Supercard from Travelex is now available – the end of FX credit card charges?

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Back in March I wrote about the forthcoming launch of Supercard from Travelex. It is very rare that a totally revolutionary payment product comes along but this could be it.

As you (hopefully) know, almost all UK credit, debit and charge cards add a 3% fee when you buy something abroad.

There are only a handful of cards which waive this fee. There are a few free options, such as the Post Office Platinum and Halifax Clarity. There is only one credit card in the UK which offers reward points and no FX fees and that is the Lloyds Avios Rewards card (review here). You need to pay a £24 annual fee for that.

Supercard is different. It can be used anywhere where a Visa card is accepted. Your purchase is translated into Sterling as the standard Visa / MasterCard rate and charged to any UK credit or debit card you nominate. You will receive the usual rewards from that card.

Let’s imagine spending $150 in New York. If you use your Marriott MasterCard, you would be charged £103 based on a $1.50 exchange rate. Use Supercard – with your Marriott card linked to it – and your Marriott card would be charged just £100.

Supercard does away with the need to keep a separate credit card just for overseas purchases. You would earn reward points on every overseas purchase (assuming you linked a rewards credit card!), you would have spare credit available – by cancelling your Post Office or Halifax card – to apply for another rewards card and you would have one less bill to manage each month.

Back in March you could pre-register your interest via the Supercard website. I did that, but have not received notification yet.

However, as an eagle-eyed reader spotted, the app is now available to download. The links to the iOS and Android apps are on this page. It is not in the iOS app store yet – you need to follow the link.

As of 11pm last night, when I wrote this, it was misbehaving and would not let me register. The reader who sent me the link had been able to register OK.

Only a limited number of registrations are being taken at the moment so act sooner rather than later if you want to be in the first wave and get the card in time for your next foreign trip.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

prg says:

13 May13 May 17:51

What about the exchange rate itself? I have never received a decent exchange rate from Travelex.
- JQ says:
  
  13 May13 May 18:04
  
  The Visa exchange rate is used which usually has a 0.5-1% spread over interbank
- Mikeact says:
  
  13 May13 May 18:04
  
  Read the earlier posts.
Mikeact says:

13 May13 May 18:03

I’m not too sure that Mastercard are going to be happy….being left out of this novel approach ??
- JQ says:
  
  13 May13 May 18:33
  
  Their forex rates are better for GBP cardholders than Visa anyway.
  - Mark says:
    
    13 May13 May 19:30
    
    I think this is exactly the point. As I said above, the Visa rate was 2% worse for USD yesterday, 1.2% worse for EUR. So on the assumption that Mastercard are not setting their rates to lose money, clearly there is money to be made by Visa/TravelEx here.
    
    My perception (having not had a Visa credit card for many years until I received my Ethiad Amex/Visa pack last month) is that there are far fewer UK Visa credit cards in circulation compared to MasterCard. So sharing the proceeds from the spread on these cards with TravelEx is probably quite attractive to them.
    - Worzel says:
      
      13 May13 May 20:02
      
      Mark, there have been many views on all of this, and it’s clear from MSE that Travelex’s aim is to farm for information.
      
      When Rob first drew attention to the card back in March I/we wondered how the scheme would pay for itself!
      
      It’s now clear that part of the equation was information gathering; however, my view is/was that there must be more to it-back in March it appeared to me that the Visa exchange rate was lower than Mastercard.
      
      So, I am in agreement with you.
      - Mark says:
        
        13 May13 May 20:52
        
        I do wonder if the information farming angle is what they want us to believe to take focus away from how the rates really compare.
Toby says:

13 May13 May 19:12

Just got an email confirming my card is in the post!

Very odd because when I tried registering it said it failed!
- Pol says:
  
  13 May13 May 20:19
  
  Me too.
  - Joe says:
    
    13 May13 May 20:27
    
    Me too. Do we still think it will arrive?
essjay says:

13 May13 May 19:14

So despite trying to register throughout the day, and getting failure messages every time at various different points of the process, I just got an email saying my card is on its way.

Weird. Doesn’t really fill you with confidence considering it’s a payment product!
Waribai says:

13 May13 May 19:22

Yes, tried to register this morning at 7.30am thwarted at the last screen but just got the confrimation email saying the card is on its way!
- whiskerxx says:
  
  13 May13 May 19:33
  
  yep – same here.
  Failure messages throughout the day, but an email arrived at 19.07 to say the card is on the way
Imbruce says:

13 May13 May 19:34

Hi everyone,
I have just been informed by one of their IT people that happens to be my neighbour, that there is a massive sign up and the 3rd party servers have crashed several times today. Try again in a few days and it should be ok.
pj says:

13 May13 May 19:39

So how would I get one? I don’t have a mobile phone as I don’t want people to call me when I’m on the go.
- pj says:
  
  13 May13 May 20:47
  
  Wow this site is really good. I didn’t actually yet apply for a card but since I registered my interest here I just got:
  
  ‘Thanks for signing up for Supercard. We’re delighted to have you on board.
  
  We’ll be popping your personal Supercard in the mail – expect it through your letterbox shortly (you won’t need to be at home to sign for it).’
  
  Not sure they know where to send it?
- Rob says:
  
  13 May13 May 21:55
  
  You possibly don’t. It may well require a smartphone to work properly.
msm2000uk says:

13 May13 May 19:51

Ive been trying since 6:45am, but finally, after over 10 ‘Registering’ screens, the App confirmed I had been signed up…at 6pm!

Email followed a few minutes later.
- Liz says:
  
  13 May13 May 20:31
  
  Lucky you! I have been trying since around 6.30 am too and I am still stuck on the final page trying to submit – came out and deleted the app then reinstalled under a different email and back to square one ! GGRRR!!!