Dear All
Thank you for your recent assistance and advice regarding my post "Money to Bali".
I wanted to provide some information about what I ultimately did in the hope that it may be of benefit to someone else.
Given that a friend is due to leave in several days for Bali and kindly offered to arrange the delivery of an ATM card, I was on a tight time schedule.
That being the case my credit union could not ensure I would have an ATM card in time, nor the PIN number, which is posted from a different office and state. I was additionally advised that I could not link my Balinese friend to this account as either a joint account holder or as an authorised person to access the account because he was not present to sign the required papers.
I then had further discussions with my Credit Union Manager (who is also a friend), regarding alternative means of getting monies to Bali inexpensively, he rang Harvey World Travel and obtained some details about the Travelex Card which he passed on to me.
So, after doing some research on it's uses and fees, I applied for a Travelex card today. In my area, Harvey World Travel is the issuing authority.
About the card -
You get 2, both have different numbers and PIN's, the 2nd card is a back up if the 1st is lost/stolen. They are issued immediately.
They can be used at any ATM and withdrawals are $3.75 ea. There is no charge to check the balance.
There was an initial commission fee of $15 and you had to open the card with a minimum balance of $250.
Depending on where you travel (or want to get the card to) they are also available and can be loaded in 3 other currencies, Euros, UK pounds and US$.
If you have internet banking then the card can be loaded by Bpay or you can deposit more money at Harvey World Travel.
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I would also like to make a comment about part of my earlier post on this matter. I wanted to explain that the reason I asked for people not to be offended because I was putting this question on other forums is, firstly, I realise that this topic has been asked and answered many times. To read the same post on three forums is boring - offended, was a poor choice of words and instead I perhaps should have asked for indulgence.
Thanks HB.