Caxtonfx Mastercard

...when I began reading about Caxtonfx a debit card.

WHO ARE CAXTONFX?
Caxtonfx are basically a foreign exchange company that work online and over the telephone offering financial advice and proven better rates on foreign currency. They started out in 2001 as an FX broker offering much better deals on foreign exchange currency than the banks if you were exchanging large sums of money.
Now their customers range form individuals ...
...would cost in sterling with Caxtonfx then compares it to how much it would cost with all charges and different exchange rates with the different banks. Every time Caxtonfx comes out best of course! You then have a currency comparable section which basically shows you the up to date exchange rate for the Euro and the American Dollar compared to all the top foreign exchange companies such as Marks and Spencer?s, The Post Office, Travelex etc.
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Last year my boyfriend and me went to Las Vegas and Florida so we needed to take a lot of spending money with us and this was around the time we were entering the credit crunch so I was really wary on what to do. I decided I didn?t want to carry a huge amount of money around with me especially when I didn?t really want to spend it all anyway so decided that probably a credit card was the best way to go. Having heard lots of pit falls with using credit cards abroad I decided to enter into some serious researching starting with the moneysavingexpert.co.uk, which recommended a selection of credit cards with lots of complicated clauses. I was about to go back to the drawing board when I began reading about Caxtonfx a debit card.

WHO ARE CAXTONFX?
Caxtonfx are basically a foreign exchange company that work online and over the telephone offering financial advice and proven better rates on foreign currency. They started out in 2001 as an FX broker offering much better deals on foreign exchange currency than the banks if you were exchanging large sums of money.
Now their customers range form individuals changing a few thousand pound for holiday spending to companies and individuals that are investing huge amounts of money into the foreign exchange market. You can use the company for sole gain through holiday money, personal savings etc or you can make massive investments in the same way.

WEBSITE
Once you click on to www.Caxtonfxcard.com you have 3 separate click through options which are Apply, How and Why theses are long grey boxes with around 5 bullet points to convince you into taking the card.
You also have a savings calculator, which is a comparable to the Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Royal Bank Of Scotland, Halifax. Natwest and Barclays. It works by asking you how much you withdraw a day from bank machines, how much you spend on a meal and other spends in a day and then they calculate how much that would cost in sterling with Caxtonfx then compares it to how much it would cost with all charges and different exchange rates with the different banks. Every time Caxtonfx comes out best of course! You then have a currency comparable section which basically shows you the up to date exchange rate for the Euro and the American Dollar compared to all the top foreign exchange companies such as Marks and Spencer?s, The Post Office, Travelex etc.
On the page there is also a video of a lady with lots of Euro notes explaining how to use the card and why it is such a must for any holidaymaker. There is also a big euro competition which is just for a bit of fun with a chance to win 1000? every month. It is very simple and you don?t have to have a card to enter all you need to do is guess how much the exchange rate with be for the Euro on the last day of the month whoever guesses right wins!
I like the website as it has a very simple layout and is easy to navigate and understand even for those who aren?t regular Internet users.

HOW DOES THE CARD WORK
Basically you apply for the card online or over the telephone you are then required to deposit some money straight away to open the account this can be the whole amount you wish to put in or as little as £10 to start the account off. Every time you deposit your cash the exchange rate on that date is frozen to that amount of money so if you put £100 in when the exchange range is $2.00 to the £1 you will get $200 in your account but if you decide you need a bit more money and deposit £50 a couple of days later the exchange rate may have dropped to $1.00 to the £1 and you would only get £50 so it is important that you check the rate before and if you think it is a good rate jump on it because yes it may go up but there is more chance of it going down. I know from experience as one day I looked at the card and the rate they were offering was $1.96 to the £1 and 2 days later I finally made my mind up to take the card and ended up getting a rate of $1.84 to the £1 which was annoying but that?s what happens if you mess about I suppose. I was a bit happier when I came home through because the exchange rate had dropped to $1.64 to the £1. I took £1000 in dollars that I changed at my local Tesco?s store for $2.01 to the £1 which I purchased ages ago and put £2000 on the card half way through the holiday I knew we would not be spending the full £3000 so I stopped using the cash and used all the money on the card because I could see the exchange rate was getting lower and lower everyday hence they would pay me more to change my money back in cash but if I had money left on the card I would have to sell it back at the exchange rate I got it for so that would have been the only disadvantage for me so am glad I thought fast and ended up actually making quite a bit changing my cash back to sterling.

EASE OF USE
The card is extremely easy to use. It is exactly like using a credit or debit card. Once you see a MasterCard logo in a shop, bar, restaurant, hotel, theme park etc you can hand over your card for payment. It is really good because although this is a debit card and you cannot spend over what you have loaded on to the card it actually acts as a credit card because some debit cards don?t work abroad but credit cards definitely do. You don?t even have to remember your pin because in most countries they don?t even have chip and pin so you have to sign for everything anyway. I understand with some credit cards in some countries every time you use them you have to show some id but with this card I didn?t get asked for my id once.

