Restricted Rand Warning for World Cup Fans

Date: Dec 09, 2009

•5000 South African Rand (£425) cash restriction
•Fans urged to research costs before travelling
•Travelex Cash Passport™ allows fans to preload over £6,500

Travelex is warning football fans of a cash restriction on South African Rand and urges fans to budget carefully, ahead of travelling to the World Cup next summer.

As all eyes turn to Cape Town for the final draw on 4^th December, leading foreign exchange specialist Travelex warns football fans planning their trip to South Africa not to be caught out by a 5,000 Rand cash restriction, which allows you to take just £425¹ in or out of South Africa. To overcome the restriction and avoid overseas credit or debit card fees, Travelex recommends its South African Rand Cash Passport™, which can be preloaded with up to 85,000 Rand² - approximately £7,000. Not only can users save money by locking in their Rand exchange rate upfront, but they also benefit from free ATM withdrawals and no charges on purchase transactions³.

With many fans due to spend as long as four weeks in the host nation, the cash restriction will see many resorting to credit and debit cards once their cash runs out. With an average transaction fee of 3%, fans will be hit hard if they opt to spend on their regular plastic. In comparison, the Travelex Cash Passport, (the only South African Rand prepaid card in the UK) is fee-free⁴ and combines the convenience of plastic, with added budgeting and identity protection benefits. Fans can also take advantage of commission-free online re-loading, 24/7 Global Emergency Assistance, and a free replacement card.

The tournament sees group stages hosted by ten venues across nine cities and teams are expected to play each of their group matches in a different location. This has made it impossible for supporters to pre-plan their trip until the final draw is announced this week. With significant distances between cities, Travelex is also advising fans to do their geography homework before heading out to South Africa. A train journey between Cape Town and Johannesburg could take up to 27 hours. The 900 mile journey means travel costs will be extremely high and with the Rand restriction in place, fans will be forced to rely on other methods to pay for their journeys.

While many fans frequently follow their team in Europe, it is the first time South Africa has hosted an international football tournament of this scale, meaning many supporters may be unfamiliar with the cost of essential daily items, making budgeting difficult.

Travelex Director Julian Neal comments: “Expectations for England in South Africa are already high, so travelling fans expecting to stay for the duration will struggle to fund a month on tour with an import restriction on the Rand . The Cash Passport prepaid card is the ideal way for supporters to pay for, and manage, all their expenses. Unlike most credit and debit cards there aren't any confusing transaction fees, and you can lock in a great exchange rate at Travelex.co.uk so fans can spend more time watching the game and less time watching their wallets.

"Travelex is the only provider with a South African Rand prepaid card, which allows travellers to safely and conveniently pre-load up to 85,000 Rand, the equivalent of almost £7,000. We also guarantee travellers the best exchange rate, commission free when purchasing online and with no ATM withdrawal fees, fans can be safe in the knowledge that they won’t be hit with any unexpected charges when, fingers crossed, England come home with the Cup!"

_{1 Based on exchange rate of 11.76 (26/11/09)
2 Based on exchange rate of 11.76 (26/11/09) 85,000 Rand = £6,863.00
3 Travelex has no withdrawal fee. Fair FX charge :£1.00 / €1.50 / $2.00 and Post Office Travel Card £1.50, Other - £2.00
4 Travelex offers seven currencies Sterling, Euro, US dollar, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, South Africa Rand. Fair FX and Post Office offer three currencies Sterling, Euro, US dollar}

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For more information, please contact:

Hannah Shanks – Talk PR
Hannah.shanks@talkpr.com / 0207 544 3616

Kat McGettigan – Talk PR
Kat.mcgettigan@talkpr.com / 0207 544 3804

ABOUT CASH PASSPORT:

• Available in South Africa Rand, Euros, American Dollars, British Pounds, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Dollars
• No purchase or ATM withdrawal fees
• Can be used fee free in more than 1 million ATMs around the world and at millions of POS terminals in shops, hotels, restaurants
• Second card available to use if first one is lost or stolen
• Signature and PIN protected
• If the card is lost funds will be transferred in as little as 20 minutes via an award-winning, 24/7, multilingual global emergency assistance service. A new card will be sent within 24 hours. Other benefits of the service include:
• Emergency cash
• Medical and legal support
• Interpretation and "send a message home" services
• Preloaded with exchange rate set at time of purchase allowing the traveller to avoid unreliable exchange rates while abroad
• Unspent funds can be rolled over to the next holiday, spent in the UK on return or cashed out

ABOUT TRAVELEX:

Travelex is the world's largest foreign exchange specialist with over 760 retail branches in more than 25 countries, at key airport, seaport, rail and tourist locations. Over 40% of travellers - 1.7 billion passengers a year - pass through airports where Travelex operates including the major gateways at Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Rome, Sydney & Tokyo.  Every hour, Travelex provides foreign currency to more than 2,000 customers.

Travelex Online & the Travelex Price Promise:

Travelex.co.uk guarantees the best price, commission-free foreign currency in the UK.  Every day Travelex.co.uk monitors the exchange rates of the leading Banks, High Street foreign currency providers (Travel Agencies, The Post Office, M&S) and a basket of other online providers to ensure we offer customers the best deal.  In the unlikely event any provider should happen to beat us on any of our 60 currencies, we will refund the difference.

Travelex UK Retail:

Travelex has over 120 stores in the UK, with presence at the major airports including London Gatwick and Heathrow – further we are the only company to provide foreign currency exchange services at all 5 Heathrow terminals.  Travelex offers customers the convenience of over 60 currencies, in stock and readily available around the clock from our retail branches, plus help and advice from our expert staff. Additionally, Travelex has a rapidly expanding network of ATMs which offer both foreign and local currency.

Travelex Group:

In addition to its Retail operations, Travelex is the world's largest non-bank provider of international payment services, providing integrated payment solutions for businesses. The Group is also one of the world's leading providers of outsourced travel money to Banks, Travel Agencies and other financial institutions.