Comment on on Thomas Cook’s new financial services push and its credit card

Commenting on Thomas Cook’s new financial services push and its credit card, Stephen Heath, Chief Executive of FairFX.com, said: “Customers should beware if they plan to use this card for their holiday spending. Despite boasting three months interest free on purchases, the interest rate increases to an eye watering 17.9 per cent after that.

“Brits booking their holidays now should also be aware the consultants pushing these credit cards will be paid £10 for every application they get - regardless of whether the person is accepted or not.

“Brits looking for the best and most transparent way to spend their cash abroad should consider using a pre-paid currency card. They could save themselves a bundle compared with using a credit card with a typical rate of interest, and pre-paid cards offer added security when spending abroad or shopping over the internet.”

The FairFX Currency Card is a MasterCard chip and pin enabled prepaid debit card. It differs from regular debit cards in two ways. Firstly, the cards are issued in either Euros or US dollars and secondly, funds must be loaded onto the card before they are available to spend. The currency to be loaded is obtained simply by logging on to www.fairfx.com and can be paid for by any sterling debit or credit card or internet bank transfer.

Thursday 20 March 2008, 01:21pm

Tags: cash abroad, charges, interest rate, opodo, thomas cook