What Makes International Prepaid Cards Highly Popular
Do you travel overseas for business or pleasure? Regardless if it’s pleasure or business, it is crucial that you have covered all the bases. For most people nowadays, especially those who travel overseas on a routine basis, one of the essentials they need to bring with them is an international prepaid card.
Over the years, international prepaid cards have experienced massive popularity. However, this impressive rise in popularity of prepaid cards among consumers is not exactly surprising. After all, international prepaid cards come with exciting features and offer benefits that are hard to miss.
Basics of International Prepaid Cards
Not everyone may be aware of it, international prepaid cards work pretty much like the typical general purpose prepaid cards. However, they are also seen as the ultimate companion for those who like to travel overseas on a routine basis. Function-wise, prepaid cards work similarly to debit or credit cards.
However, there is one very distinct difference between prepaid cards and other plastic cards. Prepaid cards are not connected to any banks. In addition, unlike other plastic cards, international prepaid cards don’t come with credit capabilities. In other words, you won’t accumulate mounting debts from using your international prepaid card.
This also means that international prepaid card users will be limited by the balance that’s available on their cards. As soon as the balance available on the card has been depleted, cardholders won’t be able to use the card until money has been successfully loaded onto the card.
Also, once all the money in the international prepaid card has been used up, cardholders need to load money onto the card before they can use it for purchase transactions (online and merchants) and ATM withdrawals. International prepaid cards come with enticing benefits and some of the most notable include:
They give cardholders the option to load as many as 16 different currencies on their international prepaid cards.
- Some international prepaid card providers also entice prospects by offering or giving out reward points for some specific transactions that are done using the international prepaid card.
- International prepaid card users have the option to easily and securely check their available balance (and other transactions) through various ATMs that are associated with their cards. For added convenience and ease, most international prepaid card providers send out notification messages after transactions where the available balance on the card is also often indicated.
- Some restaurants the world over also provide international prepaid cardholders with attractive discounts when they use their cards to eat out in restaurants.
- In the event that the international prepaid card is lost or stolen, some issuers give cardholders the option to avail of an add-on card.
Important Tips When Using Your International Prepaid Cards
When using your international prepaid card for purchase transactions or ATM withdrawals, keep the following basics in mind:
- When using your card outside the country, cardholders can save a significant amount in terms of the charges for the conversion charges.
- The most offered currencies are the United States dollar, the British Pound, and Euro.
- Since international prepaid cardholders have the option to load foreign currencies on their cards, they also call the shots when they find the rates desirable.
- Some international prepaid cards also provide cardholders with travel insurance coverage. Some of the travel insurance perks include loss liability protection, loss baggage coverage, and counterfeit liability cover.
- If you want to adhere to the budget you have identified, you can never go wrong when you use an international prepaid card. Once you deplete all the balance available on your card, your spending also stops automatically until such time that you load money onto the card again.