A Great Atm Card For Australians

[bmanly]

If any of you are interested I have just spent the last 6 Months of my time in Thailand withdrawing on my Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard.

It is the best card I have ever used, no annual fees, no ATM fees, no conversion fees and very good exchange rates. Just before I make a withdrawal I Bpay (pre load) my account then go to any ATM and make the withdrawal. In the 6 Months I have been here I have not paid any interest or fees. All you need to do is pre load the card first and that's it, no fees!

If the cash rate is 27.75 and you use your Wizard card you will get about 28 Baht per dollar, the TT rate. Well worth it if any of you are looking for a new cheaper way of getting your money out. Cheers.

I do not have any association with this company other than just being a customer of theirs.

[nev]

thanks for the info mate i will look in too this card.

[mijan24]

Are you still limited to withdrawing 20000 max per day?

[bmanly]

The limit is $1,000 AUD a day. At todays exchange rates it's about 28,000 baht per day. It's actually never an issue for me because as there are no charges I do more withdrawals per Month than I use too. I only take out 10K each time I need it.

[Grover]

The limit is $1,000 AUD a day. At todays exchange rates it's about 28,000 baht per day. It's actually never an issue for me because as there are no charges I do more withdrawals per Month than I use too. I only take out 10K each time I need it.

Thanks for the info, looks good. Just what I need. My debit card is charging me AU$5 every time I make an international withdrawal and my credit card is shafting me 2% on my Amazon payments.

Some Q's I couldn't find on the website.

1. Can you use it at pretty much any ATM or do you need a special one?

2. After you top up, Do you withdraw as a Cash Advance on the credit card?

Cheers.

[Chang_paarp]

I think the OP keeps a $0 balance, and then transfers the $ to withdraw prior to withdrawing it. Taking the account from a +$ situation to a $0 state. Otherwise the cash advances would attract the 12.65% interest rate.

Wizard are majority owned by GE finance, with Mark Broune (sp?) and the Packer family having 30%(?). Another attractive card would the the GE MasterCard, not sure if they offer the good fee structure for O/S withdrawals, but the interest rate was one of the best last time I looked. It really surprised me as they usually charge about 18-25% for personal finance.

GE finance are looking at expanding throughout Asia using both the GE finance brand and the Wizard brand. They are one of the companies having trouble in Thailand with the banking regulations, and company structure rule interpretation.

[bmanly]

Some Q's I couldn't find on the website.

1. Can you use it at pretty much any ATM or do you need a special one?

2. After you top up, Do you withdraw as a Cash Advance on the credit card?

Cheers.

Just CLICK HERE for the website.

1. Yes you can use it almost all ATM's. I was only ever rejected once on a UOB ATM but that might have been a reason other than the card I was using.

2. It comes with a $3,000 credit Limit automatically. When I know I will make a withdrawal, I just pre load the card a day before or on the day. When I withdraw it ends up back on the $3,000 credit limit. It is not really a cash advance because I am taking my own cash out not theirs.

I think the OP keeps a $0 balance, and then transfers the $ to withdraw prior to withdrawing it. Taking the account from a +$ situation to a $0 state. Otherwise the cash advances would attract the 12.65% interest rate.

100% correct.

Wizard are majority owned by GE finance, with Mark Broune (sp?) and the Packer family having 30%(?). Another attractive card would the the GE MasterCard, not sure if they offer the good fee structure for O/S withdrawals, but the interest rate was one of the best last time I looked. It really surprised me as they usually charge about 18-25% for personal finance.

GE finance are looking at expanding throughout Asia using both the GE finance brand and the Wizard brand. They are one of the companies having trouble in Thailand with the banking regulations, and company structure rule interpretation.

Correct again, owned by GE Finance from the Good ol USA.

[simcity]

If any of you are interested I have just spent the last 6 Months of my time in Thailand withdrawing on my Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard.

It is the best card I have ever used, no annual fees, no ATM fees, no conversion fees and very good exchange rates. Just before I make a withdrawal I Bpay (pre load) my account then go to any ATM and make the withdrawal. In the 6 Months I have been here I have not paid any interest or fees. All you need to do is pre load the card first and that's it, no fees!

If the cash rate is 27.75 and you use your Wizard card you will get about 28 Baht per dollar, the TT rate. Well worth it if any of you are looking for a new cheaper way of getting your money out. Cheers.

I do not have any association with this company other than just being a customer of theirs.

Bmanly, interesting , my visa National ( gold ) do not have annual fees, i telephone to then to get this offer , but the withdraw and purchase came around 3 % , i think the change rates is interesting !

my amex , have only a charge of 1.25 dollars per withdraw , but the change rates not so interesting ?

If you know , Bmanly can you tel me the change rates ( wizard ) against Visa rates same day ?

I use to have a other card , cancel it because the online banking was hopeless.

how do you pre load the card , transfer from you bank account ?

thank

[bmanly]

Bmanly, interesting , my visa National ( gold ) do not have annual fees, i telephone to then to get this offer , but the withdraw and purchase came around 3 % , i think the change rates is interesting !

my amex , have only a charge of 1.25 dollars per withdraw , but the change rates not so interesting ?

If you know , Bmanly can you tel me the change rates ( wizard ) against Visa rates same day ?

I use to have a other card , cancel it because the online banking was hopeless.

how do you pre load the card , transfer from you bank account ?

thank

I have a regular National Australia Bank internet account. When I pre load the card I just do a Bpay from this account to the Wizard Mastercard, it goes in within 24 hours but usually does not come up on the wizard statement for 3 days. I can not help you with the comparison between Visa and Mastercard for exchange rates. What I do know is that the Yahoo conversion rate that they quote is usually what I get which is always much better than the cash rate in Thailand.

For example IF YOU CLICK HERE you will get the latest exchange rate from Yahoo. It will be very close to what you get when you make a withdrawal and is always .3 to.4 of a baht better than the cash rate offered by the local banks.

Edited October 21, 2006 by bmanly

[youthnasia]

This sounds too good to be true! It has no annual fee also. I currently have a keycard card with the Commonwealth Bank and they charge $5 for each overseas withdrawal and an annual fee. I don't know how good or bad the exchange rate is though. The fees add up when travelling through Thailand for 10 weeks per year.

[simcity]

what i decide 1 year ago after my two visa start to charge me 3% fees on withdraw or purchases , is to do a transfer from Australia to my Thailand bank account , and do not use the cards so much !

I ring visa national and they give me a free annual fees on the national ( gold card ) for life , the ANZ re deposit my annual fees for the gold visa , but as they will charge me again next year and i need then to telephone to ask for a re deposit , i decide to cancelled it !

The rates of change is good with them , amex charge you 1.25 $ for one transaction but the rates is not so high !

You need to compare the fees and the exchange rates , for me the transfer work the best .