Save money with a prepaid currency card!

In January Mintel released their 2010 Travel Money report, which estimates that the total amount of money spent abroad by UK travellers decreased in 2009 to £30.1bn, from £36.8bn in 2008.
Even though travellers are spending less abroad, people are paying more for their purchases with a rise in people using UK credit and debit cards abroad.
Credit and debit cards have many hidden fees, for example foreign exchange loading fees, commission fees etc. So the price you actually pay is often higher than your expectations!
In contrast, prepaid travel money cards still only occupy a very small share of the currency exchange market.   Mintel estimates around 2% travellers used these cards.  However, these cards can save you money with great exchange rates, no fees for purchases online or in shops, and often only a small fee for ATM withdrawals.   When you buy, you lock in your exchange rate as well, so there is no need to worry about the foreign exchange rate fluctuation while you are abroad!
Compare the exchange rates to foreign currency as cash or travellers cheques, and give a card a go. I have never regretted it!