Aust Post Currency Card - A report back on using it

[harvyk]

Last year AFF heavily advertised the Aust Post Multi Currency Card. As such I decided I would get one and give it a go as the idea of a multi currency card was appealing to me, especially as it held all the currencies I was likely to use in the near future.

I've now had a chance to use it on two OS trips. My first one was to the USA, where I had no real problems, but on the same token all I did was use it to pay my share of the condo I was renting with some friends. As we did our own cooking and brought booze from the local grog shop I never had a need to use it for any other reason.

Now I have just properly used it on a trip to Hong Kong / Singapore, and I have the following gripes

1. Unable to log onto their internet banking site from iPhones / iPads. I won't get into a debate over apples refusal to use flash, but seriously it's been a known problem for years and this meant I was unable to manage my money online using a device which is most commonly used for travel. I needed to give Mrs harvyk a call and direct her through the site when I needed to do anything. (As a side note thanks to my knowledge of encryption and authentication I can tell they are not storing my data using best practice, my password is sitting on their system either unencrypted or with reversible encryption, luckily I don't use the same password on other sites)


2. Unable to get a remaining balance from ATM's. When I pulled money out I had no idea how much was left in the account. This meant that I had no real idea of how much I actually had available to me short of logging onto the website, however see complaint number 1.


3. Even at ATM's which claim I could pull out HKD$6000 in a single transaction, the travel money card limited me to a total of HKD$1000 (about $150) in a single transaction at ATM's. When I wanted to pull out additional money I needed to first pull out HKD$1000, and then in a second transaction (30 seconds later) pull out the remaining amount I needed. No doubt as advised by the ATM they charged me international access fees each time.


4. My hotel put some money on hold (this is part of another gripe), it still has not been released, I sent an email into the company that runs it and I got a response back today stating that they keep hotel money on hold for up to 30 days. If I want this money released the hotel will need to FAX in a request using hotel letter head asking for the money to be released. I now have the equiv of AU$200 sitting in limbo which they refuse to release for the next month.


5. Unable to change the pin, they have given me a PIN and there is no way for me to change it to something more memorable. Luckily I have a half decent memory for numbers otherwise I would have needed to write the PIN down.

Needless to say, as soon as the money held in limbo is released I will be withdrawing it in AU dollars, closing the account, cutting up the cards and advising everyone I know to avoid using the Aust Post Multi Currency cards at all costs.

I am not a happy camper at all. :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[moa999]

Agree that 1,3,5 are gripes, particularly the pin issue.

2 is true for pretty much any foreign card overseas, I just don't think this capability is there.
4 is a hotel issue, and unfortunately very common - I would always use a credit card for this, even if ultimately paying on the cash card.

 

[harvyk]

My previous visit to Hong Kong I used a CommBank travel money card, I very much so remember been able to get a balance in the local currency from ATM's. I remember that again I was keeping a close eye on the balance as I didn't have a huge amount of HKD on me as I was only in HKG for the night before continuing onto PVG.

Also with number 4, I try and avoid credit cards as much as I can, I have a nasty habit of taking them to the limit treating them as a savings account rather than as a credit account. (which is exactly what the credit card companies want you do to)

 

[markis10]

Agree that 1,3,5 are gripes, particularly the pin issue.

2 is true for pretty much any foreign card overseas, I just don't think this capability is there.
4 is a hotel issue, and unfortunately very common - I would always use a credit card for this, even if ultimately paying on the cash card.

Pre authorisations are a hotel issue, keeping the amount for a month is not, as previously discussed in other threads, using a charge card or cash is better. Cash works remarkably well in Asia and is often not that much in terms of $$ required.

 

[straitman]

Agree that 1,3,5 are gripes, particularly the pin issue.

2 is true for pretty much any foreign card overseas, I just don't think this capability is there.
4 is a hotel issue, and unfortunately very common - I would always use a credit card for this, even if ultimately paying on the cash card.

My CBA ATM card always gives a balance remaining when I draw cash at an OS ATM so it is possible to get.

