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.

Justin says:

15 May15 May 08:32

After many attempts on Wednesday morning trying to register with messages like “Check your internet connection and retry” and “There is a problem with your data. Please retry”, I gave up. However, one of the attempts must have actually succeeded as I received a confirmation email last night at 21:31 entitled “You’ve successfully registered – your Supercard is on its way”. Hooray!
Aidan says:

15 May15 May 10:09

I’ve just had an alert today from Equifax advising that “GB GROUP-TUXEDO” made an enquiry against my credit file. The only thing I can think it is, is my application for this Travelex card although I can’t find anything online to confirm this. Anyone else who applied for this card also had an enquiry on their credit file from “GB GROUP-TUXEDO”?
- Mike says:
  
  15 May15 May 14:30
  
  Yes, same here, so must be related to Supercard
- Jon says:
  
  15 May15 May 17:50
  
  Me too. 13/5/15. Thought it didn’t need a credit check?
  
  That said, I didn’t realise confused.com did a credit check every time I compared car insurance. As I did several comparisons each trying different options, there are over 50 dings on my file!
- pj says:
  
  15 May15 May 18:23
  
  That’s the Russkies working out who the patsies are gonna be
- Mikey says:
  
  18 May18 May 23:06
  
  Just to help on this one (from MSE but many companies do similar, familiarly titled a ‘soft search’)…
  
  “Supercard does an ID check which it is required to do, to check you are who you say you are. This isn’t judging you like a credit check and it doesn’t mark your credit file in a way lenders can see, so it has no impact on your future credit worthiness.”
  - John says:
    
    19 May19 May 03:31
    
    Tuxedo is the brand name of their longstanding prepaid debit card, for which they’ve always had to carry out the legally required anti-money laundering ID check (as opposed to credit check).
    
    Interestingly the Tuxedo cards use Mastercard exchange rates rather than Visa (with the normal loading).
steve says:

16 May16 May 06:57

Can anyone explain one burning question I cannot seem to find the answer to.

I am travelling to Vietnam soon and had no intention of taking my galaxy S5 for obvious reasons. However, as the supercard is connected to any card that I link it to, do I have to have my phone with me for it to work or do I just link all my cards through my phone prior to leaving?
- Rob says:
  
  16 May16 May 08:52
  
  Presumably the latter. But don’t you take your phone for wifi use in the hotel, cafes etc and for Skype?
  - steve says:
    
    17 May17 May 07:16
    
    Thanks for the reply. I am taking a samsung tablet for the internet etc as I am taking a gopro and a tiny external hard drive to transfer files. Just wont need a phone, or at least I am hoping not to.
Super Success says:

16 May16 May 08:40

I got a follow up email a few days later and managed to register…with confirmation.
giggle says:

16 May16 May 23:30

Well, I had an almost similar experience. I tried repeatedly on the app, put all my details through then app error. Now when I launch the app it says pilot closed due to phenomenal response and will let me know when it reopens again, given the frustration with the app not sure I will bother the next time. Thanks for letting us know though.
Don says:

22 May22 May 14:25

Anyone got one yet?
- Rob says:
  
  22 May22 May 15:00
  
  I know one guy has, and has used it online, because he emailed me. No sign of mine.
- Will says:
  
  22 May22 May 17:42
  
  No sign of mine either, just an email prompting me to register a card on file with them to be able to start using the super card
  - Don says:
    
    23 May23 May 13:56
    
    Arrived today. Activated fine, will use it next week and report back.
Colin JE says:

23 May23 May 12:54

Well, I got my new Supercard in the post today. Yay! But validation of the card has to be done through the glitchy app. I managed to link my credit card to the Supercard (you’re right it won’t take Amex numbers), but I fell at the final validation stage because I couldn’t remember my password. I must have given when I originally registered. And the password reset doesn’t work. App just gives an error. I rang customer services (on the card its 020 3503 0945 – it’s not shown anywhere else on their website or literature) and they told me the only way to validate was through the app. They suggested I reinstall it and try again, which I did, but this time I got the message that my account was suspended – probably due to my trying different passwords. Next time I called CS they told me to wait a couple of days because their server “had some issues”.

So there you have it folks. Great idea but the IT support and other systems are poor to say the least. And God help you if you can’t remember your password. Ironically, the CS asked me for my password to ID me, when I had already explained I was calling because I’d forgotten it and needed a reset. He seemed to have no other way of ID’ing me!
- Leo says:
  
  23 May23 May 13:55
  
  Can’t even link my credit card because App won’t take my password! I had an email from them telling me to register but I keep getting an error message saying something went wrong try later etc. I’ve emailed support but to no avail. It makes you wonder if there’s any point in trusting the actual card/app combo. I’ll probably just give up.
Wembleygal says:

23 May23 May 13:42

My card arrived today. Can’t wait to try it !