CorporatePay

A new pre-paid holiday card that claims to substantially undercut rivals sold on the high street is to launch to the trade. MyTravelCash functions as a debit and credit card in euros and dollars.

It will be launched on June 15 by pre-paid card provider CorporatePay, which claims it can undercut other cards' charges because it does not have the costs of bricksand-mortar foreign exchange bureaux and staff. It will be a rival to existing pre-paid holiday cards, such as the one recently launched by Thomson and First Choice.

MyTravelCash will target independent agents, including dynamic packaging specialists, to sell the cards to consumers online. Agents will be paid commission to direct customers from their websites to the MyTravelCash website to order the cards.

Talks will be held with highstreet agents regarding stocking the cards in their shops. The company hopes to sell 50,000 cards in the fi rst year. Steve Endacott, non-executive director for CorporatePay, said online and independent agents were missing out on a sizeable income by not selling foreign exchange. He claimed high-street multiples can earn around a third of their income from foreign exchange sales. He estimated £1,200-£1,400 is spent per party during a seven-night holiday. With about five million passengers thought to buy a dynamic package each year, he estimated there was about £2.5 billion in turnover to be made.

He said:

“Most people spend as much money on holiday as they spend buying the holiday.” 

Read the full press release... (PDF 846kb)
Source: Travel Weekly