My Travel Cash axes prepaid travel cards – what to do if you've got one

My Travel Cash, which is owned by WEX Europe, emailed customers earlier this month giving them two months' notice that their account would be closed.

The firm won't say how many customers are affected in total, but it offered three cards – one for euros, one for dollars and a global currency card. All cards were free to order but had minimum loads of €30, $40 or £25 respectively. See our Prepaid Travel Cards guide for more on how the cards work and top picks.

I'm an existing customer – what do I need to do?

If you've a My Travel Cash card with money on it, you've until Tuesday 4 October to withdraw or spend the cash.

If you'll be overseas between now and then you can use it as you normally would. If not, you can:

• Use it to spend in the UK – usually with the euros or dollars card there would be a charge for this, but this charge will now be waived.

• Withdraw your money via a UK cash machine – again, this would normally incur a charge but this is now being waived.

• Transfer your money to another bank account – you can do this by logging in to your account online and filling in a request form.

If you've a euros or dollars card, then you locked in your exchange rate on the day you put money onto it. When spending on the card in the UK, or withdrawing from a UK cash machine, you'll get the exchange rate on the day you take the money off – so you won't necessarily get the same amount back you put on.

What happens to my money if I don't spend it by October?

If there's any money left in your account on 4 October My Travel Cash will automatically transfer it to your bank account, as long as it has your details. Otherwise the money will be kept in a secure account for six years – if for some reason you miss the deadline, you can get in touch with the firm at any point until 2022 to claim your cash.

You can also choose to donate any money remaining in your account to the charity Wish Upon a Star.

Why are the cards being withdrawn?

A spokesperson for My Travel Cash says: "WEX is refocusing all of its efforts in support of its strategic objective to grow our corporate virtual card business globally and, in particular, in Europe.

"As part of this initiative, we have decided to close down our physical card programme for My Travel Cash that we offer to consumer customers in the UK today.

"This action will allow us to consolidate our issuer and processor partners, and ensure that we are using our people to support our existing and future virtual customers in the best possible way."