Trading 212, Monzo, Lloyds, PayPal, Halifax Clarity and more travel cards compared for overseas spending
If you’re heading out of the UK, using the wrong card for spending and cash withdrawals will mean you’re hit with extra fees on every transaction.
The good news is there are a decent number of debit and credit cards which offer near-perfect exchange rates. Here’s our guide to the top specialist travel cards.
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Our top travel debit cards
The cheapest cards are usually specialist debit cards that come via specific current accounts. You don’t have to switch banks to get these – you can simply open up a brand new extra account, and many won’t perform hard checks on your credit report either.
If this is an extra account you get just for holidays, it’s easy to transfer money across, whether as a lump sum or as you go along, using your online or app banking. Or of course, it could be your main current account where your salary is paid each month.
A benefit of debit cards over credit cards is you won’t get charged interest to take cash out of an ATM, though as you’ll see a couple do have monthly limits on your fee-free spending or withdrawals.
It used to be there were only a handful, but there are quite a few to choose from. However, since Chase ended the cashback on overseas spending, there’s not really much to choose between the bulk of them. Here are our top picks.
Top pick: PayPal+
The new PayPal debit card offers 1% back at home and abroad with no limits or fees, making it out top pick. If you spend more than £25,000 over a calendar year, the points you earn can be boosted to 1.5% as well as access to further cashback deals. You can also withdraw money for free.
PayPal+ debit card summary
| Spending overseas | Fee-free (Mastercard rate) |
| Cash withdrawals overseas | Free |
| Other benefits | 1% |
| Card delivery charge | None |
Top pick: Trading 212 card
The Trading 212 debit card pays 1.5% cashback on purchases at home and abroad if you auto-invest your cashback. and pay one subscription.
Trading 212 debit card summary
| Spending overseas | Fee-free (Mastercard rate) |
| Cash withdrawals overseas | Free, but contactless only |
| Other benefits | 1.5% cashback on all spending (capped at £15 a month) |
| Card delivery charge | £4.95 |
| Welcome offer | Free fractional share worth up to £100* |
When investing, your capital is at risk. Card distributed by T212, issued and provided by Paynetics (UK). Available with an Invest account. 1.5% cashback on all eligible purchases. Get up to £15/€15 cashback every month. Sponsored Link. Terms Apply.
| Bank | Free spending? | Free cash withdrawals? | Credit check | Extra info | Reviews | Smart Money People customer score |
| Top for cashback | ||||||
| PayPal+ | Yes | Yes | No | PayPal+ review | ||
| Trading 212 | Yes, interbank rate | £340 a day (if the ATM is contactless) | Soft | 1.5% cashback if meet conditions £4.95 charge for physical card | Trading 212 card review | 4.91 out of 5 |
| Top picks for specific countries | ||||||
| Chase | Yes, Mastercard rate | £500 a day and £1,500 a calendar month | Soft | No charges at Chase machines in USA | Chase Bank review | 4.94 out of 5 |
| Santander Edge | Yes, Mastercard rate | £300 a day | Hard | No extra charges on Santander machines £3 monthly fee (usually offset by other benefits) | our Santander Edge review | 3.73 out of 5* |
| Decent options | ||||||
| First Direct | Yes, Mastercard rate | £500 daily limit | Hard | our First Direct review | 4.68 out of 5 | |
| Halifax Reward | Yes, Mastercard rate | £800 daily limit | Hard | 4.35 out of 5 | ||
| HyperJar (prepaid card) | Yes, Mastercard rate | No cash withdrawals | Soft | Not a current account, so no FSCS protection | Not yet reviewed | 4.87 out of 5 |
| Kroo | Yes, Visa rate | £200 limit per month | Soft | ATM charges will apply from 30 April 2025 | our Kroo review | 4.89 out of 5 |
| Club Lloyds | Yes, Mastercard rate | £800 daily limit | Hard | our Club Lloyds review | 4.39 out of 5 | |
| Monzo | Yes, Mastercard rate | £400 (Europe) / £200 elsewhere every 30 rolling days / Unlimited if Monzo is your ‘main bank’ | Soft | our Monzo review | 4.92 out of 5 | |
| Starling | Yes, Mastercard rate | £300 daily day | Soft | our Starling review | 4.94 out of 5 | |
| Virgin Money M Plus | Yes, Mastercard rate | £500 daily limit | Hard | Can be opened and managed in-branch or via the phone | our Virgin Money M Plus review | 4.15 out of 5 |
The following are also fee-free but only worth considering if you’re an existing customer or looking for extras like rewards and travel insurance.
