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ANYONE USED TRAVEL CARDS ON HOLIDAY IN RSA


Tri-nations

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Has anyone made use of Commonwealth Bank's Travel Money Card when going back to RSA? The lady at the bank told me today that although they don't accept the rand currency on the card, I can load US dollars and when in RSA it will automatically convert to the currency I need.

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We didn't use a Travel Money Card. Just used our normal bank debit and credit cards for purchases and withdrawals.

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I wouldn't do that. You're going to pay commission on the US$ and then again when it gets converted to ZAR. Just use your normal bank cards to draw money at an ATM (that's what I do when I travel to anywhere in the world).

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We didn't use a Travel Money Card. Just used our normal bank debit and credit cards for purchases and withdrawals.

Me +1

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  • 3 years later...
On 7/31/2013 at 2:26 PM, Tri-nations said:

Has anyone made use of Commonwealth Bank's Travel Money Card when going back to RSA? The lady at the bank told me today that although they don't accept the rand currency on the card, I can load US dollars and when in RSA it will automatically convert to the currency I need.

 

Tri-nations, I used my Commonwealth Travel Money Cards on our trip back to South Africa in 2013, in 2014 and then again in 2016. It worked well for us.

 

You get issued two cards, each with their own pin that appear as two separate cards under your travel money card, on your Commonwealth Banking online account. When you load your money or do a online transfer you can switch between US and AUS dollar. To travel I switch to US, done plenty of transactions overseas and in South Africa and have never had any issues.

 

I like the fact that it is connected and visible on your online banking profile and that you can do a online transfer strait from your other Commonwealth accounts. You can estimate what you will spend on an excursion and do a online transfer, and if your card is lost or stolen they can't withdraw without a pin and if they do manage to obtain your pin? they can't withdraw more than what is loaded onto the card. Alternatively you can just load the full amount, set up Commonwealth Telephone Banking and phone when you need to transfer money from your other accounts into your Travel Money Cards but set everything up and test it before you travel. Just to make sure everything runs smoothly.

 

I left one card with my mother in South Africa and transfer money for her into that when the need arise.

 

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I had an interesting conversation with standard bank when I came out here on holiday.

 

me: "Will I get a better conversion rate if I use a travel card?"

standard bank: "Depends on the exchange rate when you use your credit card"

 

me: "So, I get charged for depositing money and withdrawing it from the travel card?"

standard bank: "yes, if you use a travel card and not your credit card. Credit cards are charged per transaction"

 

me: "So, the fees would work out less on my travel card?"

standard bank: "well, not neccisarly... it depends on whether you with draw cash or use your card at shops. And how often you do either. Really the Aussie bank can put through any charge they like. "

 

me: " any charge they like, like on a travel card?"

standard bank: "yes"

 

me: "what if someone steals my travel card?"

standard bank: "well, they could withdraw all the money"

 

me: "isn't there fraud protection like on my credit card?"

standard bank: "Yes, there is fraud protection on both"

 

So, I just used my credit card at shops in Aussie like I was doing in RSA. That way the shop pays towards the credit card fees, if I withdrew the cash then thre is no shop to contribute to the banks.

 

My crude calculations showed it was way cheaper to avoid the travel card. So, thats what I did for several trips. 

 

 

 

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I've used ANZ travel cards while in Britain and Europe. I paid a 1.1% fee on putting funds on to the card at a lousy exchange rate.

Nowadays, I much prefer to use OFX for my travel money.

I never like to close a bank account down.

Years ago, it was dead easy to open a bank account. You'd stroll in the bank, fill in a form with name and address, etc. and put some cash across the counter.

Voila!

Nowadays, you just about have to get a form signed by both grandparents, which is a bit tough if they happen to be over 110 years old, to date.

That is why my wife and I left some money in our British bank accounts after working there for a while and on coming back to Australia in 2009. It kept our bank accounts open there.

Four years later in 2013, we decided to buy a car and a caravan to travel around Britain and Europe for up to six months each year.

Having a Barclays Bank account in England saved us heaps.

OZforex in Sydney, a foreign exchange company, opened up an account for me, like any other financial institution, and soon I was transferring $000s into my English bank account in Pounds Sterling. The exchange rate was far better than any bank would offer. No extra fees.

We used a Barclays bank card to get Pounds out of an ATM or over the counter there, fee free. We didn't have to pay GBP 2.50 on each and every ATM withdrawal, unlike with a travel card.

So . . . . . if you are a South African and you intend to go back home in the future and are in a position to leave R1000, say, in a bank account there that charges no fees over the years, then you can always transfer funds from Australia at a great exchange rate into that particular South African bank account, using the Sth African bank card to withdraw cash on occasions just like a local person. fee free.

Can't beat that!

https://www.ofx.com/en-au/?cid=204&gclid=Cj0KEQjwhpnGBRDKpY-My9rdutABEiQAWNcslMXiMVekgcsbtoweDbZhCK4l8LvNUJOq761MhcLj9IIaAo2T8P8HAQ&dclid=CMzxh4Xp1NICFc8eKgodxIUNsA 

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