Wise way to manage your travel money

Managing several currencies when travelling can be both confusing and expensive.

Travel cards are a good solution . . . but you still need to stay on top of the fees and charges.

With travel cards you simply preload them with different currencies before you go and use them as a normal debit card just like you do at home. They usually link with your bank account so it’s easy to top them up or add a different currency if needed while travelling.

But, do your homework because they all differ slightly in what they offer as do the fees associated with using them.

A product called Wise is regarded as one of the best in the market. It allows you to hold, send and spend money in more than 40 currencies overseas without incurring huge mark-ups on exchange rates and large transaction fees. It can be used as a travel card but also for online purchases and to send money overseas.

The beauty of this card is that you don’t necessarily need to preload different currencies and you can make two withdrawals of up to $350 per month from overseas ATMs for free before you’re charged a $1.50 fee per withdrawal and a 1.75 per cent fee of any amount above $350.

When you use the card overseas it will auto convert your money at a mid-market rate and a small fee and all the rates and fees are fully transparent and easy to follow if you download the Wise app to your smartphone.

It costs a one-time $10 fee to set up a Wise card and it can be added to the digital wallet on your smartphone for extra convenience and peace of mind.

For more information head to wise.com

Top tips to make your holiday budget stretch further

+ Do your research on where to withdraw cash. Depending on your destination, it may be cheapest to do before you leave home but avoid using the currency exchange bureaus at the airport.

+ Check what fees your card provider charges for both tap and go purchases and cash withdrawals.

+ When prompted at the point of sale or at an ATM, always select the local currency.

+ Avoid using your credit card to withdraw cash. The fees are high and the interest is charged from the moment you make the withdrawal.

Global ATM fees

In many countries cash is still king but using an ATM to withdraw cash overseas can be an expensive proposition.

Wise recently revealed a list of the top 20 countries where it costs more to withdraw cash.

Argentina tops the list with ATM fees of 16.04 per cent and a popular travel destination for Australians, Fiji, comes in as number 14 with a 2.51 percent ATM fee.

That means for example; if you withdraw $50 per day for seven days while on holiday in Argentina, totalling $350, you’d pay the equivalent of $56.14 in fees. If you visited Fiji and took out the same amount of cash, you’d only pay $8.78.