Going abroad for your studies ? You have better and more secure options than carrying cash in foreign currency. You can go with pre-paid forex travel cards offered by banks and certain travel agencies especially for students.

Besides those for travellers, banks like ICICI Bank (Student Travel Cards) and HDFC Bank (ISIC Student ForexPlus Card) offer a separate variant of pre-paid cards for students. Other banks do not have a separate student card, but instead add more features to their normal forex card exclusively for students.

Some travel and foreign exchange institutions like Thomas Cook (Borderless prepaid card) also offer special student cards. Being a pre-paid card, this becomes a kind of a debit card in the hands of a student. It can be used at point of sales (PoS) terminals, for cash withdrawal from ATMs and for online purchases..

The cards come at a nominal fee. For instance, HDFC Bank charges ₹300 as issuing fee to obtain this card while for ICICI Bank it is ₹150. The card validity ranges up to five years and it generally covers the duration of the course that the student undertakes. A maximum permissible limit of $2,50,000 under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) by the Reserve Bank of India can be loaded onto the card.

Special features

While this card is similar to a normal pre-paid forex card, it has special features to meet the requirements of students. First, parents can load/reload the card using the log-in credentials issued while buying the card.

Second, students can withdraw cash from ATMs at zero cost in some cases. For instance, Thomas Cook offers this feature. Though banks like HDFC Bank normally charge for cash withdrawals at ATMs using forex card, this charge may be waived for students.

There are no restrictions on the number of withdrawals. However, a limit between $500 and $1,000 can be levied for the amount withdrawn on a single transaction at an ATM. The normal forex card, on the other hand, limits the number of withdrawals (say, three, in most cases) as well as the quantum that can be withdrawn in a day.

Three, a student also gets special discounts at lending libraries, restaurants, etc., with which the institution that issues the card might have a tie-up. For instance, The Generator Hostels in London gives you a 10 per cent discount on the accommodation if you hold HDFC Bank’s ISIC card. Besides, in case the card is lost, the replacement is done free of cost in case of Thomas Cook and is mailed to the student.

Another major advantage with this card is that it can be used to pay fees instead of paying it through wire transfer from India. Anand Tandon, CEO & Founder, Myforexeye, says “Wire transfer is cumbersome as one has to visit the branch and provide supporting documents. It will take a day or two for the money to get transferred. But in the case of cards, the transfer happens immediately at the click of a button.”

Reloading the card to pay the fees comes at much lower cost when compared to the charges involved in wire transfer. For instance, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank charge ₹100 and ₹75, respectively, for reloading the pre-paid forex card whereas their wire transfer fee ranges between ₹500 and ₹1,000.

However, they have limitations in the number of currencies that can be loaded. For instance, ICICI Bank’s Student Travel Card is offered with only five currencies, namely the US dollar (USD), British pound (GBP), euro (EUR), Canadian dollar (CAD) and the Australian dollar (AUD), whereas 15 currencies can be carried on a single card with ICICI Bank’s Multi Currency Travel Card.

Similarly, HDFC Bank’s ISIC Student ForexPlus Card is available in only three currencies (EUR, GBP and USD) while its general ForexPlus Card has 10 currencies.

Other advantages

Like normal debit cards, these student cards are also chip cards, which makes them more secure. You have SMS alert facilities on the card transaction.

Since this is a multi-currency card, a student can use the same card in other countries in case if he travels for some assignments or projects during the education period.

Parents can track usage of the student card. Besides, this enables them to reload the card immediately whenever they see the balance in the card is low. They can also access the card statements and even block the card usage if necessary in case of emergency or if the card is lost. Mahesh Iyer, CEO, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd says, “While specific transactions cannot be blocked instantly, and we assist in blocking of cards by parents if the student is unable to reach us”.

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