Caxton card.. Best choice ?

tonka

Never bothered with one of these type of cards before BUT as we seem to be spending a bit more time out there do people recon this is best choice... ?
Any downsides ? I see there is a min £150 loading..
Main use will be to get cash from machines.

Advise and tips appreciated.

teddybard

One Internet review says a lot but I did not write it so you pays your money and takes your choice,



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Written on: 19/02/2013
Review of Caxton FX Currency Exchange www.caxtonfx.com

"Very close to being very good"
I've been a user of the Caxton FX Dollar Card for a few years and all-in-all it's very good with good rates and a good attitude towards customer service. When we got married in the US we recommended the card to all our guests and they loved it. But there are a handful of small problems we've encountered that could have resulted in disaster.

First, if you live at an address that is even slightly out of the ordinary you will have problems registering your debit card as the addresses have to match exactly, even if they're actually wrong. The customer service people must deal with this problem all the time and they're quick to help but if you're registering a new debit card you may find it a hassle you don't need.

Secondly, and this is the big problem that was raised, is that the call centre was only open 9am-5pm UK time Mon-Fri (I understand there are now extended hours but not 24hr service). We faced a real problem a couple of years ago when we arrived in the US (at 7pm local time, so 3am UK time) and found that our card was locked despite sorting things out on the phone with the callcentre. As practically all our money was on the card we faced a night in the car hire centre before finding just enough money on other debit cards to make the payment (and we had to switch primary drivers meaning we paid around £50 more than we would have done had the Caxton card worked). When we got to the hotel we had to leave our passports in a safety deposit box at reception as we had no means to pay for the room. After a rather restless night's sleep (as we were due to pay for our wedding the next day using the Caxton card) we called the call centre on the dot of 9am UK time to be told there had been some problem with transfering funds from the expired Caxton card to the replacement but that it was all now sorted and the card was active (we immediately tested this and to their credit it worked straight away). The callcentre staff were brilliant and we had a great holiday and wedding BUT this has made us extremely apprehensive about relying on our Caxton cards in the future - it was only by luck that we ever left the car hire centre (we genuinely thought at one stage that we were going to have to spend the night there!). It did occur to us that had we arrived on a Friday we would have potentially faced waiting until Monday morning UK time to sort out the problem. It seems very odd that a card designed to be used abroad does not have a 24hr callcentre.

In conclusion, get a Caxton card but harass their callcentre like mad before you go to ensure it's all set up and working and make sure you have a secondary form of card payment just in case (if there are two of you get a Caxton card each and a back-up option each!).

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Taran_Las

Tonka,

I have had one for a few years now and it does what it says on the tin. One problem is that they do not have the backing of the FSA compensation scheme. To mitigate this I have also got a FairFx card and load 1/2 the cash on each. This card gives a slightly better exchange rate than Caxton but charges €1.50 for each ATM withdrawal. Therefore, if you withdraw small amounts of cash it works out slightly worse than the Caxton card.

I load the cards over the internet and haven't needed the call centres up to now.

Hope this helps.

__________________
Taran.
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. Gustave Flaubert

Bryan

I too have used a caxton card and cab heartily recommend them.

I usually withdraw cash from the machines and spend that rather than use my card at retailers (personal choice).

Never needed the call centre but as I was in Spain the UK only hours wouldn't have bothered me

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Bryan 2011

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brynric

I use Caxton in Europe. My UK cards are locked away and I tend to load my Caxton by text and check my balance the same way. The exchange rate seems pretty good and I haven't had any admin dealings since taking it out.
www.moneysavingexpert.com makes some useful points on holiday money.

rikfos

Have only used clarity cards. Withdraw cash from ATM- no charge and you get the bank rate. The card gets paid off from my current account each month with a minimal charge and allows me £3600 per month.

injebreck99

I have used them a lot in the USA and Canada, no problems anywhere so far, off to Spain tomorrow so have loaded euro's on this trip,

makems

Used a Caxton card all over Europe without problems.
It works in Morocco too although there is one local bank which doesn't seem to recognise the card in its ATMs. Most banks are OK though.
Marjane supermarket accepts Caxton cards at the checkouts so you can pay for your booze with plastic!