While travel money cards are a relatively recent phenomenon, they are quickly becoming known. So what are these new products all about, what are their pros and cons versus the standard credit cards, and which travel money card is the best one?

Old forms of travel money – travelers cheques or bank cards

If you were going to be traveling anywhere, then it was always the rule of thumb and safety to get travelers cheques. This was the easiest way to access your available cash and you could have some security if your money was stolen. But travelers checks have been on the decline since most banks now make it very easy to use your debit or credit cards, worldwide.

Because of the abundance of information available on internet financial sites, the average person is now much more savvy about the various miscellaneous fees that banks assess on their customers.

One of the primary causes of the excessive service fees that banks levy on customers is the high branch operating costs. Typically, a prominent bank will maintain numerous public locations in convenient areas, and these units are very cost prohibitive.

Travel money advancement

Over the last few years there have been amazing advancements in technology. The use of the Internet and the availability to broadband connectivity have increased exponentially. This allowed for many people to begin managing their money using the Internet.

Because of this, and the public’s demand for more applications to be able to do their online banking, it has opened up a whole new market in the world of finance.

One of the forerunners – The FairFX Travel Money Card:

FairFX.com, a website geared toward currency rates and exchanges, realized the importance of having a great value travel money card and so they created a travel money card with better features than other cards out there.

Originally, the company put out two travel money cards, one in U.S. currency and the other in euros. These cards could be used at a very low fee of 1% on exchange rates,were free to acquire, and assessed an atm charge of two dollars per transaction.

When you load a FairFX travel money card, you lock-in whatever the currency exchange rate is at the time. With this in mind, there are times when this is beneficial, and other times when it can cost you. You can still obtain these cards today.

Do you really want to bet with your travel money?

However, others like the idea of possibly getting more out of their travel money. With this in mind, they deal with the ever changing exchange rate whenever they make a transaction, instead of simply buying their travel money in advance.

Many folks who traveled abroad could not seem to wrap their heads around the fact that the FairFX travel card had better rates and fees than their banks credit or debit card. Because of this, an easier card was needed and that is where the FairFX travel money card comes into play since it offers these exact things!

The new FairFX Anywhere Card

FairFX realized that the general public still did not understand that they were paying too much in bank fees by using their standard credit card when they went overseas.

The decision was made to provide a product which was accepted universally, without the consumer having to deal with exorbitant fees on each transaction while on vacation. But now we have the FairFX Anywhere Card

What costs are associated with using the FairFX Anywhere Card?

When you use a FairFX Anywhere Card you pay ZERO loading fees, ZERO ATM fees, and ZERO exchange rate fees. The only charge you pay is a 1.5% transaction fee. This makes it the cheapest travel money card available to residents of UK.

When this article was written, the card was free to order. It only takes 10 pounds to load it up as well! If you still want to get this free travel card, it would probably be a good idea since this offer won’t last forever!

Be advised that at the moment FairFX has a special offer going which offers you a free euro, dollar or sterling card (normally 9.95) which just requires a small minimum initial load. So what are you waiting for? Get your own travel money card and start saving even more money today with FairFX exchange travel money services!!

Posted under Credit Cards

When it comes to sending money from the United States to India, most people are looking for a manner that is safe, rapid and inexpensive. There are advantages and disadvantages to many of the viable options for transferring money to India, but it is helpful to know some of the dissimilarities between the many options that are available.

One way to send funds from the U.S. to India is to do it the old fashioned way and write a check. The disadvantage is that this is a quite slow technique. Worldwide mail can take anywhere from one to 4 weeks to arrive at its destination, and once the recipient of the money finally receives the check, his or her local bank is certain to freeze the funds for up to three weeks while the check posts. To save time, some people who desire to make frequent payouts to someone in India can draft several post-dated checks”a risky proposition. Another risk with this method is that the transfer charge is set on the day the check clears, so the amount of US money sent may not translate into the correct number of Rupees that you originally wanted to send. This method can take a long time, but it is the cheapest way to send monies to India.

If youd like to mail a check in Rupees, Indias largest bank, the State Bank of India, now has many branches in the United States. Customers can open accounts, transfer money into those accounts, and then draft checks denominated in Rupees to send to India. This cuts down on some delay with the holding of checks and mitigates transfer risk. The State Bank of India charges $10 for all checks under Rs 50,000. If the receiver of the money has an account in India with the State Bank of India, you can also directly wire cash from a US office. Other banks, such as Citibank, allow consumers to open Rupee checking accounts.

Outside of sending checks or using India-Friendly banks, other companies have International money transfer capabilities. This is an attractive option for some because its speedy, but its also quite expensive and recipients must be close to areas of operation in India, which can be rare.

Many websites are now in operation that can be utilized to send funds directly to India. These types of sites allow consumers to transfer monies to India using a credit card via the internet. usually, a check is sent and received by your receiver within 5 business days. The costs associated with these transfers can be big, though are usually lower than transferring money through an Worldwide bank transfer company.

It is a stellar idea to use a credible outlet if you choose to transfer monies electronically and to understand costs and conversion rates that will be used, as well as how long it will take for those monies to be received. It is also a good idea to find a firm with great customer support, in case the process becomes difficult along the way.

Posted under Credit Cards