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

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• del says:

  14 Jun14 June 18:23

  Can someone help as I am a bit thick with mobile apps – Had to use my wife’s ipad as none of my android devices would download the google app. All went well until the final screen which says “You’re so close” and at the bottom “I’ve got the e-mail. Log in” – No sign of an e-mail, does this arrive after they process the application or is there something else I need to do?

  Thanks for any advice

  • RichT says:

    14 Jun14 June 18:36

    This should arrive after they’ve completed their identity verification/money laundering checks 🙂

• barafear799 says:

  14 Jun14 June 18:52

  I have to say – the 2.99% ATM fee will probably mean I will not bother.
  Personally I don’t have any of the “free” options (not able to get Clarity card or Flexaccount or similar) so have tried to use these types of cards to “improve” my exchange rate.
  First card I got was a Travelex Cash Passport (Visa) card – this charged 1.49% for both purchases and transactions – which they then upped to 2.49% a couple of years later – but only for new customers.
  I switched to the Kalixa card – which was a MasterCard (so generally a better rate) – I got it fee-free – and its rates were 0% for purchases, but a fixed fee of £2.25 for foreign ATM – with a max withdrawal per 24 hours of £300 – so I tried to use that only when I needed large amounts of foreign currency – and therefore the charged worked out at around 0.75%.

  However, Kalixa have recently pulled out of this “market” and so I need to look elsewhere.

  I got the supercard (Pilot) last year and have been using that alongside the Kalixa card – generally when I needed only small ATM withdrawals – my main whinge with that (when compared to Kalixa) was that the Visa exchange rate always seemed to be worse than MasterCard – so when I read here this morning that the new Supercard was a MasterCard – I was jumping for joy (well almost) – and then I got to the 2.99% – and I wasn’t.
  Generally I book my hotels in advance – and pay in GBP – so no good for me.
  But I can understand its advantages for people who make lots of purchases whilst abroad – but for me, generally speaking ATM withdrawals far outweigh my purchases, therefore, I might need to look to Revolut.

• Prakash Kachhala says:

  14 Jun14 June 20:38

  I linked it to my Tesco MasterCard and tried using it several time abroad in two trips – both times failed. Customer services were rubbish and finally told that it wouldn’t work with tesco bank as its “isn’t a proper bank” – whatever that means!!

  • Joe says:

    14 Jun14 June 22:54

    Interesting that they happily provide Tesco Bank with their travel money.

    “Don’t ask me how Travelex makes money” I asked my boss this question (works for Travelex) during the pilot and the answer was effectively “We don’t. It’s a case of getting the customer base and then figuring out to make profit” so I’m not expecting it to stay free for all that long.

• NA says:

  14 Jun14 June 21:12

  Isn’t the best combination having super card (purchases) and then have Revol for cash withdrawals? Revolut charges 2% on withdrawals >£500. Assuming people use this for “normal” purposes, I would imagine the chances of using more than £1,000 in cash is unlikely – you spend the rest on the super card. If that’s the case, you essentially pay MasterCard + 1%. That’s the same you would pay with Curve for its purchases (not atm) withdrawals. True you don’t get points on cash withdrawals this way – but you wouldn’t if you used a debit card as well.

  • NA says:

    14 Jun14 June 21:17

    To add….old Super card was Visa rates – which if you do the comparison is essentially 1% worse than MasterCard rates. So using Super Card + Revolut combo should be a decent option (barring the fact that you don’t get miles on cash withdrawals)…

• rams1981 says:

  14 Jun14 June 21:43

  If you don’t have the legacy bmi card is it correct to assume that the new HSBC premier card is the best way to earn points with supercard?

• Mr Dee says:

  14 Jun14 June 22:21

  Continuing my issues with Curve they have now decided to ask for verification and ID fair enough but asking me to pose with my ID like some picture for facebook must be the companies director’s way of laughing at the customers that send the photos in.

  I predict the demise of Curve within 1 year, they will barely be able to pay anybody there with no real features of the card now and I am sure barely anyone using it, never mind the customer service and severe random charging bugs.