HOW TO RECOGNISE THE CARD
Ok the card isn?t the best looking of cards but it is pure black with all your numbers on the front in silver and a red Caxton FX logo with hologram and MasterCard logo so it is very noticeable in your purse. It has every detail you would get on any other card such as start date, expiry, security number etc.

HOW TO APPLY
Applying for the card is quick and easy but don?t do what I did and leave it till the last minute and panic that it isn?t going to come in time give yourself at least 2 weeks I think I gave myself about 5 days and its meant to take about 7 days. You have to be over 18 to apply for a card, have a UK address and have a UK debit card. It?s good because you can also have other people on your card from the age of 13 onwards so your kids can use the card if you really want them to! To begin with you need to complete a short application form to begin with if you want a card to convert US dollars or Euros. You then give the usual name, address, contact numbers etc. You are then asked for your passport number, mother maiden name and date of birth for security. What I love about the card is that in the sign up process you make up your own pin number and that is what you keep they don?t send you a secure one so you will remember it so much more than getting yet another pin number.
Once you have submitted your details and you have received confirmation you have been successful you should get your card within a week. When you get this you don?t have to ring to activate it or anything just login on to the website and confirm receipt of the card you are then ready to rock and roll!

The account is supplied by the Newcastle Building Society and any monies over £1,000 you choose to hold on the account is not covered by them or the FSA so once you get your card be extra security careful.

HOW TO LOAD MONEY ON TO THE CARD
Once you have received your card you will already have the £10 credit on the card in whatever currency you have chosen. You will also have a direct debit setup from your bank to the card so you don?t have to worry about anything other than how much you want to transfer! You have to transfer over 150? or $200 to get the guaranteed best rate which is fair because your not going to want to put any less on anyway. You then can either load your money on by

Phone
You can call the loading line Monday to Friday from the UK or abroad 8:30am till 5:30pm UK time and speak to an agent who will transfer the money electronically for you

Online
You can do this by login on to the website which is easy all you need is your card number and pin number. You just transfer the money from your debit account to your card by one simple transaction.

Text
To text is probably the easiest method if you are desperate for some reddies whilst away. You can only do this once you have registered your mobile on the website which is a 2 minute job once you have done this you just text load then your card number followed by your pin and the amount you want to transfer.

You can also check your balance by these three methods.
If you have an emergency like loss of card or it gets stolen and you need to put a block on the card you can also follow these methods but the quickest way is to text lock the last 4 digits of your card number then your pin. You can also unblock your card if you retrieve it in the same way. You have to be really quick if your card gets stolen as all your money is on that card its not like a credit card you are actually going to be robbed of your own money.

SPENDING
Once you have loaded your card with cash you can go out and spend it anywhere that advertises the MasterCard logo. Once I spent on the card I wrote down the amount and where I spent it just to keep a log because depending on the retailer some amounts take a few days to show up on your account as being taken off. I did it for personal use so I knew how much money I had left at all times but it is also a good security check. I also kept all my receipts just to make sure everything tallied up all the time.

CHARGES
The card is free of charge, to load money on to the card is free, to check the balance it is free, for a pin reminder it is free, to lock your card it is free and to pay for purchases it is free. The reason for this is because everything can be done either online or via SMS which is great when your away because it is quick and easy. The only time you have a charge is when you make a withdrawal at an ATM which costs either 2? or $3,to put a secondary cardholder on you pay £5.00, if the card is lost or stolen 7.50? or $10 and if you wish to withdraw any unspent holiday money it costs 10? or $15 and you have to have over £15.00 funds to withdraw.
The charges are why I took this debit card out because you can use the card for free you don?t have to incur any charges if you just want to use the card for spending in places, if you want to withdraw funds from ATM?s then you may possibly find a better deal but I didn?t want to withdraw any money so all I was interested in was the rate of exchange and the cost to actually use the card because you can fall into a lot of pitfalls with normal credit cards because they give you bad exchange rates and charge you every time you use your card Caxtonfx is great because it doesn?t do either of these things. If you do want to do anything that costs money the charges are fixed and easily accessible.

CONCLUSION
I thought this card was a bit too good to be true but after trying and testing it I now know there are no catches what so ever I didn?t spend any money on anything I used all the free options and got on great. I had no problems what so ever using the card everywhere accepted it well nearly everywhere it got declined at the airport on the way home because I had spent all my money on it! I would recommend this card to anyone who is taking a lot of money on holiday and doesn?t want the hassle of paying for safes etc. If you aren?t taking a lot of money still get the card because it offers the best exchange rates by far and if you see a better rate elsewhere they will beat it! The card is a total no brainer you just have to get one.

 

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