The 5 Best Travel Money Cards for Thailand in 2022
Thailand’s renown beautiful beaches, scrumptious food and warm hospitality keep Australians returning for holidays year after year.
While in some places in Thailand you need to take Thai baht like local markets, in other places like your accommodation taking a travel money card to Thailand is a better option. So which is the best travel card to take with you?
It's easy, to save you lots of time, we have compared a large number of travel money cards for Thailand and have summarised their best points.
Best 5 Travel Money Cards for Thailand in 2022:
- Wise Multi Currency Card for best exchange rates
- Westpac Travel Card for prepaid travel money card
- Bankwest Breeze Platinum Credit Card for lowest interest rate
- ING One Low Rate Credit Card with no annual fee
- Up Bank Debit Card for ATM withdrawals
Wise Multi Currency Prepaid Card - Best Exchange Rates
Best Features
- Best exchange rate for Thai baht (THB) globally
- No international transaction fees
- No annual, monthly, initial card, loading or unloading fees
- One of the lowest conversion fee on the market
- Extremely low costs to send money overseas
Wise Multi Currency Prepaid Card
- 40+ other currencies available
- Free cash withdrawals up to $350 every 30 days. However after that, Wise charge a fixed fee of $1.50 per transaction
- Issue up to 3 virtual cards for temporary usage
- Cross currency conversion fees are one of the lowest on the market
- Daily ATM withdrawal is $2,700
- It takes between 7 to 14 business days to receive your card
- Can be used wherever MasterCard is accepted
The Wise Travel Card is low cost and has access to the best currency exchange rates globally for Thai baht. It is great for frequent travellers as it offers over 40 other currencies at the intermarket exchange rate, which is the cheapest rate globally.
In addition you can buy goods online from overseas with no transaction fee plus get the best exchange rate. The Wise card is great for when paying with tap or pin in hotels, restaurants or corner shops.
Finally Wise Travel Card lets you transfer money to an overseas bank account with extremely low fees and the best exchange rate.
Westpac Worldwide Wallet for Prepaid Travel Money Card
Best Features
- Great exchange rate for Thai Baht of prepaid cards
- No foreign transaction fees
- No fee on initial card, load, unload or inactivity fees
- Free additional card
- Flight delay pass
Westpac Worldwide Wallet Prepaid Card
- 2 cards per account for free
- Lock in great currency exchange rates on Thai baht before you leave
- Can be used wherever Mastercard is accepted
- No cross currency transactions fees
- $50,000 maximum limit on currencies loaded on to travel card
- $2,000 maximum limit on ATM withdrawals overseas within 24 hours
- No foreign transaction fees, initial card, load, unload or inactivity fees
- $3 roughly for ATMs that are not within the Non Westpac Global Alliance
- Secure from fraudulent transactions with Mastercard Zero Liability protection
- According to the Westpac it can take up to 8 business days to receive the travel card
- 11 currencies can be loaded: AUD, THB, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, CAD, HKD, JPY, SGD & ZAR
- If you run out of one currency on the card, you can pay with other currencies without the expensive cross currency transaction fee
If you want great exchange rates for Thai baht and a traditional travel money card, then the Westpac Worldwide Wallet is a no frills handy prepaid travel card with very low fees and no foreign transaction fees.
It is worth noting that for cash withdrawals at ATMs most banks will charge a 200 baht fee for using a foreign card, though Aeon Bank’s rate is a little lower at 150 baht. As this is a flat rate per transaction.
Finally it has access to a flight delay pass in case your flights are delayed and you need to access airport lounges.
Bankwest Breeze Platinum Credit Card - Lowest Interest Rate
Best Features
- Lowest interest rate at 9.90%
- No international transaction fees on purchases
- Up to 55 days interest free on purchases
- Low annual fee
- Complimentary international travel insurance
- 0% p.a. on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months, then reverts to 9.90%
Bankwest Breeze Platinum Credit Card
- Free annual fee first year, then $69 annual fee
- Free international travel insurance that includes the basics but does not cover cancellation costs, pre existing conditions and travellers over 80
- $6,000 minimum credit card
- 21.99% interest rate on purchases and cash advances
- Cash advance fee of the higher of $4 or 2% of cash advance
- Can be used wherever Mastercard is accepted
The Bankwest Breeze Platinum is a great no frills credit card that offers ‘no foreign transaction fees’ and the lowest interest rate on the market, at 9.90%. These two factors alone will save you hundreds of dollars when travelling throughout Thailand.
In addition it has a low annual fee and complimentary international travel insurance. Finally for its price point it is a great value credit card that will be accepted most places in Thailand.
