Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may think

[gran]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

Bank issued Travel Money Cards do have some annoying shortcomings. Experience with both CBA and NAB issued cards reveals that in both cases account balances were not available from ATMs in Italy. This can be overcome by checking balance on your IPad. Presently works with CBA travelmoney but not with NAB which requires Flashplayer to view on IPad. Currently this software is not supported by IPad. Answer - keep your receipts and do regular reconciliations otherwise you could be in bother. Also make sure the card/password works at ATMs in Australia before you leave especially if you have not used the card since the last trip. Sometimes there can be difficulties with Passwords and once you have had three attempts, you are locked out for 24 hours!!

 

[coco50]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

No FF points earned is the killer!

It's the trade-off between FF points and paying the conversion fees on CC transactions. I can do without the FF points if it means more money in my pocket. I give my normal CC a holiday when I go overseas and use the 28 Degrees!!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

no ff points earned is the killer!

must...
Earn.....
Points!!!

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

I spend a minimum $30K a year opn overseas transactions. That saves me about $1200 in forex fees. That same $30K would give me 30k FF points? Which is $300 worth of flying (one way to SIN), so I come out way ahead. With my $1200 I could also buy a return to SYD ($439 or whatever under the current business class sale) and still be way ahead!

$30k is worth 2 points per $1 with Amex now

If you are valuing 30K points at $300 then you are using them wrong..

60,000 points is worth about $1800-$3000 for long-haul J redeptions

So $1200 turns into $1800-$3000 of flying

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

60,000 points plus about $1000 has seen me almost through to platinum this year with double sc promo and JASA so I value them pretty highly too!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

$30k is worth 2 points per $1 with Amex now

If you are valuing 30K points at $300 then you are using them wrong..

60,000 points is worth about $1800-$2500 for long-haul J redeptions

So $1200 turns into $1800-$2500 of flying

yes - your example makes sense - I didn't realise AMEX was that generous.

I only used 30K for economy as an example as that was the logical award AU-Asia (30K in coach, which is about $300). 30K is pretty useless otherwise except for a one way SYD-MEL or something in business class (again not worth it).

For 60K of points it might be more worthwhile... except you get slugged another bunch for taxes and fuel.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

yes - your example makes sense - I didn't realise AMEX was that generous.

I only used 30K for economy as an example as that was the logical award AU-Asia (30K in coach, which is about $300). 30K is pretty useless otherwise except for a one way SYD-MEL or something in business class (again not worth it).

For 60K of points it might be more worthwhile... except you get slugged another bunch for taxes and fuel.

not for intl upgrades, 60,000 gets you most of the way for a discount economy to business upgrade on MEL-LAX for example.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

Amex used to be 1.5 points, now 2... But I think they do charge more than 1.5% and then the exchange rate is not at good as say 28 Degrees, so you do likely lose more than 1.5% in just "fees"

I never really pay much attention as I don't want to shuffle cash back/forward to one ATM card, I take a wad of cash and various credit cards for purcahses

I do really need to start using 28 Degrees though, I don't like change though

 

[RAM]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

oh here we go, sorry but anyone has been able to forge credit card signatures in forever.... the $100 tap and go here is marvellous. VISA and MASTERCARD know what they are doing, I will let them decide if they feel it is secure. You are protected if the card is lost or stolen report it immediately.

No, unfortunately they don't know what they are doing - in a positive sense that is.

A couple of years back a plat Visa I had cancelled (unwanted upgrade) 18 months prior suddenly was used to its max credit limit the day after our monthly direct debit went through for our Gold card.

Despite being told (as a pedant I always ask specifically whenever I close an account etc) that the Plat card was cancelled and could no longer be used - 18 months later it had $27k run up on it in one day.

The issuer (Citibank) was rung the next day (bal paid off +2) and told that our Gold card no longer had any credit left and we had not used it at all. I was away at the time and had my back-up card an Amex luckily.

All the fraud transactions were online or over the phone. They involved sending the goods (many bespoke items such as custom made panel beating tools from a Perth family business costing thousands etc) to Fed Ex (Syd) for forwarding to Eastern Europe. Curiously (how professional are the criminals) they paid in advance by cash for the on-forwarding by Fed-Ex (not in person though.

Many of the purchases were not sent out by the merchants for between 3 and 14 days AFTER we notified Citibank of the fraud.

Citibank NEVER contacted any of the companies that the transactions were with to inform them of the fraud. Several of the companies later contacted me for help in trying to get paid.

In speaking with Citibank the head of Fraud in Australia (no, not through the call centre) stated that the procedure is to notify Visa (or MC) at the end of that billing cycle (so potentially 55 days after fraud committed).

There is no attempt to prevent or catch the fraudulent transactions at the time. In the case of the made-to-order panel beating tools the loss to the family business was nearly 3 months profits, they were dispatched over 2 weeks AFTER we notified Citibank of the fraud.

SO NO, THE CARD ISSUERS, VISA and MC DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING in my opinion.

At least they are not trying to help the victims of fraud, it seems as if they are going out of their way to aid the fraudsters doesn't it?

 

[coles525]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

Remember, only recently BankWest has downgraded their annual fee to $99 ish for the Qantas Platinum Mastercard. (includes FEE FREE international / overseas transactions!).

