I recently travelled to the UK, visiting Edinburgh, Sheffield (believe it or not!), London and every town in between. I hate the hassle of carrying traveller’s cheques for the following reasons:

• It makes my purse bulky and unwieldy;
• I have to keep my sales slip separate to my cheques in the event of loss (I never remember where I’ve hidden the sales slip);
• I have to figure out how to use the room safe to keep my excess cheques safe;
• I have to control my fear that the safe will never open again;
• I pay horrendous commission to the hotel to cash my cheques at the front desk, for the sake of convenience;
• I have to make a special effort to find a bureau de change and the location is often the city’s best kept secret;
• When I open my purse to pay by traveller’s cheque, everyone can see how much money I have in my purse;
• It’s a mission to re-sell my cheques upon my return and the buying rate always seems to be the worst in recent history.

I decided to take the Cash Passport instead. The Cash Passport is serviced by Visa Electron. My spending money was loaded in Pounds, I was given a pin number (secretly), and with my card, and some cash Pounds, off I went to the UK.

The card fits neatly into my purse, together with my other cards and I only had to remember a simple four-digit pin code.

There are Visa Electron cash machines all over, and drawing cash is the same as at home.

I used the customer service number to check on my balance, and the service was quick and efficient. I also used the card to pay for restaurants, entrance fees, buses and shopping with no problems. This meant I only had to carry a minimum of cash and I had the peace of mind that I could get more cash at any time.

Upon my return, I advised FX to transfer my balance into my bank account and voila!, my Pounds were converted to Rands at the current buying rate and transferred electronically to my bank account.

All in all, this was a very pleasant experience indeed and a method of carrying foreign money that I would certainly recommend. However, I would suggest this method only in areas where Visa Electron cards and cash machines are readily accepted and located. FX can advise on this.

Charmaine van Niekerk

Operations Director
Unipalm Travel Holdings,
Club Travel