 

[markis10]

My CBA ATM card always gives a balance remaining when I draw cash at an OS ATM so it is possible to get.

I have been able to get balances since 2001 overseas using Cirrus or Maestro compatible ATMs for the major banks, not so with smaller operations such as Qantas Credit Union or ING based on last weeks experiences.

 

[Happy Dude]

I have a CommBank travel money card.


Gripe 2 was consistent with my experience, however I had no problems using the online site (as a non-apple user it would seem).
Gripe 3 was also an issue, and I recall an episode of having to reduce the withdrawal amount until I got some money and learnt the max withdrawal amount.
Gripe 4 ditto. But I waited for only two weeks for the amount to be released. They hotel were holding almost $2k and I wondered what would I have done or been able to do if they decided to keep it.
Gripe 5 was not an issue. I was able to change PIN online easily.

Whilst the card has some good points, mainly centred around safety, I would never use this type of product again. Gripe 6, if I may add to your list: it's just too expensive. The cost of the card is about 10% over and above retail CC/ATM rates, more for something like a wizard card.

WRT changing the money back to AUD, I have calculated that it is cheaper to go to an ATM here in Aus that provides USD. There is one at CommBank in BNE city. Then walk into the bank and change the USD cash for AUD cash.

 

[blackcat20]

I used the Travelex card last time I travelled, could get a balance at ATMs, and change the pin online. Just got my new one and cant change the pins, and each card has a different pin. They seem to be going backwards :evil:

 

[Buzzard]

I complained to Aust Post about the PIN issue stating that customers are more likely to write down pins they don't create because they can't remember them.
Interestingly this card is not an AP product but a co-branded Mastercard product. Flight Centre have the same product with their own brand too by memory and I understand that there are others as well.
The warning here is don't just go to another "brand" without doing your homework as you might end up getting exactly the same thing.

 

[A330]

I used an OzForex (part of Macquarie Bank it seems) Travel Card for my last 2 trips to Europe. Last year I mainly used it to withdraw cash at ATMs, and would withdraw large amounts of cash to avoid too many ATM fees. Finally discovered at the end of the trip that in store purchases are fee free. Mainly used it to lock in exchange rates, not so much of an issue last year, but this year with the AU$ falling it came in handy.

1 - Their website also has issues on Apple iDevices, but they know of the issue and have a workaround involving allowing pop ups.

2 - Balance enquiry on ATM attracts a fee so didn't attempt this.

3 - Maximum withdrawal - I never reached it withdrawing £500 so not sure if there is one.

4 - I only used my useless Citibank credit card for hotel pre-auths. I never put purchases on it and only carried it in the bottom of my suitcase for emergencies.

5 - Benefit of this card is the website allows you to update the PIN at any time - even if you forgot the old one.

 

[RooFlyer]

My CBA ATM card always gives a balance remaining when I draw cash at an OS ATM so it is possible to get.

Yes, and in Vietnam it gives account balance in Dong. I still have the ATM receipts showing my many, many millions

 

[jukebox333]

(3.) may well be an HKG ATM / HKG Specific Bank ATM issue?
I seem to remember not being able to get all the cash I wanted at once from an ATM in HKG last time I was there, using a Maestro card linked to my savings account.

This was definitely the case in Denmark, where I needed to make multiple withdrawals from a Maestro linked ATM in Copenhagen.

 

[harvyk]

(3.) may well be an HKG ATM / HKG Specific Bank ATM issue?
I seem to remember not being able to get all the cash I wanted at once from an ATM in HKG last time I was there, using a Maestro card linked to my savings account.

This was definitely the case in Denmark, where I needed to make multiple withdrawals from a Maestro linked ATM in Copenhagen.

Well I distinctly remember on one of the advertising screens on the ATM it said you could withdraw up to HKD$6000 in a single transaction, but when I tried withdrawing HKD$1800 it brought up a specific message stating the international network the card was using had a limit of HKD$1000 per transaction. So it was not an ATM issue.