December holiday in SA

[patrice]

Can anyone advise - we going back to SA for a hoilday in December.

We do still have some money there, but may need to top it up, what is the best way to take money back ... We don't have an ozzie credit card, only use a debit card here in Oz.

I have checked Commonwealth bank - they have a 'travel money card' which can be pre-loaded, and is accepted internationally >

Is this a viable option, or are there better options ?

many thanks for your help (in advance)

[Enrica]

Can anyone advise - we going back to SA for a hoilday in December.

We do still have some money there, but may need to top it up, what is the best way to take money back ... We don't have an ozzie credit card, only use a debit card here in Oz.

I have checked Commonwealth bank - they have a 'travel money card' which can be pre-loaded, and is accepted internationally >

Is this a viable option, or are there better options ?

many thanks for your help (in advance)

Pat , you can use you normal commonwealth Bank ATM Card as long as you have the Cirus Emblem on it and draw from the ATMs

There are some disadvatages with a travel money card

a) the charges , every time you withdraw money are quiet steep. Its around A$3.75 per withdrawl. Also the card cannot be load in Rands , it would be in Aussie Dollars so you have to factor exchnage rates in every time you draw money.

If I am not mistaken , there is a charge for the Travel Money card to be issued.

c) If you need to reload your card with money ie it can be done via the internet there is a min charge of 1% .

d) If you then need to cash out of your money card on your return the costs min A$10.00

You will also pay to use your normal ATM Card, but you can do your own transfers from one acc to another and not pay .

You would also be subject to exchnage rates on this option.

Hope that helps

Regards

Enrica

[Johan du Toit]

Is it not possible to use your Mastercard Debit card from Commonwealth like a normal credit card in South Africa?

[Jonathan]

Hey Pat

I presume if you have money over in SA then you would still have an account open. I transfer money every month and make use of Exchange4Free. Depending on the amount you wanting to send, their fees do differ. I am not 100% sure what the limit is but if you send over a certain amount there is no charge where CBA charge $22.

For me doing a regular transfer it has definitely proven the best method thus far.

Regards

Jonathan

[malJohann]

You can use an AU credit card like a normal credit card there at no extra charge. I withdrew from an ABSA ATM with my ANZ Savings (Maestro) card while I was there, although at a steep charge of about $5 per transaction IIRC (I did withdraw about R2k per transaction though). The ANZ Credit (Visa) card was no problem ever although you have to PIN and can't sign. Money cards aren't available in ZAR (or at all for SA I think).

[patrice]

Many thAnks for the advice guys - much appreciated

I do still have accounts in SA - and confirmed that my ozzie 'debit' card will also work in SA, as it is a 'master card', about $5 per transaction.

Considering your advice, I went into the bank, they advised that the international money card is not available for rand, and that using my 'debit' card will attract high fees, they therefore advised that a 'on-line' transfer to my SA account will be the most cost effective, at $22 per transaction.

I am going to do a comparision of fee's and exchange rates, between CWB and Exchange4Free - and check ease of access / timeing as we would have to do this while we are in SA.

This is because I do still have quite a bit of money there, but as my daughter is getting married in december, eisch, the SA funds may not be 'enough' and I may have to top this up from my ozzie account, if we run short.

again - many thanks for your advice