Actual statement quotes:

Points per dollar spent: 1
International travel insurance: Comprehensive
Foreign transaction fees: Waived

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

Amex used to be 1.5 points, now 2... But I think they do charge more than 1.5% and then the exchange rate is not at good as say 28 Degrees, so you do likely lose more than 1.5% in just "fees"

I never really pay much attention as I don't want to shuffle cash back/forward to one ATM card, I take a wad of cash and various credit cards for purcahses

I do really need to start using 28 Degrees though, I don't like change though

there are all sorts of charges for non 'fee free' cards - they levy a charge for converting it for you, AND you lose in their actual exchange rate. I think in general the total fees per transaction are in the region of about 4% by the time everything is included.

As for an international upgrade - yeah - that's a possibility - but you have to pay extra to get an upgradeable fare, and find out a few days before if you're lucky. For the same price I can get confirmed business class or confirmed First class through US dividend miles. The QF upgrade thing is not really worth the effort for me.

 

[OPERACAT]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

I agree, the Americans do not seem to have discovered the joys of Pin Numbers, as for using a the cards at ATM's I always use cash and shop around for the best bank to download cash, for instance we found that Wells Fargo in CA charged no duty on a CBA travel card but did in Oregon, go and try.

 

[oldies on tour]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

We had a similar experience (Sept 2012) in the USA with the CBA travel card, but it was greater amounts. Even transactions over $100 did not require the pin and rarely was the signature glanced at - so beware! Also when we cancelled a cash withdrawal from an ATM with that same card, it deducted the amount even though the money was not dispensed! (This was rectified on our return home - not much help if cash-strapped). Had a problem with that banks credit card too. So, make sure you have a number of payment sources available to you when travelling as there is always some problem. However, our Citibank card and Amex cards never let us down.

 

[CaptBob]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

I had an incident with an ANZ travel card last year. Going to the States, and needed US money. Went to the bank and got a travel card for the amount needed. I told the bank clerk I had a small amount on an old card. I was told "its cheaper to get a new one" than top up the old one. I got to New York and the new card did not work. I had to phone Australia from New York to find out that if you have two cards, the second card WILL NOT WORK until your first card is empty. Luckily I had the old card in my travel gear, and I had some cash to get me through the two days it took to sort it all out. My partner has a card she got through Air New Zealand. It will hold 5 Currencies and you can download money directly to it online from your bank account in the currencies you desire. We have used it in several countries and works very well with minimum or no charges.

 

[Paddy55]

Remember, only recently BankWest has downgraded their annual fee to $99 ish for the Qantas Platinum Mastercard. (includes FEE FREE international / overseas transactions!).

Actual statement quotes:

Points per dollar spent: 1
International travel insurance: Comprehensive
Foreign transaction fees: Waived

... But no interest free days? That would make it expensive

 

[serfty]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

Remember, only recently BankWest has downgraded their annual fee to $99 ish for the Qantas Platinum Mastercard. (includes FEE FREE international / overseas transactions!). ...

What FOREX rates do they use?

 

[toottifruitti]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

I agree with MEL_Traveller......28 Degrees card is great. We used to get a Travelex travel card on all of our trips then we discovered 28 Degrees, what a blessing. There are no fees and exchange is really close to XE. Hubby uses it now as he main credit card.

 

[Onepoppa]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

We used a Macquarie Forex card in New york and France in May of this year. This card is loaded only via Bpay, which is where the fun started. Transferred money via Bpay on the Friday before the Queens Birthday weekend. On the following Wednesday the money had not reached the card. Required an agonized email to Macquarie in Sydney - which, to be fair they called back within 20 minutes - and manual intervention by the bank to get funds available via a Paris ATM on what was Wednesday afternoon Sydney time.

In an age where a purchase made on the other side of the globe takes milliseconds to be debited to your account - how can Bpay transactions take days? Simple - Bpay makes money whilst the money is in their hands for 48 hours plus - no doubts sufficient to cover the whole cots of their operation, so the slower the transfer, the better it is for them. I believe that some banks have forex cards where one can just transfer funds electronically betwee accounts as it were - they would probably be better, so long as they don't charge transfer fees. The Macquarie card is good because once loaded there is the ability to swap funds between currencies without cost - handy if one is going from place to place needing different currencies.

 

[coco50]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

I wonder about Macquarie. In this day of speed of light transactions, how is it that I can make a transfer from a Macquarie account to my operating account - the money disappears from the Macquarie almost immediately but takes more than 24 hours to show up in the operating account with another bank? Where is the money during that time? Cyberspace? or is it earning overnight interest for Macquarie in some holding account?

 

[skyliner]

Re: Be careful when using bank issued travel money cards - not as safe as you may thi

As with all of these things, YMMV. 28 Degrees consistently comes up as a winner across multiple forums, this one included, but I left my application a little too close to my departure date to take advantage of one.

I'm in the US after having spent 4 months in Europe with the CBA Travelcard and it has been fantastic. The problems with signatures and ID are widespread throughout the US and they really need to catch up. One petrol station attendant refused to believe that I could have a Mastercard with multiple different currencies on it at once. PINs are such a foreign concept as well!

One distinct disadvantage I see to taking a single credit card is that a travel card are issued in pairs, so if you lose the primary card you can start using the secondary card straight away. Furthermore, CBA will let you disable either the primary or the secondary card with the online baking interface. I haven't had to use this feature yet, but that would certainly address the OP's concerns. Of course, if you have two credit cards linked to the same account (eg AMEX/Mastercard), that would also help.

It's worth mentioning that the CBA Travelcard online banking interface was recently upgraded. The old one was absolutely terrible, and the new one is not perfect but it does show pending transactions now, which is great for tracking all of those pre-auths you end up collecting along the way It's also worth noting that while you can transfer between currencies for "free", you'll only be getting your currency at the bank's SELL rate, which is nowhere near as good as 28 Degrees or the AMEX US conversions.