Cumberland Building Society: fully fee-free but requires a £750 a month deposit to the account. Hard credit search - Halifax Ultimate Reward: a packaged account with travel, breakdown and gadget cover that’s got free spending
- Santander (other accounts): you won’t be charged for cash withdrawals only if you use a Santander machine outside the UK, but you will pay for spending
- TSB Spend & Save Plus: fee-free spending and the potential to earn £5 cashback a month, but has £3 monthly fee
Andy’s Top Tips
When you’re using one of these top travel cards, you’re often best paying in the local currency. If you pay in sterling, it’ll be swapped over at an exchange rate of the local bank’s choosing – which won’t necessarily be in your favour!
Also, though many of the cards we’ve mentioned are fee-free to use in ATMs, that doesn’t mean the local bank won’t add its own fee. So you’ll need to research for any that don’t do this in your destination, or plan ahead by making as few withdrawals as possible.
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Our top travel credit cards
Specialist credit cards can be great for overseas spending as long as you pay off the debt before any interest is charged.
Credit cards are particularly handy for things like hiring a car or putting deposits down on hotel rooms. The money can be held on these without leaving your account. You’ll also get Section 75 consumer rights protection.
With all credit card applications, make sure you check your eligibility first if you can. And remember to clear the balance completely every month to avoid interest charges.
Top pick: Lloyds Ultra
This Visa card from Lloyds is our top pick for credit cards. It offers fee-free spending and, unusually, ATM withdrawals – and there’s no interest on cash you take out. However, it’s still better for your credit report to use a debit card for cash.
There’s also 1% cashback on purchases at home and abroad in the first year, decreasing to 0.25% afterwards. That’s great for holiday spending but there are better alternatives for spending in the UK.
You can read our full Lloyds Ultra credit card review for more details
Lloyds Ultra credit card summary
| Spending overseas | Fee-free (Visa rate) |
| Cash withdrawals overseas | Free, though will show on credit file |
| Other benefits | 1% cashback on all spending in year one |
| 0.25% cashback on all spending from year two onwards | |
| Card delivery charge | Free delivery |
Runner up: Barclaycard Reward
This card from Barclaycard is very similar, just without the higher 1% rate for the first year.
However, if you do get this you won’t be able to get another Barclaycard, such as the Avios earning options.
Barclaycard Rewards credit card summary
| Spending overseas | Fee-free (Visa rate) |
| Cash withdrawals overseas | Free, though will show on credit file |
| Other benefits | 0.25% cashback on all spending |
| Card delivery charge | Free delivery |
Other fee-free credit cards
| Card | Free spending? | Free cash withdrawals? | Credit check | Extra info | Reviews | Smart Money People customer score |
| Best for cashback | ||||||
| Lloyds Ultra | Yes, Visa rate | Yes | Hard | 1% cashback in year one, then 0.25% | Lloyds Ultra credit card review | |
| Barclaycard Rewards | Yes, Visa rate | Yes | Hard | 0.25% cashback | ||
| Other cards for cashback | ||||||
| Virgin Money Everyday Cashback credit card | Yes, Mastercard rate | No (avoid) | Hard | Earn 0.25% per £1, capped at £15 a month | 3.8 out of 5 | |
| Santander Rewards credit card | Yes, Mastercard rate | No (avoid) | Hard | 3% cashback in first year on limited categories (including petrol, eating out), then 0.25% Requires Santander current account | Santander Rewards credit card review | 3.75 out of 5* |
| Natwest Travel credit card | Yes, Mastercard rate | No (avoid) | Hard | 1% cashback on hotels, planes and other travel | 4.84 out of 5* | |
| Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card | In Europe, Mastercard rate | No (avoid) | Hard | Earn 0.75% Virgin points per £1 | 3.8 out of 5 | |
| Yonder credit card (free version) | Yes, Mastercard rate | Yes, up to £150 a day (but it’ll still show on credit report) | Hard, but uses open banking too | Earn points that can be used to redeem rewards | 4.95 out of 5 | |
| Other fee-free cards | ||||||
| Halifax Clarity credit card | Yes, Mastercard rate | Yes, but interest is added | Hard | 4.11 out of 5 |
Best smart travel spending cards
These cards aren’t normal debit cards, though they work just like one when you’re spending. You actually connect your existing current account or card to them via open banking. The conversion is made by the smart card at their exchange rate, which then takes the money from the underlying bank in pounds.