  • PG says:

    14 Jun14 June 22:58

    I was asked for a “picture of my live face” along with my ID which I thought was very strange. This was after I was accused of cash recycling due to buying SPG points on my Curve even though the terms don’t prohibit this. Tempted to cancel now.

    • Alan says:

      14 Jun14 June 22:59

      A much more sensible (and cooler!) method used when opening Number26 is a live video call from within their app – you show them your ID, then check it for security features using the phone flashlight and then they switch camera to your face to see you and speak to you – saves having to send in any paperwork at all and all done within a couple of minutes in a call!

    • Mr Dee says:

      16 Jun16 June 18:25

      After receiving the request for a selfie with my ID because I made more than 1 transaction at the same retailer, I have had enough and sent the wallet back today.

      I contacted them airing my issues with pre authorisations being charged twice and they completely ignored the issue. They seem to think they are offering something of value, well they are not and I don’t seem them being able to pay salaries after a few months.

      If you have the wallet version send it back straight away as there is no hope in saving £75 with them, I was planning to spend £1k with them but the card is hopeless and have been charged for declines constantly that take 10 days to refund. Their answer is to ignore the question, I made a list of issue and they ignored my email and sent a generic cancelation email.

      Don’t be a dancing monkey for these people their ship has sunk. Get your refund while you can as you are extremely unlikely to be able to save/make anymore money than the refund with the Curve card as it barely works at all.

  • Jonboy73 says:

    15 Jun15 June 03:18

    I Could not quite believe it when they asked me to do this, how ridiculous a way for them to go on, I am not posing like some idiot for their amusement. When I advised them that I was considering cancelling anyway over the Amex debacle they said I could but as I was now being investigated they would refund me for 6 months. Anyhow, I went ahead and clicked cancel via he email and my refund was back on my Amex card in a couple of days. I don’t think they’ll survive long if this is how they treat customers.

    • Mr Dee says:

      16 Jun16 June 18:32

      Yes exactly, why should we be dancing monkeys for this company who moves the goal posts every time they don’t like something showing no respect to the customer. Who do they think they are demanding you pose for them when banks or credit cards don’t do this as its clearly an unprofessional request, all this just to use their pointless card which now only charges back to the visa/mastercard when you can your cards direct and they don’t get blocked or double charged like Curve

      They seem to think they are smarter than the banks and credit card companies based on their business model which is flawed and I wouldn’t be surprised if their charging facilities are terminated soon.

  • Nick Burch says:

    15 Jun15 June 09:21

    Curve have asked me for ID Verification, but all they wanted was a scan or decent camera photo of some ID and a recent bank statement / utility bill / etc. No need for it to be a certified copy or anything like that, so much easier than with most online banks!

    • Mr Dee says:

      16 Jun16 June 18:32

      No but they will probably want a selfie of you for their amusement!

• Rum says:

  14 Jun14 June 23:05

  I just got the email inviting me to join. I wasn’t on the beta but I did leave them my email address at a later date.
  That said as a Lloyds and Halifax Clarity card holder, I see no point in joining either Supercard or Curve (which I recently cancelled). What’s the point of either card if there is no charge back to Amex? Not all of us have BMI legacy cards or HSBC Premier rewards…

• David says:

  14 Jun14 June 23:31

  Am i correct in concluding that there is no x-rate or fees advantage to this if you already use the Lloyds Avois Mastercard for overseas transactions (accepting the £40 fee on that card)?

  • The_Real_A says:

    15 Jun15 June 01:31

    The Llyods mastercard has a pitiful AVIOS earnings rate (1 for every £8 i think), so you could recharge via supercard to a more lucrative card of your choosing. However from a charge perspective there is no advantage.

    • AndyGWP says:

      15 Jun15 June 12:29

      1.25 Avios per £1 for Amex
      1.25 Avios per £5 for Mastercard

      • the_real_a says:

        15 Jun15 June 23:30

        Thanks, i never use it because of the earnings rate! I was thinking about the Tesco debit

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