Are travel money cards the best way to obtain local currency?

Travel money cards, which are essentially debit cards to which you deposit funds and then use as a reservoir to withdraw local currency from ATMs or pay bills overseas, are now widely available, but they might not be the best choice.

Most are denominated only in major world currencies, and withdrawing in another currency such as Indonesian rupiah or Argentine pesos incurs a heavy penalty.

They all come with various fees and charges which can whittle away your available funds, and if the Australian dollar rises against whatever currency you've selected when you deposit funds, you've lost out.

One of the selling points for travel money cards is security, however in recent letters to Traveller some writers have reported their travel money cards have been hacked and funds stolen.

Among professional travellers, cards that have no foreign transaction fees such as the 28 Degrees Mastercard and the Citibank Plus Debit card are often preferred since they offer the best rates for Aussie dollars and have no annual fees.