Travelex

Travelex Overview

Travelex in Australia is run by Travelex Limited, a retail foreign exchange business that sells foreign currency cash and the prepaid Travelex Money Card through travelex.com.au and Travelex stores, and that holds Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) 222444 from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Cash in more than 45 currencies can be ordered online and collected at a Travelex store, an Australia Post store or a selected Travelex ATM, and card-only orders can also be delivered to your home. Travelex also sells travel eSIMs through Simify, foreign currency cheques and services for business clients, such as wholesale banknotes and foreign currency ATMs.

Travelex is not a forex or CFD broker. It offers no trading accounts, leverage or spreads, and its Online Terms and Conditions say the online service is for personal use, such as a holiday, and cannot be used for speculative or investment purposes. The online service is only available to individuals aged 14 or over who are resident in, and accessing it from, Australia.

Is Travelex Regulated?

Yes, Travelex Limited is regulated by ASIC under AFSL 222444, which ASIC's register of Australian financial services licensees showed as current when WIKILIX checked it on 28 October 2026. The register gives travelex.com.au as the licensee's principal website, and the licence covers Travelex Limited's own business in Australia, not other Travelex companies.

The Travelex Money Card comes from two other licensed companies. According to its product disclosure statement, the card is issued by EML Payment Solutions Limited (ABN 30 131 436 532, AFSL 404131) and distributed by Mastercard Prepaid Management Services Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 47 145 452 044, AFSL 386 837), and Travelex sells it as an agent of Mastercard Prepaid that is not authorised by the issuer or Mastercard Prepaid to give advice about the card.

Travelex AFSL 222444

AFSL 222444 has been in effect since 9 October 2002 and, like every Australian financial services licence, carries no expiry date. Its conditions on the ASIC register authorise Travelex Limited to provide financial product advice on, and to deal in, basic deposit products, non-cash payment products, derivatives, foreign exchange contracts and general insurance products, and to make a market for foreign exchange contracts and derivatives, for retail and wholesale clients. Although those conditions name derivatives and foreign exchange contracts, travelex.com.au offers no trading accounts.

Travelex Limited

Travelex Limited (ACN 004 179 953, ABN 36 004 179 953) is the Australian company behind travelex.com.au, with its office at Suite 45.01, Level 45, 25 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000. The Australian Business Register and ASIC company data list it as TRAVELEX LIMITED, incorporated on 19 July 1932, as checked by WIKILIX on 28 October 2026. According to Travelex, the company is wholly owned by Travelex Australia Holdings Pty Ltd (ABN 98 105 260 035), a non-trading holding company that is itself a subsidiary of Travelex International Limited, incorporated in the United Kingdom. The Travelex websites for other countries that travelex.com.au links to are separate sites; travelex.co.jp, for example, is operated by Travelex Japan KK.

Is Travelex Safe?

Travelex is a licensed Australian currency exchange rather than a trading broker, so the risks to weigh are practical ones, and its confirmed licence is not a guarantee on its own. The Travelex Money Card is a prepaid product: its product disclosure statement says the card is not a deposit account with the issuer and earns no interest. A paid cash order cannot be cancelled, and several of the site's own figures differ from page to page, as the sections below show. If a complaint is not resolved, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) can be reached on 1800 931 678. Offers of trading accounts, trading signals or investment returns made in the Travelex name do not match anything travelex.com.au sells.

Travelex Account Types and the Money Card

Travelex has no trading account types. Its account-like product is the Travelex Money Card, a prepaid Mastercard with one active card allowed per person; the Europe, USA and Japan travel cards on the site are the same card marketed by destination. The home page and the app page say the card holds 10 currencies (USD, EUR, NZD, GBP, JPY, THB, CAD, HKD, SGD and AUD), while one line on the card page says up to 15. The card can hold up to 50,000 AUD and take up to 75,000 AUD in loads every 12 months, with ATM withdrawals of up to 3,000 AUD in 24 hours, and the exchange rate is locked for the first load only.

Travelex Commissions and Fees

Travelex charges no commission on online currency purchases, according to its Online Terms and Conditions, and collecting an order from an Australia Post store costs 15 AUD. The Travelex Money Card is free to buy, and top-ups made online or in the Travelex Money App are free; Australian-dollar loads and top-ups in a store cost 1.1% or 15 AUD, whichever is greater, while foreign-currency loads in store are free. A BPAY top-up paid straight to the card, rather than booked through the website or the app, costs 1%.

