Gotianun-led EastWest Bank seeks to harness business from the growing number of Filipino overseas travelers by offering the first multi-currency prepaid money card in Southeast Asia.
The recently launched EastWest Travel Money can carry up to six foreign currencies—US dollar, euro, British pound, Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar and Japanese yen and uses the Visa electronic payments channel.
The new product aims to provide a practical and secure way for travelers to purchase foreign currencies by loading onto their cards when exchange rates are favorable.
The exchange rate is locked-in for the currencies loaded, protecting the EastWest Travel Money holder from fluctuating foreign exchange rates.
The minimum load amount was set at $10 or its equivalent in other currencies, while the maximum load amount across all currencies is $12,000 in a single card, which has a five-year expiration period.
EastWest Bank president Antonio Moncupa said that with more Filipinos traveling overseas— there were over three million recorded in 2012—the launch of this product was deemed timely.
With the influx of cheaper airline services and increasing consumer affluence in the country, Moncupa said the bank would like to see this card as the “preferred travel companion of Filipino travelers.”
Iain Jamieson, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam, said Filipinos traveling overseas usually spend $250 on the average which was a big amount to carry in cash.
“The EastWest Travel Money offers a simple and convenient way for Filipino travelers to pay, reducing the reliance on cash which can be less secure and harder to track when traveling abroad,” Jamieson said.
Using this card, he said travelers could withdraw cash in local currencies from two million ATMs worldwide and make purchases from the vast number of merchants that accept Visa.
The EastWest Travel Money is available at any EastWest Bank branch. Interested individuals can purchase without having to open a foreign currency account with the bank.
Apart from the low load amount and the absence of maintaining balance, EastWest Travel Money has no annual fees, finance charges, monthly payments and late charges to worry about compared to credit cards.
As a security feature in case the card gets lost or stolen, the EastWest Travel Money comes with a companion card which can be used as an emergency card to access the loaded funds. Monitoring and tracking of load balances, transaction details, changing of PIN and locking/unlocking of card can be done via www.travelmoney.eastwestbanker.com. Doris C. Dumlao