It Comes Cheap

One need not be a bank customer to buy this card. Any bank customer of any bank (and non-bank customers) can walk into any bank, get the prescribed form filled in, pay the amount in rupees/debit to his account, and obtain the card in the foreign currency in which he/she desires.

However, while prepaid forex cards come in multicurrencies (more than one foreign currency), banks can issue only one card in a given foreign currency. This means that one single card cannot contain more than one foreign currency.

For the purpose of this report, we will refer to predenominated cards in US$, which also happens to be the most commonly accepted denomination globally.

Relatively speaking, it does. The cost of purchasing this card is affordable and payable one-time. The cost of issuing the card is not related to the amount loaded on the card. That said, there are costs charged for services such as issue of duplicate PIN (when PIN number is forgotten), renewal of card/replacement of lost/damaged card, reloading, ATM withdrawal and ATM balance enquiry.

Forex cards are relatively cost-effective also because the exchange rates get locked in on the day of transaction. Conversely, if you are using a credit card, you will be billed at the exchange rate prevailing on the date of transaction and charged a currency conversion rate accordingly.

It Is Widely Accepted

Use it in the ATM to withdraw cash (the currency loaded in the card)