Traveller’s cheques are on their way out and would shortly be replaced by prepaid forex travel cards.
Uttam Nayak, country manager, Visa India said, “According to a survey conducted by Visa in 2009, 40% of business travellers in India used pre-paid cards on their business trips. The demand for travel pre-paid cards in India is growing among organisations in the country”.
Nayak said further that companies which have to pay the cost of employees’ foreign business trip expenses are more in the favor of the new option. Students going overseas for further studies are also finding it convenient and beneficial method.
Sameer Nemavarkar, senior VP, retail banking and head, retail forex and remittances, Axis Bank said, “While traveller’s cheques have been stagnant in the past three years, the use of pre-paid cards has grown. In case of Axis bank Travel Currency card, the months of April and May 2010 recorded loads of over $100 million”.
Presently 8 banks in India provide pre-paid forex cards, in 9 currencies, including the USD, pound sterling and euro.