The card's fee table lists no Travelex fee for ATM or EFTPOS use and no currency conversion fee, although ATM operators may charge, and a purchase in a currency the card does not hold enough of is paid from its other currencies, in a set order, at the Travelex Spend Rate. An inactivity fee of 4 AUD a month applies after 12 months without a transaction, until the card is used or reloaded, closed, or left with a balance below the fee. Closing the card or withdrawing its balance costs 10 AUD, a fee set and charged by Mastercard Prepaid. The FAQ shows no surcharge on Visa and Mastercard debit cards, while the card disclosure says Travelex may charge a card surcharge on online loads and top-ups.

Travelex Trading Platforms and App

Travelex has no trading platform, and no MetaTrader, cTrader or other trading software appears on travelex.com.au. The free Travelex Money App, on the Apple App Store and Google Play, manages the Travelex Money Card: top-ups, moving money between currency wallets at Travelex's retail rate, balance and transaction history, live exchange rates, freezing the card, revealing the PIN and adding the card to Google Pay. The same card services are available on the web through My Account at au.travelexmoneycard.com.

Travelex Payments, Limits and Refunds

Under its Online Terms and Conditions, Travelex accepts PayID, BPAY, a physical Visa or Mastercard debit card in your own name, and Apple Pay linked to such a card; prepaid and virtual cards and third-party payments are refused. PayID is fee free and normally instant, although a bank may hold a first payment to a new payee for up to 24 hours, and BPAY top-ups can take 2 to 3 business days to reach the card. Some pages also mention credit cards for card top-ups and list Google Pay, while the terms name debit cards only and the Google Pay page says currency cannot yet be added to the card through Google Pay.

The terms set foreign cash orders at 350 to 10,050 AUD, with at most 10,050 AUD in 24 hours and 30,000 AUD in 21 days, a new card at 500 to 10,050 AUD and top-ups from 50 AUD; the FAQ quotes a 350 AUD minimum for a new card, a cap of 5,000 AUD per order in most answers and 20,000 AUD per rolling 21 days. A paid cash order cannot be cancelled, but the notes can be sold back in a Travelex store at that day's buy rate, without a refund of the original fees, and currency cannot be sold back online. Refunds of cancelled card orders go only to the card or account that paid and may take up to 10 business days.

The card's product disclosure statement says that to apply for the card you must have a residential address in Australia, yet it also sets rules for card holders identified with a foreign identity document, or without an Australian bank account or Australian-issued card: they can reload the card and cash out its balance only at participating Travelex stores, and non-residents who bought it in an Australian store should have any remaining balance refunded before leaving Australia.

Travelex Support

The customer service line is 1800 440 039, a free call within Australia. The contact page says it is open 24/7, while the Online Terms and Conditions give Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 5pm (AEST). Email support at retailcscaust.nz@travelex.com runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and the terms give TravelMoneyOnline@travelex.com.au. Callers overseas are given +44 1733 301 805 on the contact page and +61 2 9696 9385 in the terms. Travelex Money Card Services answers 24 hours a day on 1800 303 297 in Australia. There is no live chat, and the site links Facebook and Instagram as its social channels.

Travelex Pros and Cons

On the plus side:

• AFSL 222444 from ASIC, shown as current on the ASIC register
• No commission on online currency purchases, and the Travelex Money Card is free to buy, with free online and app top-ups
• No Travelex fee for ATM use on the card and no separate currency conversion fee
• Several payment methods, including fee-free PayID
• Card Services available 24 hours a day

On the minus side:

• The online service is limited to Australian residents
• In-store Australian-dollar loads cost 1.1% or 15 AUD, an inactivity fee applies after 12 months without use, and closing the card costs 10 AUD
• Paid cash orders cannot be cancelled, and currency can only be sold back in store
• Order limits, card surcharges and support hours differ between the site's own pages
• No live chat

Travelex Review and Assessment

Travelex suits Australian residents who want foreign cash or a prepaid travel card from a company whose ASIC licence is confirmed on the register and that publishes its card fees and limits in detail. It is not a trading broker, so it is no use to anyone looking for forex or CFD trading, and an offer of such a service in the Travelex name should be treated with suspicion. Before ordering, check the limits and fees in the Online Terms and Conditions and the card's product disclosure statement, since several of the site's other pages give different figures.