Having an international tour scheduled, looking for the Best Prepaid Travel Cards or Top Forex Cards? Let us take you on a joyful ride exploring some of the best prepaid cards for international travel. Your trip may be for business, academic or leisure purposes, you have a whole lot of choices.
One gets excited and thrilled when thinking of travelling abroad and visiting new places and people. But, you often find it difficult to manage cash or currency all the time. This is when good travel credit cards come to your rescue. Different banks have introduced a wide range of Prepaid travel cards to support you in your foreign travel. Coupled with a number of benefits and offers, these are an easy and convenient way to handle your payments abroad.
Prepaid travel cards are an easy to use, cost-effective and secure option than carrying hard cash/currency or travellers cheque while travelling in a foreign country. These travel cards are accepted world-wide at retail outlets or e-commerce transactions. You just have to buy one and get it loaded with your chosen foreign currency like USD,GBP,CAD,AUD etc.
Prepaid travel cards or forex cards are available as: Single currency Card (that come with single currency) or Multiple currencies cards ( loaded with multiple currencies) to ease out your journey at various destinations around the world.
Prepaid Travel Cards or Forex cards India: Overall Benefits
- Prepaid travel cards are available as Visa or MasterCards.
- Travel Cards are accepted worldwide at different places.
- Enjoy locked-in exchange rate on the day of loading your card.
- A cheaper and an affordable way to save yourself from high exchange rate fluctuations.
- You can get better rates than traveller cheques, international debit cards and currency exchange.
Now, if you are planning for a holiday or a foreign trip, you surely need to gather some deeper insights on the Prepaid travel cards and their benefits. Prepaid travel cards: Your perfect travel companion that let you enjoy your holiday or business tour or international trip as a student.
5 Best Prepaid Travel Cards or Forex Cards in India
We have researched and are discussing 5 of the popular prepaid travel cards offered by the leading banks in India.
1. ICICI Bank Travel card:
If you are going overseas, this ICICI prepaid foreign currency travel card shall help you manage your expenses in a comfortable way. The salient features of this card are as follows:
ICICI Bank Travel Card: Features
- You can purchase or reload this card online.
- Instant loading and activation after purchase.
- Free replacement card facility in case of loss/theft or damage.
- You can avail great discounts/offers at merchant outlets, shopping and travel around the world.
- Manage your dining, shopping and other expenses in a hassle free manner.
- Enjoy Duty free shopping at Indian airports with ICICI Multi-currency card.
- Real time account management and useful online features are offered.
- Additional benefits like comprehensive travel insurance, emergency travel assistance etc.
| Details | ICICI Travel Card Charges |
|---|---|
| Issuance Fee | Rs.150 |
| Reload Fee | Rs.100 |
| Transaction Fee | Point of Sale(POS)/Online - NIL |
| Cash Advance/ Cash@POS transactions fee | 0.5% of transaction amount |
| Wallet to wallet transfer fee | 2.5% of transfer amount (from destination wallet) |
| Cross Currency Fee | 3.5%+GST |
You primarily get 3 variants of ICICI Travel Card:
- ICICI Multi-Currency Travel Card: This is ideal for frequent travellers to multiple destinations.A single card supporting upto 15 currencies including USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, SGD, CHF, JPY, SEK, ZAR, SAR, THBAED, NZD, HKD.
- Student Travel Card: A perfect fit for student travellers. It offers payment of student fees like GMAT, TOEFL and university and hostel fees. Book international flight tickets, shopping and other purchases can be done through this card. Presently available in 5 currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD.
- Single Currency Travel Card: This is most suitable if you are going to a single destination especially for a holiday. This is available in 9 currencies : USD, AUD, CAD, GBP, SGD, AED, JPYCHF, EUR.
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2. IndusInd Bank Travel Cards
IndusInd prepaid travel card offers you an easy and fast way to purchase and load currency by following a simple online process. A perfect solution and convenient mode to carry currency in a card for all your forex needs while travelling overseas. Cashless and secure transactions to make your foreign trip a memorable one.
IndusInd Travel Card: Features
- You can simply buy your card online and load it with your desired currencies.
- IndusInd card comes with an embedded chip offering increased protection.
- In-built and enhanced security features to ensure the safety of your transactions.
- Make bookings, enjoy shopping, dine out and grab other exclusive benefits with the IndusInd travel cards.
- A widely accepted travel card at numerous merchant establishments around the globe.
- You also get insurance coverage, an added advantage of this travel card.
- Get protection against exchange rate fluctuation as well.
- You can withdraw at VISA ATMs to have that country’s currency.
- Easy access to your card details anywhere and anytime through the online portal.
| Details | Indus Multi Currency Card Charges : Chip Single Card | Indus Multi Currency Card Charges : Chip Paired Card |
|---|---|---|
| Issuance Fee | Rs.150 | Rs.250 |
| Reload Fee | Rs.100 | Rs.100 |
| Cross Currency charges | 3.5% | 3.5% |
IndusInd Travel Cards are of 2 types:
- Indus Forex Card: Indus Forex card comes with 16 currencies for remittance including USD, GBP,CAD, AUD, SGD, SAR, AED and few more.
- Indus Multi-currency Card: This one is for frequent travellers who visit a number of destinations since managing multiple currencies becomes an easy affair with this card. Multi-currency card supports 8 currencies that include USD, AUD, CAD, Euro, GBP, SAR, SGD and UAE Dirham.
