Wise Card vs Cash Passport: Which is a Better Travel Card in New Zealand? (2024)

If you need a convenient, secure and flexible way to spend and make cash withdrawals overseas, getting a multi-currency travel card can be a great option. In New Zealand two popular travel cards are the Mastercard Cash Passport NZ¹ and the Wise card. But what’s the difference between the Wise card vs Cash Passport?

This guide to Wise vs Cash Passport reviews the features, fees, limits and services available from both, so you can see which might work best for you.

What is the Cash Passport Platinum Mastercard?

The Cash Passport NZ is a travel card issued on the Mastercard network. It’s a multi-currency card which lets you hold any of 10 major currencies, for convenient spending and withdrawal overseas. You’ll have a linked digital account you can manage in an app - or you can choose to top up in a store if you’d prefer to manage your money face to face. The Cash Passport card is issued to New Zealand residents.

Cash Passport benefits and features in NZ

We’ll take a look at the important fees to consider when using a Cash Passport in a moment - but first a focus on the benefits of the Cash Passport Mastercard in New Zealand:

• Load any of 10 major currencies to lock in the exchange rate and set your travel budget
• Secured by Chip and PIN technology
• Top up using debit card, bank transfer or bill pay
• Globally accepted - spend anywhere the Mastercard logo is shown
• Manage your card and top up your account with your phone
• Get flight pass lounge access if you’re travelling and your flight is delayed for 2 hours or more
• Eco-friendly cards

What is the Wise card?

Wise is a specialist in digital multi-currency accounts, debit cards, and international payments, and offers the Wise card to residents of New Zealand and many other countries globally. You can add money to your Wise account in NZD and convert to any of 40+ supported currencies for holding and exchange, or just leave your money in dollars and let the card convert when you pay with no foreign transaction fee. Wise currency conversion uses the mid-market exchange rate with no markup and transparent fee from 0.35% (varies by currency).

Wise card benefits and features in NZ

Let’s start with an overview of the benefits of the Wise card before we dive into a head to head comparison of Wise vs Cash Passport on features, fees and exchange rates.

• Hold and exchange 40+ currencies
• Mid-market exchange rates when you convert, send or spend
• No foreign transaction fees - currency exchange from 0.35%
• Receive payments to your Wise account in 9 currencies like a local
• No ongoing fees or minimum balance requirements
• Spend globally wherever Visa network is supported
• Business customers welcome.

Cash Passport vs Wise card: main comparison

Shopping around for the right travel money card for you is essential to make sure you get the best available deal. We’ve picked out some of the most important features and fees of the Wise card vs Cash Passport for international use below, and we’ll get into some details about fees, rates and limits, in just a moment.

Both Cash Passport and Wise card are available in multiple countries

• List of Cash Passport supported countries
• List of Wise Card support countries

Cash Passport vs Wise card: fees and charges for NZ Residents

Before you choose if Wise or the Cash Passport is right for you, it’s helpful to compare the two on fees and charges. That can mean your money goes further when you’re abroad.

To summarise:

• Cash Passports are free to order online - Wise has a one time 14 NZD card issue fee
• Wise has some free ATM withdrawals monthly before fees begin - Cash Passport has 4 NZD withdrawal fee for every domestic withdrawal (and variable fees for international withdrawals).
• Cash Passport uses the Mastercard rate and a variable markup - Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate + conversion fee from 0.35% when you convert currencies
• Wise has no foreign transaction fee - Cash Passport charges 5.95% if you spend a currency not loaded in your account

For New Zealand residents, Cash Passport 10 currencies in your account. Wise on the other hand supports 40+ currencies, and access to up to 9 local account details. The Wise further supports international transfers to 160+ countries.

Cash Passport vs Wise card: limits

Cash Passports have a lot of different limits to consider.

The minimum load amount is 250 NZD. You can make ATM withdrawals up to 3,000 NZD a day, and spend up to 1,500 NZD in person. You’ll be able to add up to 25,000 NZD to your card account on any given day by bank transfer or bill pay - but only 15,000 NZD if you use a debit card. If you use a debit card there are also limits to the amount you can top up in a week or month.

As you can see, there’s quite a lot to remember when it comes to Cash Passport limits - if you run into a limit when you transact you’ll be notified in the Cash Passport app⁵.

Wise limits are straightforward for NZ cards. There’s just a 52,500 NZD monthly limit and a 7,000 NZD withdrawal limit monthly⁶. In most cases you can hold as much as you like in your account. If you want to, you can set lower daily or monthly limits in the Wise app.

Cash Passport vs Wise: exchange rates

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate for all currency conversion, and splits out the fee you pay transparently. Costs are low and start from 0.39%.

Currency conversion with Cash Passport uses the Mastercard rate as a basis, but there’s then a variable fee which you’ll be shown when you convert your funds. The fee can depend on the type of transaction - for example, you may get a different rate in a store compared to online, and you might get a different rate for exchanging within your account vs when you cash out⁷.

One very important fee to note with Cash Passport: if you spend a currency you don’t have in your account there’s a 5.95% foreign transaction fee to pay. This applies even if you’re spending in a supported currency but forgot to switch your balance over in advance.

Summary: which is a better travel card in NZ?

Which travel card is right for you might come down to what you want and your personal spending preferences. Overall, Wise has a more flexible account product and more transparent, easy to understand approach to fees and exchange rates. Wise could also be right for you if you want more than a travel card - you can also hold and exchange 40+ currencies, send payments to 160+ countries, and receive payments easily to your account using local account details in 9 currencies.

One key extra benefit of the Cash Passport is the flight delay pass - plus the option to walk into an agent location and get your card instantly and in person. Aside from this, Cash Passport has fewer supported currencies vs Wise, and can come with higher overall costs for currency conversion or ATM use.

Use this guide and Wise vs Cash Passport review to decide if either is suitable for your spending patterns, so you know you have the perfect card in your pocket for your next overseas trip.