Rise of the prepaid card
November 20th 2009, The Currency Exchange Site analyst
The travel money market, for overseas expenditure, was valued at around £36 billion in 2007 by Mintel , a market research provider. The major methods of accessing foreign currency in the UK are exchanging currency to cash, traveller’s cheques, credit and debit cards, and increasingly prepaid currency cards. These cards are relatively new to the UK market, but offer an alternative to traveller’s cheques as a safe method of taking your cash abroad. Equally important is the relatively good deal they offer to consumers in terms of exchange rate and fees, especially when compared to UK credit and debit cards where you will be subjected to fees for withdrawing cash, making payments etc.
However, penetration is currently very low with estimates that only 3% of UK adults used a prepaid currency card in 2008 (Mintel).Increasing promotion and awareness of these cards is expected into 2009 and 2010 as consumers look to save money and control spend abroad. Therefore, for the average consumer the way you take your travel money abroad is set to change!
Another interesting feature in the prepaid currency card market is the introduction of GBP denominated currency cards, allowing you to use this card worldwide to withdraw / make purchases in the relevant foreign currency at attractive exchange rates with no fee on purchases and low fees on ATM use. This product will be ideal for the regular traveller, looking to get the best value for their travel money. Expect to see more and more of these currency cards on the market, and make sure you shop around to get the best exchange rate and best product for you.
