Best travel cards for Canada in the UK

Travel cards are one of the safest and most convenient ways to spend while traveling outside the UK. Not only are they secure and reliable, they can also help you stick to your budget during your trip. If you're going to Canada soon and weighing your payment options, a travel money card could be a great choice.

In this guide, we’ll help you find the best travel card for Canada by comparing their features, so you can choose the one that best suits your spending habits and needs. We’ll also provide some general travel tips for Canada.

We’ll also show you an alternative, the Wise debit card. It’s designed for low-cost spending in Canada (and elsewhere), automatically converting your pounds to the local currency at the great mid-market exchange rate, only adding a tiny, transparent conversion fee*.

Learn more about the Wise debit card 💳

Best travel cards for Canada compared

Let’s compare a few of the best travel cards for Canada and point out their differences:

FairFX currency card

The FairFX travel card is a prepaid Mastercard that lets you hold funds in 20 supported currencies, including Canadian dollars. It comes with no monthly fees, card issuance fees or foreign transaction costs.¹

The card is available in both physical and virtual versions, so you can add it to your mobile wallet for easy access. Ordering is straightforward - just go to the Cards section on their website and click 'Create Card'. A minimum balance of £50 is required to get started.²

Since this is a Mastercard, it’s widely accepted wherever cards are typically accepted. This makes it an excellent choice for travel.

Travelex Travel Money Card

The next option is Travelex's contactless travel card, which supports 22 major currencies. With free top-ups, ATM withdrawals and foreign transactions, it’s a great choice for use abroad. You can use it at millions of stores and businesses worldwide, including in the UK.³

The card has a £500 daily ATM withdrawal limit and a £3,000 spending limit. Top-ups are easy and can be done in-store, online or through the Travelex Money app, with a minimum load of £50.³

You can order the Travelex Travel Money Card online and have it delivered to your address or collect it from any Travelex store. All you need is to be 18 years or older and have a government-issued photo ID.⁴

Sainsbury's Bank Travel Money Card

Sainsbury’s Bank offers a travel card that lets you store and use up to 15 currencies at once, including Canadian dollars. You can collect it the same day from a local in-store bureau or have it delivered to your address within 8 days. For the first option, simply select 'order for collection' on their website, or choose 'order for delivery' if you want it sent to your address.⁵

This travel card uses the Mastercard exchange rate, but Sainsbury’s Nectar members receive better rates. There are no foreign transaction or ATM fees, except those set by banks separately.⁵

The dedicated Sainsbury’s Bank Travel Money Card app lets you manage your finances on the go. And since the card detects your location and automatically selects the appropriate currency, you won’t have any extra hassle with that.

Post Office Travel Money Card

The Post Office Travel Money Card is a contactless prepaid Mastercard designed primarily for use outside the UK. It’s a great way to secure local currency before travelling, such as Canadian dollars in this case.

You can order the card in one of three ways: in-branch, on the official website or via the app. If you apply in person, you’ll receive the card the same day, while online methods take 2-3 working days.⁶

If, at any point during your stay in Canada, you run out of funds on your card, you can easily top it up via the app or the official Post Office website. You can add up to £5,000 in one go.⁶

What is a travel card?

A travel card is a prepaid payment card that you can load with foreign currencies and use while abroad. These cards are specifically designed for travel and you can use them for both purchases and ATM withdrawals.

One of the key advantages of using a travel money card is their safety. Since you can only load a set amount of money onto the card, the rest of your funds are protected in case of theft. This makes it a safer option than carrying cash or using your regular cards abroad.

Don’t confuse these cards with travel credit cards. They don’t typically hold foreign currency, but instead offer rewards and perks for travel-related expenses.

An added benefit of travel money cards is that they can help you stick to your budget. Since you can only spend the amount you've loaded onto the card, managing your spending while traveling is much easier.

Travel tips for Canada

Before you leave for Canada, here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind.

Cash isn’t as popular as cards in Canada. Credit cards are the number one payment method in Canada, followed by debit cards. This means you’ll likely be able to use your travel card everywhere in big cities. Mobile wallets are also frequently used, so consider using your card in virtual form for added security.⁷

There are over 60,000 ATMs in Canada, so you won’t have a problem finding one in bigger cities. However, less than a third are bank-owned ATMs.⁸

When it comes to pickpockets, Canada is a pretty safe destination, but some precaution is always a good idea. In order to avoid losing too much money, avoid overloading your travel card or carrying too much cash. Also, since most companies allow you to top up your card balance on the go and at any time, there’s no need to keep large amounts of money on your card.

Travelling abroad? Choose the Wise debit Card

That concludes our guide to the best travel card for Canada. Hopefully, this helps you find the one that suits your needs best.

And if you want another option for spending abroad without worrying about exchange rate markups and hidden fees, the Wise debit card could be a great solution.

Open a Wise account online and you can order the Wise card for a one-time fee of £7. You can use this clever card in 150+ countries, including Canada. It automatically converts your pounds to local currency whenever you spend using the mid-market exchange rate, only adding a tiny, transparent conversion fee* – or it’s free if you already have the local currency in your Wise account.

You also get two free ATM withdrawals for up to 200 GBP (or currency equivalent) each month.

Sign up with Wise for free 💰

Sources used:

Sources last checked on date: 11-Dec-2024