Loaded for Travel Helps out travelling Kiwis

Loaded for Travel allows Kiwi travellers to lock in exchange rates and better manage their finances abroad

Auckland, 21 June 2010 – New Zealand Post, Kiwibank and Visa are today launching “Loaded for Travel”, the world’s first reloadable multi-currency Visa TravelMoney prepaid card, set to change the way Kiwis pay when travelling overseas.

The Loaded for Travel card allows travellers to load up to five different currencies (NZ$, AUD$, US$, Euro and GBP) on the same card and it can be used for purchases at millions of retailers and for withdrawing cash at 1.6 million ATMs worldwide. It is the first multi-currency card in New Zealand and the world’s first multi-currency Visa TravelMoney prepaid card.

The card will provide travellers with a number of benefits over cash including the security of Visa and the ability to lock in exchange rates. Because cardholders lock in an exchange rate when they load funds onto the card, they can try to take advantage of favourable rates and limit currency conversion fees to the time they load money onto the card, not every time they use it.

”Visa TravelMoney prepaid cards offer a convenient and secure payment option for travelers around the world. The introduction of first multi-currency Visa Prepaid Travel card by the New Zealand Post and Kiwibank makes it even easier for Kiwis to manage their finances when abroad and is a great example of how innovation continues to enhance the ability of prepaid cards to meet consumer needs,” says Visa’s New Zealand Country Manager Sean Preston.

New Zealand Post (Kiwibank) Payment Services General Manager Terese Tunnicliffe says the Loaded for Travel Card is a smart way to pay when you’re travelling overseas.

“By marrying the cost control and security of a Visa Prepaid card with the ability to lock in the exchange rates when they load their card, cardholders will be able to enjoy safe and convenient spending abroad. And, to make things easier for customers they can also add on travel insurance and put their mail on hold when they purchase their card,” says Ms Tunnicliffe.

Loaded for Travel cards can be purchased at any of the 320 PostShops around the country and foreign currency can be loaded in-store via cash, EFTPOS, credit card and debit card, and re-loaded here and overseas via the internet. Kiwibank customers can also order and pay for their card on internet banking.

Cardholders can check the balance on their card and transaction information online at www.loadedfortravel.co.nz on a service called ‘My Account’, via ATMs or via TXT and email alerts.

The Loaded for Travel Card costs $12 and comes with one free currency load with each additional initial currency load costing $2. The card is valid for three years and can be reloaded any number of times for a $10 reload fee.

ENDS

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