FX card "dormancy" charges - beware!

[toontra]

Not having been abroad for over 3 years (like many others - for obvious reasons) I checked my Caxton FX pre-load card which I remembered having €280 in it when last used in November 2019.  I was staggered to see £2 charge each and every month described as a "dormancy" charge.  Apparently this is charged if you haven't used the card for over 12 months (which I was totally unaware of).

So in the 3.5 years unused, 2.5 of those have incurred monthly charges totalling €62.  Not a huge amount but I wasn't happy.  An email was duly fired off saying, as company dealing in FX, they were surely aware that people hadn't been travelling as normal recently 

To be fair I had a reply within minutes offering a refund of the charges. 

[campagman]

After seeing this thread I checked my card, I have not used it since 2014 but thought there was about 100 euros left on. I logged on and found that the dormancy fee had used up that money. I phoned Caxton up to moan and they said they would refund my money. A later email told me this had been done but only 72 euro not the 114 euro left on card. I phoned again to ask why, they didn't know but will look into it. I have no plans to go abroad but do not want to transfer the money back to my bank account, which they recommend, as I will get hit by their poor exchange rate. Or maybe I could go on a foreign holiday??

[FifeingEejit]

yeah it's in the T&Cs, I emailed to cancel mine because I have a wise card now too, and it doesn't charge domancy, but they suggested freesing the card and account which means I can restart it easily.

[De Sisti]

...... I have a wise card now too,

https://wise.com/gb/pricing/

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel-money/card

[edit: Post Office card charges: For loads in Great British pounds, a load commission fee of 1.5% will apply (min £3, max £50). A monthly maintenance fee of £2 will be deducted from your balance 12 months after your card expires. Expiration dates can be found on your TMC; all cards are valid for up to 3 years. ]

[Lightning Phil]

...... I have a wise card now too,

https://wise.com/gb/pricing/

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel-money/card

Yep, post office charge a lot more

[Snakehips]

I've been stung by this as well, but only in a minor way.
Pre-Covid I got a 'Sainsburys' Cash Passport card. I had intended to use up all the cash that I had loaded on it, but on my last night in Lisbon the card was rejected in a restaurant and all the local cash dispensers wanted to levy a transaction charge. As a result I was left with about £20 on it.
Then came Covid and nobody was able to travel and the organisations that run these things generously suspended their dormancy charges.
Luckily in May 2021 I got an email saying that I had recent transactions available to view. Whoever runs the scheme for Sainsburys had helped themselves to a couple of quid.
I closed the account after conversion back to Sterling of course, but didn't lose a lot.

[FifeingEejit]

...... I have a wise card now too,

https://wise.com/gb/pricing/

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel-money/card

Yep, post office charge a lot more

One of the reasons I kept on both Wise and Caxton was due to Wise not being great for taking cash out, some parts of Europe cash was still king, no idea about now TBH.
When it comes to it, I've got a huge amount of comissionless payment on my Credit Card so the Visa transaction fee is the only bit I need to consider

[mmmmartin]

Read this thread and signed in to my Caxton card account to find when i returned from Spain a few years ago i removed all the money i had on the prepayment card.
As my travel now tends to involve only Spain i have opened a new account with Santander bank because every atm in Spain charges €5 for any cash withdrawal, but Santander doesn't if you have a Santander card. And i have a Halifax clarity credit card that doesn't charge you to use it abroad.
Thanks, i was lucky. OP deserves thanks for bringing this up