This makes it cheaper to spend overseas through other bank accounts that would normally be very expensive. They can be a great backup card, or even your primary travel spending card if you really can’t be bothered to go through the hassle of opening new accounts. There’s also no credit check.
Sadly, changes to Curve, our previous top pick, means it’s really not worth it. However, you can still get these features from Currensea.
Top pick: Currensea
With Currensea there are three options, but the free “essential” tier has a no extra fees on top of the exchange rates on your first £500 a month. You can take out £200 a month from ATMs for free.
The big issue could be the limits on which banks it works with. Right now that list is only the bigger banks:
- Barclays
- Bank of Scotland
- Couts
- First Direct
- Halifax
- HSBC
- Lloyds
- Nationwide
- Natwest
- RBS
- Santander
- TSB
- Ulster Bank
- Virgin Money
You’ll also need to pay £4.95 to get the card delivered.
When you sign up via this link you’ll be eligible for a £10 welcome bonus – however you’ll need to spend £150 in a foreign currency in the first six months to get the cashback.
Currensea smart debit card summary
| Spending overseas | Interbank/Mastercard rate on first £500 each month, then 1% FX fee on top |
| Cash withdrawals overseas | Free up to £200 a month, then 2% FX fee on top |
| Card delivery fee | £4.95 |
| FSCS protection? | Yes (on connected bank) |
The best cashback debit and credit cards
Check out my list of the best cashback cards
Best multi-currency cards to lock in a rate
The cards mentioned above will convert fee-free, but only on or just after the day you make the transaction. This means you’re not in total control of your budget when you’re away. If the pound were to fall against where you’re spending, you’ll ultimately spend more cash.
But there are options where you can pay fee-free on cards where you’ve already converted your pounds into another currency. Though of course, this could mean you miss out if the rate changes in your favour.
There’s usually a slight markup on the ‘interbank’ or ‘mid-market’ rates. This tends to be lower than the Mastercard or Visa rates, so even with the fee they’re often comparable.
When you spend with them, you’ll spend in the local currency. If you don’t have the local currency, most will let you pay fee-free and convert at the current rate.
However, there are usually quite strict limits on cash withdrawals, so you’ll likely want another card on your trip. Plus most of these will charge you for a physical debit card, so you’ll be relying on virtual cards added to your phone’s wallet if you want to avoid this fee.
The following are ones worth considering:
| Provder | Rate | Free cash withdrawals? | Card charge | Extra info | Smart Money People customer score |
| Revolut Standard | Interbank (+ 1% on weekends) | £200 limit per rolling month / max 5 withdrawals per rolling month | £4.99 | Capped at £1,000 exchange per month | 4.92 out of 5 |
| Trading 212 | Interbank + 0.15% | £200 limit per month | £4.95 | 4.92 out of 5 | |
| Wise | Interbank + min of 0.33% (varies by currency) | £200 limit a month / max 2 withdrawals a month | £7 | 4.71 out of 5 |
