Philippines Prepaid Travel Money Card
Question
stuart whitley : hi Ryan i hope you can help me in the uk there is a lot of prepaid travel cards here that say they can be used all over the word but i hear people complain that some are not very good can you recommend any that will work in the Philippines ,which is better visa or mastercard,when i was last in the Philippines my visa card would not work at the airport atms
Answer
Ryan: Hi Stuart!
Okay I will try to answer your questions for you, when you said “travel prepaid cards” you mean the prepaid money cards right? The idea is pretty new here in the Philippines (as debit cards used for travel purposes) and I have yet to encounter a traveler who uses such and I have never used them when traveling abroad nor in the Philippines (I don’t reckon there is such a service in banks here- although some banks offer International ATMs that double as a debit card- which is usually linked to Visa/Mastercard networks-but with Huge Fees).
Visa seems to have more acceptance here in the Philippines and Mastercard I think is probably on the same level if not close behind. AMEX – not as much, and can be a pain cashing in your Travelers’ Cheques in case you need cash during the weekend. I think the ATMs on most airports (depending on which bank- usually have Visa/Mastercard linked to them). I know a few people using International debit cards in the Philippines without a problem – you may transact with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) or Metrobank or HSBC ATMs (my friends use their ATMs with little problems.)
I will try to find out more when I can, as for now that’s what I can find out at the moment.
Cheers!
Ryan
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