you see 84% of scores are 1 star, you be the judge of this product and company. Customer service took 45 mins to resolve nothing.

Usury At The Worst – Putting money on the card is easy. Getting money off the card, or switching to a different currency, is an enormous loss. I put US$1500 dollars on the card, and then needed to convert the currency. I lost $241.05 in the transaction. Travelex Customer Service just shrugged. 18% for clicking two buttons. Note that if this was done in person at a… Read more

Travelex kiosk, there is no fee for over US$1,000 in currency exchange. This is a terrible product, designed for Travelex to rob you rather than a convenient way to pay when traveling.