Complete Guide to Australia Post Prepaid Travel Money Card: Foreign Currency Rates & Fees Explained

Travel money cards are increasingly popular as a convenient and relatively safe way to manage your spending money when you’re overseas. Australia Post offers a prepaid Travel Platinum Mastercard® for customers looking for a travel money card.

In this article, we'll review the features, fees, benefits, and limitations of Australia Post Travel Platinum Mastercard. You can also learn more about the Wise card, an easy way to stretch your dollars when paying in foreign currencies.

The Australia Post Travel Platinum Mastercard: A Deep Dive

The Australia Post Travel Platinum Mastercard is a prepaid, reloadable card designed specifically for international travel. It allows you to load multiple currencies before your trip, with the aim of locking in exchange rates and providing a secure alternative to carrying large sums of cash.

✈️ Don't leave without the right card. Find the best travel card for overseas and spend smarter during your trip.

How to get & use an Australia Post travel card

Here’s what you need to do to get your Mastercard Cash Passport from Australia Post.

Ordering the Australia Post travel card

You can order your card online1 via the Australia Post website, or by going into a local Australia Post branch. If you order online you can top up using your card, BPay or a bank transfer. There may be a fee to pay for getting your card in a branch, or for loading money, depending on the method you use to add money to the account1.

Activating Australia Post travel card

Once you have your card, you’ll need to activate it before you can start to use it.

Using your Australia Post travel card

Your travel card can now be used online and in stores where you see the Mastercard logo. You can also use it for contactless payments⁵.

There are a few limitations to where your card will be accepted. Services which require pre authorisation, such as hotels, cruise ships and car rental services may not accept your prepaid card, and if they do you may find that some of your card funds are blocked until released by the merchant. This may be a deposit against your hotel bill, or in case of damage to a rental car for example. In these cases, you’ll usually be better off using an alternative such as debit or credit card to pay.

How to Top-up Australia Post travel card

You can top up your card in an Australia Post branch, or online via the app.

Buy back

If you have foreign currency left on your card after a trip, you can convert it back to AUD at the prevailing exchange rate. That may not be the same as the rate that was used when you converted the money in the first place - so you may get more or less than you originally paid. You’ll be able to spend the money in Australia, or cash out the card - but you may pay a fee for either of these options.

Contact information

If you need to get in touch with the team behind the Australian Post Travel Card, you have a few different contact routes1:

• Call within Australia on 1800 549 718
• From outside Australia, you can call +44 207 649 9404 internationally for 24/7 support.

Supported Currencies for Australia Post travel card

The Australia Post Travel Platinum Mastercard can load up to 11 currencies:

• US dollars
• Euros
• British pounds
• New Zealand dollars
• Canadian dollars
• Thai baht
• Hong Kong dollars
• Singapore dollars
• Japanese yen
• UAE dirham

Fees & charges for Australia Post travel card

Here are the main fees⁴ and charges you need to know about when comparing the Australia Post travel money card to other options available.

Exchange rate used by Australia Post travel card

The exchange rate that applies is set by Mastercard Prepaid Management Services and will apply when you load funds to the card, or transfer funds between currencies. This rate would generally be higher then the mid-market exchange rate you would usually see on Google. They markup means you receive less foreign currency for your Australian dollars than you would with a provider using the mid-market rate.

Meet Wise: A Smart Alternative to Manage Your Travel Money

The Wise card is a simple way to save up to 7x when you're spending internationally. You can spend in 150+ countries at mid-market rate — basically the rate you see on Google. With no foreign transaction fees and low, transparent pricing, Wise usually gives you the best value for your money.

Simply create a Wise account for free, order a card and top-up AUD to get started. Having a physical Wise card allows you to make chip and pin payments, as well as make some free ATM withdrawals each month for when you're abroad. You can get digital cards and add to your Google or Apple Pay wallet for instant use. Spend directly with the Wise account in AUD and let auto-conversion do the trick or convert in advance to your desired currency. You can hold and exchange 40+ currencies in your Wise account and spend the currencies you hold for free.

Wherever your travel takes you, the Wise card makes spending money abroad cheaper and easier.

🚀 Get your Wise card

Conclusion

The Australia Post Travel Platinum Mastercard offers a familiar and accessible option for Australians embarking on international adventures. Its ability to preload multiple currencies and its acceptance at Mastercard locations worldwide provide a degree of convenience. However, the card's fees, particularly the exchange rate markup, can affect your travel budget.

As an alternative, Wise, with its commitment to the mid-market rate, allows you to stretch your travel budget further and enjoy your adventures to the fullest.

Ultimately, the best choice depends on your individual priorities and travel habits. Before your next trip, carefully weigh your options and choose the solution that best aligns with your financial goals.