When it comes to overseas travel one of the most important things to consider is how to carry the money you will need while abroad. With crime on the rise all over the world, be it credit card scams, theft or exorbitant commissions to encash traveller’s cheques, FX Africa’s Managing Director, Darren Jenkins-Ferret, says it’s important to be informed about your options.

There are various ways one can carry foreign currency: cash, credit cards, traveller’s cheques and the new pre-paid currency card, such as the Cash Passport Card offered by FX Africa. Each of these ways has both disadvantages and advantages, Jenkins-Ferret points out.

Despite the fear of crime, he says there has been a rise in the number of people who opt to carry cash when travelling because it is more convenient. The disadvantage, of course, is that if you lose it, you are left with nothing: “No-one will insure cash,” he says.

For a while, credit cards were a good option for overseas travel, but with the increase of skimming and copying of credit cards, it is now much riskier to use them. Also, credit cards are susceptible to currency fluctuation rates and people may find themselves spending more than they planned if the Rand takes a nosedive while they’re abroad.

This is a major drawback to people travelling on a budget. Also if one loses a credit card while abroad, one has to bear the cost of the bank sending a replacement credit card while running the chance of the card being used by criminals. Receiving the replacement credit card could also mean a week-long wait or more, depending on which bank one banks with. However, it is still a relatively safe method of carrying your money abroad – the onus lies on you to make sure you keep it safe.

An old method of carrying money is in traveller’s cheques. This method has been tried and tested and fine-tuned to facilitate overseas travel. If one loses one’s traveller’s cheques they can be replaced relatively easily, often within 24 hours. They are also less susceptible to scams and the like.

However, Jenkins-Ferret says banks, especially European banks, are striving to be as paperless as they can. Because of this, traveller’s cheques are now quite quickly becoming obsolete, leaving travellers at the mercy of other institutions which have the means to encash traveller’s cheques. This threat to traveller’s cheques has already resulted in some foreign exchange suppliers dropping them from their services.

For example, American Express is no longer supplying traveller’s cheques in African currencies. Jenkins-Ferret also laments the high commissions travellers are often charged to encash traveller’s cheques. “Traveller’s cheques are a dying product. In a few years’ time, they’ll probably be too much work for people to bother with them.”

The Cash Passport Card is an internationally recognised product that has been adapted by many of South Africa’s foreign currency suppliers.

This card, which looks like a credit card, can be preloaded with foreign currency in the form of GBP, EUR or USD. The card is accepted by over a million Visa merchants worldwide.

You can use the card as a debit card or to withdraw money from ATMs.

What is really fabulous about this product is that it is not susceptible to exchange rate fluctuations as the currency is loaded at a fixed rate. There are no charges when swiped at vendors abroad, and it is valid for three years.

Even after the expiry date, the card can be renewed and reloaded. If the card is lost you are refunded and it carries free emergency assistance for wherever you are in the world.

In order to keep up with the demands of modern technology, the card can be reloaded anywhere via electronic transfer on the internet, ensuring that the user never runs out of money and because it is pre-paid, helps with budgeting.

For Jenkins-Ferret, this is possibly the best way to carry your money when travelling abroad. “The emergency assistance covers everything right down to if you’re in jail – you just call your supplier and they’ll help you get in touch with your embassy or consulate,” he says. Whatever form of money you do carry when travelling abroad, carry wisely.