In Reply to: Travelex Cards posted by jeffcath on Thursday, 7. October 2010 at 10:08 Bali Time:
I have just come back and had an anz visa travel card , using your own money.
I did this when I travelled to the states and HK, and it was simple and easy.
Fees are $11 to ANZ open it up.and they issue on the spot. i am not an anz customer so could be reduced fees to open up?
Anyway, I put money onto the card, USD card and got $0.91 for usd when the advertised retail rate was $0.93.
I decided on this option as i did not want to carry around too much cash or have to run to a changer each time i ran short.I didn't want to use my existing cards for the same security reasons as yourself.
I was able to use at any atm for cash withdrawals and you do get a fee charged, not from your anz visa travel card but from the atm machine issuer, pretty much like back at home when you use another banks atm. worked out to $2.20us per atm withdrawal, so I always made sure not to withdraw small amounts. You can view your transactions purchases/atm withdrawals immediately on the anz website, sometimes when paying with credit card can take up to a day or 2 to show up, with this card you can make sure all transactions are ok. I don't mind losing a few dollars to have the piece of mind. I have some money left on the card, which expires in a 6 mth period and will either use it up back at home or get it taken out/refunded back.