Cheapest Prepaid Card for Travel, Foreign Exchange

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
I understand prepaid cards are not the cheapest options in general.

Chris outlined here a three pronged approach including accounts, cards. Nice, but that is not always feasible.

For some, prepaid cards can have their benefits. Is there a good one issued in Switzerland or available from elsewhere to you even if not as a Swiss resident(!; that makes for an interesting comparison too) which is at least a little better than for example the SBB Visa prepaid card ?

Base currency can be either CHF/EUR/USD, let's say you want to spend in another currency anyways, so forex fee applies.

2
OK, don't ask me about where did I find these but are they legit or scam?

1. 10.000 chf SWISS VISA RELOADABLE 2000CHF DAILY WITHDRAW

-DAILY WITHDRAWL LIMIT ATM (bancomat) : CHF 2000/ EUR 1600 / $ 1600

-ANNUAL FEE :CHF 50

- FIRST LOAD :FREE

- EVERY NEXT RELOAD ( MIN 100 CHF MAX 10.000 CHF) :CHF 2

2. 2000 CHF DAILY WITHDRAW VISA SWISS RELAODABLE CARD

Details: same as above.

3. 5000 USD DAILY WITHDRAWL REALOADABLE SWISS VISA

The daily withdrawal is $5,000 equivalently and the max load is 30,000 equivalently.

The card is available in 3 currencies includes GBP, USD, Euro.

One-time application fee and card annual fee total for two years paid upon card approval.

The application fee is USD 500 and the annual fee is USD 360 for two years (USD 15 for each month, but you need to pay the total annual fee one-time upon tha card approval.)

And there are more but 3 will be enough for an example.

3
Hi mountains,

did you see my other >>(complicated) suggestion<< ?

The Kalixa-Prepaid is saving my a** time after time. I love it

Rgds,

Christian

PS - for this one there ́s a referral-scheme. If you want to apply PN me, it ́ll pay €5 each

4
Can't edit my post so I quote and reply. He also wrote:

"please note i'm not selling cards, but a guide that explain how to buy this card."

Example link: http://r6rcmz6lga4i5vb4.onion/index....isting&id=8697

He is selling the info for around $40 worth of bitcoins. Obviously I would not pay him but anyways it would be interesting to find out which offer he is talking about.

Another hint to help narrow the possibilities:

"THE FILL FORM TO REQUEST THE CARD IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN FRENCH AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES, ANYWAY, IT'S NOT HARD TO FILL IT , SIMPLY USE GOOGLE TRANSLATOR OR ASK ME FOR SUPPORT."

5
Thanks Chris, feel free to post your referral link here (if it is not against forum rules - I allow you to do so so anyone find this helpful can get you EUR 5.

Kalixa is a UK card, here are some reviews I found on the net: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...php?p=57305243

True, I asked for the cheap solution and you delivered - truly. However, as I was thinking about the issue and here is what I found:

- What is nice about the Kalixa card: card to card transfers (&low fees, obviously)

- Though it doesn't seem like to allow you to have multiple cards on your name (to easily transfer funds between your cards, hence manage your balance and have a safety backup). Yes, you might register additional cards in the names of some family members, not a criminal offence in Switzerland I guess, but ask the same question in the UK or US

- Weak point: seems like not strong customer service when you have some problems abroad, I don't know how fast they can send you a replacement

Compare that to Swiss Bankers TravelCash

- If you lose it, replacement is sent by courier

- You are legally allowed to own up to 5 cards

- Though I don't know of card card to card transfers, which brings back from the excitement

- Definitely on the more expensive side with EUR 4, CHF 5 ATM withdrawals, 1% load fee, EUR, CHF 1 purchase fee. OK, not the most expensive and I can say I might be able to live with that if there were (at least free) card to card transfers

- All in all, seems like much better customer service if you got into any trouble abroad.

Consider the situation for safety, you travel 3 cards. If there are no card to card transfers, you might want to load them with 1000 each. If there are card to card transfers available for the same peace of mind even 1500 would be enough dispersed between the 3 cards, but not in 500 - 500 - 500 increments, but let's say 1000 (safety net) + 100 (Internet) + 400 (daily shopping). Sure, the remaining 1500 will not give you much in interest if you put it into a bank account but if you invest it into a profitable venture the extra income would justify the higher expenses of something like the TravelCash card, if it offered card to card transfers at least.

I found that prepaid cards in general have their place for travel, in general easier to dealt with than bank accounts.

(+ 1 credit card, just for extra safety + rentals)

Chris or anyone, what are your thoughts? Perhaps do you know of any such offering I have in mind? Even if it is only available for selected people. German cards?

Like:

- you can have multiple cards

- card to card transfers

- good customer service, fast card replacement

- maximum medium fees