Prepaid Travel Cards

The prepaid card from Revolut* gives perfect interbank rates (the rates banks give each other – far better than bureau de change) on most currencies. You can load it with pounds and then exchange in-app to 23 different currencies, including euros and dollars, meaning you can lock in a rate on those currencies before your trip. This is particularly useful if you're worried about currency swings.

There are no spending fees but free ATM withdrawals are limited to £200 per calendar month – a 2% fee applies above this.

Do bear in mind that Revolut applies a small mark-up on its rates at weekends, when the markets are closed. It takes the interbank rate at midnight on Friday and adds between 0.5% and 1% depending on the currency until 11.59pm on Sunday.

Need-to-knows

• You need a smartphone to use it as it's managed via an app, meaning you can load, exchange and withdraw funds with the touch of a few buttons.
• You need to request the card in the app and it can take up to nine working days to arrive.
• You can hold 24 currencies including pounds, euros and dollars on the card, and exchange between them instantly. So, if you've a balance in dollars on the card, and spend in dollars, it'll take it from that balance first.
• You'll either get a Visa or a Mastercard, though this won't affect the rate you'll get.
• Spend in a currency you don't (or can't) hold and it will do the conversion at that time, using one of the available balances you do hold. You can spend in more than 140 currencies.
• Thai baht, Russian roubles and Ukrainian Hryvnia aren't exchanged at the interbank rate. On these, you get the best rate that Revolut can find at that time with a slight mark-up.
• Revolut is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning money you deposit is ring-fenced (in a Barclays account), so in the event there are problems with Revolut, the money's safe.

This card from WeSwap* allows you to spend worldwide and swap pounds into euros, dollars and 15 other currencies. Apply via our link and you'll get an extra £25 of currency when loading £500 or more. Plus, our link also gets you the perfect interbank rate (the rates banks give each other – far better than bureau de change) with no exchange fees. But there are two catches to this:

- You must wait seven days from loading the card to accessing your currency.
- The fees are only waived for six months from the date you first load your account with £500+.

Need-to-knows

• After six months, you'll pay a 1% fee on each seven day swap.
• If you need access sooner than a week from loading, you can't escape a fee – it's 1.3% to get it in three days, or 2% if you need it immediately.
• If you withdraw less than €200/$200 (or currency equivalent) on the card, you'll be charged a €1.75/$2.25 fee (or a similar amount in your currency), so try to minimise the number of withdrawals you make, or make larger withdrawals, as they're free.
• The card works along with an associated app that you will need to download to make exchanges. You load pounds onto it, then tell it whether you want a same-day conversion to your chosen currency, or whether you're happy to wait for the no-fee option.
• WeSwap technically works as a peer-to-peer exchange site. It 'matches' you with its customers in other countries who want pounds – in practice though you'll notice no difference.
• As well as euros, US dollars and pounds, you can also swap cash into 15 other currencies (see below). Alternatively, you can simply load the card in pounds and spend on it while abroad (WeSwap will convert pounds to the local currency for you), though you'll get the slightly worse Mastercard exchange rate and face a 2% fee.
• You'll receive the card within 10 working days, though WeSwap says it should arrive in three to five.
• WeSwap's card provider ring-fences customer funds, and deposits these with Barclays and NatWest. But unlike the others, WeSwap isn't UK-regulated, the card's issued by IDT, regulated in Gibraltar – so you're ultimately reliant on its regulations to protect you (a lot must go wrong though before this matters – our key questions has more).

If you're looking for tried and tested cards, or ones you don't need an app to operate, then look at the FairFX euro* and dollar* cards.

While the exchange rate's lower than the cards above, they're still decent, plus if you're a new customer and apply via the link above, it'll give you an extra £35 worth of currency as a credit when you load £500+.

Need-to-knows

• You get FairFX's own exchange rate, which changes daily but generally beats that of most other prepaid cards.
• You're charged €1.50/$2 to use overseas ATMs, so try to spend rather than wtihdrawing cash. You can make up to three withdrawals a day, and 10 over a four-day period.
• The cards take seven to 10 working days to arrive.
• FairFX is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning money you deposit is ring-fenced in a bank account, so in the event there are problems with FairFX, the money is safe.

The prepaid card from Revolut* works using its app and gives perfect interbank rates (the rates banks give each other – far better than bureau de change) for most currencies, including euros and dollars. The only exceptions are Thai baht, Russian roubles and Ukrainian hryvnia – here Revolut will give you the best rate it can find at the time with a slight mark-up, so check rates in the app.

There are no spending fees but free ATM withdrawals are limited to £200 per calendar month – a 2% fee applies above this.

Do bear in mind that Revolut applies a small mark-up on its rates at weekends, when the markets are closed. It takes the interbank rate at midnight on Friday and adds between 0.5% and 1% depending on the currency until 11.59pm on Sunday. With this card, you can either get the rate when you spend or lock in a rate before you go. For more on this, see the write-up below.

Need-to-knows

• You need a smartphone to use it as it's managed via an app, meaning you can load, exchange and withdraw funds with the touch of a few buttons. Once you've loaded cash, you can spend anywhere in the world.
• You'll either get a Visa or a Mastercard, though this won't affect the rate you'll get as Revolut uses the interbank exchange rate.
• You need to request the card in the app and it can take up to nine working days to arrive.
• You can hold 24 currencies including pounds, euros and dollars on the card, and exchange between them instantly. So, if you have cash left over after your holiday, just swap it back to pounds, and use the card here.
• You can spend in more than 140 currencies. When you spend, the card automatically exchanges from your available balances at the interbank rate for that currency.
• Revolut is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning money you deposit is ring-fenced (in a Barclays account), so in the event there are problems with Revolut, the money's safe.

The Fair FX sterling* prepaid card, as its name suggests, allows you to load it in pounds. It converts it to other currencies when you spend overseas, and charges a relatively low 1.4% exchange fee. Plus, new customers applying via our link will get an extra £35 credit when they load £500+.

Need-to-knows

• You get FairFX's own exchange rate, which is charged at 1.4% off the near-perfect Mastercard exchange rates.
• You're charged £1 to withdraw cash from overseas ATMs, so try to spend rather than withdrawing cash. You can make up to three withdrawals a day, and 10 over a four-day period.
• The card takes seven to 10 working days to arrive.
• You must load the card with at least £50.
• Bizarrely, you're charged to spend in the UK with this card, even though it's in pounds, so keep it only for overseas travel.
• FairFX is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning money you deposit is ring-fenced in a separate bank account, so in the event there are problems with FairFX, the money is safe.