ING One Low Rate Credit Card - No Annual Fee
Best Features
- No annual fee
- No international transaction fees on purchases
- Up to 45 days interest free on purchases
- Lowest cash advance interest rate of 11.99%
- Use instalment plans to pay off your purchases over time at a lower interest rate
ING One Low Rate Credit Card
- 11.99% interest rate on purchases
- $6,000 minimum credit card
- Make payments from your mobile with pay with Apple Pay and Google Pay
- International ATM fee and Foreign currency conversion fee are waived when you deposit $1,000 into your Orange Everyday each month, and make 5+ card purchases that are settled. Otherwise they are the higher of 3% or at least $3
- Put repayments on auto payment each month to pay the minimum balance or full amount
- Can be used wherever Visa is accepted
The ING One Low Rate credit card is a great option to take to Thailand as it charges no annual fee and offers a low interest rate for purchases and cash advances of 11.99%. The cash advance interest rate is very low and about 50% less than most of its competitors who charge around 22% on cash advances.
Furthermore the ING One Low Rate credit card has no international transaction fees, so you can save money on your travels and when you buy goods from overseas. It's a handy backup card to have in your wallet when travelling through Thailand.
Up Bank Debit Card - ATM Withdrawals
Best Features
- No ATM fees in Thailand or Australia
- No international transaction fees
- No initial card fee
- UI and UX better than traditional banks making it super easy to use
- Competitive savings interest rate
Up Bank Debit Card
- Backed by Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank and partnered with Wise so it has financial backing and access to the cheapest exchange rates to send money overseas
- Nifty online tools to help you track spending, budget and save. These include a detailed transaction history often including a company logo, when you paid down to the minute and the suburb where the transaction was made. In addition it has a ‘Regulars feature that detects regular billers and estimate of upcoming bills so you get a heads-up before they are due
- Exchange rates are MasterCard exchange rates, which are normally 4%+ market rate.
- Good savings account interest rates of 1.85% (0.10% base rate plus 1.75% bonus). Bonus interest is easily unlocked after making five successful card or digital wallet purchases each month
- Can be used wherever MasterCard is accepted
The Up Bank Debit Card is perfect if you want to use your card in Thailand and Australia with little fees. It can be used at ATMs in Thailand without fees from Up Bank, no international fees and no account keeping fees.
In addition it is the cheapest way to send money overseas through a bank due to their partnership with Wise (the largest money transfer company in the world). Finally it offers a good interest rate on money in your savings account.
Learn more about the best credit, debit and prepaid cards for travel
FAQs
The best travel money cards for Thailand are the Wise Multi Currency card, which offers the best exchange rate for Thai baht, a Westpac Worldwide Wallet or Up Bank debit card for ATM withdrawals and the BankWest Platinum Breeze or ING One Low Rate cards for credit purchases.
Yes you can use a travel card in Thailand. You can use a debit travel card, prepaid travel card or credit card. Most travel cards are either Mastercard or Visa which means they are accepted in most places within Thailand.
Yes you should exchange money for Thai baht before you travel to Thailand. Many places in Thailand accept cash and it's handy to have Thai baht for corner stores, local markets, transport or for tipping.
It is better to take cash and cards to Thailand. We recommend taking cash and at least 2 travel cards to Thailand. Take cash for the smaller items and take a debit travel card or prepaid travel card loaded with Thai baht. This way you are spending your own money, locked in a good exchange rate. We advise taking a credit card as a ‘just in case’ card.
A travel money card is better for security than cash. If you lose your travel money card, you can report it stolen or lost quickly online and the card is cancelled to prevent unauthorised spending. You also need a 4 digit pin to spend money on your travel money card. If you lose cash you are unlikely to recover it.
No you can not use dollars in Thailand, you need to use the currency of Thailand, Thai baht. The Thai baht has 5 notes for the 20 baht, 50 baht, 100 baht, 500 baht and 1000 baht notes. The most common coins in Thailand are the 1 baht, 2 baht, 5 baht, and 10 baht.
You can carry an unlimited amount of foreign currency to Thailand and if you arrive with more than USD20,000 you need to declare it to customs. According to the Thai Embassy you can bring in less than THB50,000 to Thailand.
How much spending money you need for Thailand depends on whether you are backpacking, travelling with family or a luxury tour of Thailand. $40 per day should cover the backpacking budget, $150 per day should cover a family and $200 upwards for luxury travel around Thailand.
Westpac offers the best bank travel card as it provides the best exchange rates for a bank, no foreign transaction fees, no fee on initial card, no load fees, no unload and no inactivity fees. It also offers a flight delay pass that gives you access to airport lounges in case your flight is delayed.
Visa, MasterCard, Cirrus or Maestro main cards accepted in Thailand hotels, restaurants and shops. They are also the two main cards accepted at ATMs. American Express is less popular and we don't recommend taking that as your main source of payment.