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3. HDFC Bank Travel Cards
HDFC gives you a wide variety of travel cards to select from based on your preferences and usage. The HDFC travel card list comprises of :
- HDFC Forex Plus Card: This is a popular choice and a favourite of international travellers. Both Visa and Mastercard options available on this prepaid card.
- HDFC Forex Plus Chip Card
- HDFC Forex Plus Platinum Card
- Hajj Umrah ForexPlus Card: This card is specially designed for Hajj & Umrah pilgrims.
- HDFC Multi Currency Platinum Forex Plus Chip Card
- ISIC Student ID Forex Plus Chip Card: A perfect fit for students going abroad for study.
Here is a table showing the various useful details on different HDFC forex cards:
| Details | HDFC Forex Plus Card Charges | HDFC Forex Plus Chip Card | HDFC Forex Plus Platinum Card | Hajj Umrah ForexPlus Card | HDFC Multi Currency Platinum Forex Plus Chip Card | ISIC Student ID Forex Plus Chip Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issuance Fee | Rs.125 | Rs.175 | Rs.350 | Rs.200 | Rs.500 | Rs.300 |
| Reload Fee | Rs.75 | Rs.75 | Rs.75 | Rs.75 | Rs.75 | Rs.75 |
| No.of currencies available | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| Cross Currency | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
4. Axis Bank Travel Cards
Another leading bank that provides 2 kinds of travel cards to make your overseas trip a comfortable one. Axis Travel Cards also give you protection from exchange rate fluctuations. You can use this card at Visa merchant locations, make online purchases and make other payments using this travel card.
1. Multi-currency Forex Card: You can load it with upto 16 currencies like USD, EUR, AUD, CAD, GBP, SGD, JPY, CHF, SAR, ZAR, NZD, THB, AED, HKD etc.
This further comes in 3 different variations:
- Multi-Currency Forex Card
- Contactless Multi-Currency Forex Card
- Multi-Currency Image Card
2. Axis Travel Currency Card: A widely accepted card at VISA/MasterCard merchant outlets and online retailers. Enjoy duty free shopping at international airports in India with this card. This card is available in a variety of 11 popular currencies including USD, GBP,AUD, CAD, SGD, EUR, CHF, SEK, JPY, AED & SAR and comes packed with few loaded features plus benefits to make your travel convenient.
The Priority banking customers of Axis Bank are charged a flat fee of Rs.50+GST for Initial sale fee of a prepaid travel card.
| Details | Axis Single Currency Travel Card Charges | Axis Multi-Currency Forex Card Charges |
|---|---|---|
| Issuance Fee | Rs.150 | Rs.300 |
| Reload Fee | Rs.100 | Rs.100 |
| Encashment Charges | Rs.100 | Rs.100 |
| Cross Currency Usage fee | 3.5% + GST | 3.5% + GST |
5. SBI Foreign Travel Card
SBI offers the SBI foreign Travel Card that has been specially designed to cater to your travelling needs abroad. Another worldwide accepted travel card that you can use to clear your shopping,dining and other purchases done abroad. This also comes with several benefits and help you in saving from the hassles of carrying cash. SBI Foreign Travel card is presently available in 8 foreign currencies including USD, CAD, AUD, SGD, SAR, YEN, EUR and GBP.
| Details | SBI Foreign Travel Card |
|---|---|
| Issuance Fee | Rs.105 |
| Reload Fee | Rs.52 |
There are forex cards offered by Standard Chartered Bank, Yes Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and many others to add upon. We shall be enhancing our list with their features as well, as and when we compile the same.
Important: *GST is applicable in addition to the basic fee and charges.
Please note that the above information has been given on “as is” basis. It may vary at a later date. Kindly check all the details including charges with the respective banks before applying for any of the prepaid travel cards.
So, this was our list of Best Prepaid Travel Cards that can be instrumental in giving you a stress free journey overseas. Did we miss out any important travel card name from the above list? or Do you wish to include any reliable prepaid card to our list? If yes, add it in the comments for us to have a look at its features.
Prepaid Travel Cards or Forex Cards: A Final Take
Prepaid travel cards or Forex cards are for the benefit of travellers in general. Easy loading and online management further eases out their usability features. Moreover, a multi-currency card allows you to load more than one currency into a single card. That’s really great !
As per our personal views and research , HDFC and ICICI travel cards have been a preferred choice for international travellers. However, IndusInd travel cards have gained a lot of popularity recently owing to the exclusive benefits and their customer-friendly services. This seems to be a great choice and a perfect answer to your money needs at a foreign destination.
Have you noticed one important thing? These travel cards have few features in common like Worldwide acceptance and easy online availability of the card. So, the one that provides certain additional benefits is likely to outperform the other. Of course, in this digital world of increasing competition, the one with the best services emerges out as a winner.
The next time when you plan your international trip, may it be a business, leisure or study tour, just make sure to have at least one handy prepaid travel card with you throughout your journey. Prepaid travel cards are indeed a great way to save you from the hassles of carrying physical currency at different places. So, why not lighten your burden and make use of these wonderful alternatives and make your travel trip a memorable one.
Have you used any of the above or any other prepaid travel cards? Which is your favourite forex card? How was your experience using it at a variety of places? Any feedback you wish to share, feel free to discuss in the comment section.
Well written and informative post. Very well comparison between the AXIS, ICICI, HDFC, Indusland and SBI prepaid travel cards. I think we can get some great deals on these cards from online Foreign exchange vendors.
And this it, IndusInd bank works for me. I am their loyal customer too. I had called them and rechecked them. Very well written article. 10 points for the simple explanation.
I didn’t know there are so many forex cards. Nice explanation given for each of them.