Before we set off, we researched a number of foreign exchange card options and decided the Caxton Euro FX card fitted our travelling lifestyle. However, currency product options and offers constantly change, so pays to check on a regular basis.
In 2014, I set up the free Caxton account and then applied for a second card holder. Having just one account for both of us makes life easier and less administration. Once the on-line account was set up and working, I transferred the minimum amount of money (to understand the procedure and timeframes) from our UK current account to the Euro Caxton account. In essence, I purchased or exchanged GBP for Euro’s at a set rate.
I worked out our comfort blanket or minimum float. This is the amount of Euro’s we felt we needed in the account as an emergency fund. There is no right or wrong answer here, it is just what you feel comfortable with and for us, €500 felt the right amount. Over the following week, I watched the exchange rate, read market news and when I felt the time was right, I topped our account up to €500.
To keep the Caxton account topped up you have two options. Transfer funds when you want to or select the auto top up facility. I use the manual top up facility as I like to be in control of when I purchase the Euro’s this also means I can take advantage of currency movements.
The Caxton card is a prepaid currency card, so it is important you keep it topped up to support your spending activity. As well as cash, you can also use your Caxton card to pay for goods and services but we personally only use it for cash.
When travelling, we withdraw cash using both cards. This way, we make sure both cards are always working OK then no dependancy on just one card. Each time we withdraw cash it is the same value, so it makes it easy for us to spot any unusual or fraudulent activity on our account.
I log on to our account on a regular basis.
We have used the Caxton card for over 2 years and thoughts
- You load it with Euro’s and then use like a debit or credit card.
- We’ve never had an issue withdrawing cash.
- There are no hidden fees
- No transaction fees
- No unexpected costs associated with the card.
- The only thing to bear in mind is this is an ‘international’ card, so DO NOT use in the UK otherwise you will incur fees.
- You load it with Euro’s and then use like a debit or credit card.
- Staff are always helpful and friendly
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Great article. We use Caxton too, a really great and easy system. We used to use it for cash withdrawals and transactions, but now tend to use our Halifax Clarity card for transactions and the Caxton for withdrawing cash.
The reason being we found when filling up with fuel at automated/pay at the pump stations (which are often the cheapest) an amount of money was ‘frozen’ as a deposit and not released until a couple of weeks later. After a long few days of driving and several fill ups our card was refused, despite having over €200 still on it.
As the Halifax card is a credit card, we don’t have to worry about those frozen amounts, so it means we know exactly what we have available to spend.
Ju x
We tend to only use cash then no issue on credit card fraud or trace. I am a bit cautious, probably too much really, on international fraud. I dont fancy an fraud case whilst travelling and trying to sort out a new card.
If you do use cards for transactions then you are best to use a credit card. The petrol station still ‘freeze’ a fixed amount but the value is deducted from your credit balance rather than your cash balance, so it rarely visible because you never really check your credit available you.