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Breaking news: Travelex Supercard now live for new applications and is still free

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As of 10am this morning, the Travelex Supercard website is back up, a new app appeared in the app stores and it began to accept new applications.

If you want to get one, click here to download the app and apply.

I would move quickly as the company has told me that it expects a backlog to build up due to the physical constraints on producing the cards.  I imagine that moneysavingexpert.com will give it a big push tomorrow as they have promoted it in the past and their Wednesday newsletter goes to 10m people ……

Note that, if you were on the pilot programme, you must still make a fresh application via the app.

I will do a full article on Supercard tomorrow.  It is, in essence, a Curve-style product which allows you to make purchases which are recharged to an underlying Visa or Mastercard.

Supercard is aimed primarily at overseas use.  It allows you to bypass the 3% foreign exchange fee on almost all UK credit and debit cards.

You pay with your Supercard, the transaction is converted to £ by Travelex using the standard Mastercard wholesale rate, and it is recharged to your underlying Visa or Mastercard.

Supercard

Here is a summary of the card benefits and how it differs from the pilot programme:

Supercard remains totally free.  Free to apply, free to use – although it requires a smartphone to operate.  I must be honest, I expected them to start charging but I was wrong.

It is a Mastercard.  This is a change from the pilot programme which operated on Visa.  As Mastercard FX rates are generally better than Visa, this is to your advantage.

There are NO FEES when using the card for purchases abroad.

There is a 2.99% fee for ATM withdrawals abroad.  This is a change from the pilot programme where ATM withdrawals were free.  Halifax Clarity, Creation Everyday and MBNA Everyday Plus are, I think, the only UK credit or debit cards which allows fee-free global ATM withdrawals.

Supercard is not a credit card so there is no credit check.  They will take steps to verify your identify to comply with general money laundering and compliance rules.

Whilst UK use is not banned, purchases or ATM withdrawals will incur a £1 plus 1% fee which makes them relatively pointless.  The only exception would be if you had a generous card like my old ‘2.5 Avios per £1’ bmi Mastercard – I could withdraw £200, pay £3 in fees and earn 500 Avios.

Transaction limits are generous – £500 cash per day, £50000 in total annual spend and various daily / monthly caps

I will write more tomorrow, but you have nothing to lose by heading to the website to check out the full details and then clicking here to download the app to order a free Supercard.  Even if you already have a ‘no FX fees’ credit card, Supercard could still be a better deal if you link it to a Visa or Mastercard which has richer rewards.

Don’t ask me how Travelex makes any money on Supercard because I don’t know.  There is probably an arbitrage on the interchange fees and some data mining opportunities.  The pilot programme must have convinced them that it does have serious long term potential.

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Comments (124)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Simmo says:
    14 Jun14 June 11:10

    A comparison of where to used each card would be great (Curve v Supercard) (ATM v Chip & Pin)

  • Thomas Siva says:
    14 Jun14 June 11:20

    Why is WeSwap and Revolut never mentioned on this site? They seem great cards.

    • Rob says:
      14 Jun14 June 11:23

      WeSwap is rubbish. I tried it out, it was a complete mess – they couldn’t match a simple swap for €100 so filled the order at their own (uncompetitive) exchange rate. Not tried Revolut but I honestly don’t see the point over a Supercard, a Post Office / Halifax Clarity free credit with no FX fees or a Lloyds Avios Rewards credit card with no FX fees. You’re just making your life more complicated.

      • Nick M says:
        14 Jun14 June 12:13

        I have Revolut (and did have Supercard)… the difference with Revolut is that you top up the card in advance – you can keep this in GBP or lock in an exchange rate at any point…

        I’m not traveling enough at the moment to merit a completly seperate credit card bill to check/pay purely for FX use.

        Going forwards I would anticipate using Supercard for transactions (unless I wanted to use Revolut to help budget) and then Revolut for cash withdrawals. The only issue I’ve had with Revolut is that it took them a week to transfer funds to my bank account recently

        • Steve says:
          15 Jun15 June 00:01

          Or do as my daughter did quite by accident.

          She converted £500 to euro’s in preparation for her holiday , and then a few days later had to transfer it back to £ for some reason, and made a couple of quid profit with no fee.

          Playing the £-$-€ currency markets with a Revolut app – what fun.

    • Guesswho2000 says:
      14 Jun14 June 17:20

      Weswap had one use, the free £5 for getting one – I don’t remember how, but I cashed it out instantly (Amazon topup I think).

      Revolt was good when you could topup with a credit card and cash out straight to a current account, but that obviously didn’t last! Used to be a four hour turn around too!

  • Graham Walsh says:
    14 Jun14 June 11:33

    So I have applied for this new version, just wondering if I should dig out my Santander Zero card just use that? However, cross charing Supercard to Virgin Visa would still give me the miles so proabbyl worth having the Supercard.

    • John says:
      14 Jun14 June 12:41

      Santander Zero for cash withdrawals, Supercard or Halifax Clarity for non-Amex purchases

  • slonik says:
    14 Jun14 June 11:33

    As far as I can tell, while Halifax Clarity, Creation etc do not charge ATM fees abroad they do start charging interest on any cash withdrawals from the moment you take the cash, so you will still incur charges. If that is the case, it may be a fine line whether they work out a better deal than the Supercard (with the 3% ATM fee but with no interest and with potential rewards points from whatever credit card you link it to).

    • Gavin says:
      14 Jun14 June 11:52

      The interest on clarity only amounts to about 1% per month and you can avoid the bulk of it by paying off the card as soon as the withdrawal appears on the statement.

    • Cheshire Pete says:
      14 Jun14 June 12:12

      When withdrawing circa €300 and paying it as soon as it appears in your Halifax account I typically ended up paying about 5p in Interest.

      • John says:
        14 Jun14 June 12:46

        You can pay it off as soon as you make the withdrawal really, if you don’t want to get into credit then subtract £5 off your guesstimate of the GBP amount then pay that off once it hits. Never paid a penny of interest even before events of the following paragraph:

        My card is now permanently in credit because I received a refund of £50 which I had already paid off. So unless Brexit and the pound plummets 20% in a day, it’s impossible for me to break their T&Cs of deliberately putting the card into credit

    • Jon says:
      14 Jun14 June 14:36

      As someone alluded to in an earlier comment, and I can confirm, interest does not seem to be charged from the moment you make a withdrawal. I’ve paid off withdrawals in the days after the transaction and avoided any interest charges. I’d guess you have up to and including the day it appears on your account before interest accrues.

  • Duncan Stevenson-Price says:
    14 Jun14 June 11:39

    The Nationwide FlexPlus debit card allows fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad. That, combined with the Nationwide Select CC for purchases is a pretty good combination.

    That said, I’m sticking to my Lloyds Avios Duo for now…

    • Cheshire Pete says:
      14 Jun14 June 12:10

      I wanted to move to Nationwide Flex Pkus but couldn’t find anyone I knew who had a Plus account to recommend me to share the £200! If Rob allows it can anyone recommend me?

  • Jason Hindle says:
    14 Jun14 June 11:53

    Just applied. Now… What happens in the event of fraud. For example (*this actually happened to me*), a hotel in Harare takes £2664.01 (a figure etched on my mind) off my card. Who do I go to? Travelex? Or my linked card provider? Do the normal legal provisions apply?

    • Rob says:
      14 Jun14 June 12:19

      No Section 75 cover if a retailer goes bust. Fraud etc is covered but obviously admin more complex.

      Curve lets you turn the card off via the app which is handy.

      • Nick Burch says:
        14 Jun14 June 13:41

        Chargebacks seem to have €10 fee, not sure if they’d apply that for fraudulent transactions or not though

  • Capt787 says:
    14 Jun14 June 12:06

    Did I miss something or can we link this card to our normal credit cards? (for example earning points etc..)

    • Rob says:
      14 Jun14 June 12:18

      Yes you can

      • Capt787 says:
        14 Jun14 June 12:25

        Thanks Raffles. How could we do this? Does it ask for a nominated card ? I guess they don’t accept Amex? Also would the nominated card supplier charge me a fee?

        • TimS says:
          14 Jun14 June 13:22

          Yes you nominate a card (up to 5 cards can be stored) to be linked to your Supercard.
          No they don’t accept Amex unfortunately.
          No the nominated card supplier doesn’t charge you a fee. The transaction is recharged to the nominated linked card and shows on your linked card statement as a GBP transaction at the standard Mastercard FX rate.

  • Nandp says:
    14 Jun14 June 12:19

    The Norwich and Peterborough Gold Classic Debit card (visa) does not charge any fees on ATM withdrawals or purchases. There is a £5/mo fee but this is waived if you pay in £500/mo. It is quite possible to take out the cash the next day, so not a big ask.

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