Forex, Cards & Cash: The Smartest Way to Carry Money Abroad
By Vraj Thaker
A founder-tested breakdown of forex cards, international debit cards, and how much hard cash is actually worth carrying.
Every traveler asks the same question before their first international trip: cash, card, or forex card? After 50+ personal trips and thousands of clients, here is the breakdown I actually give my friends over chai. There is no universal answer — the right mix depends on the destination, the trip length, and how much you hate queuing at ATMs.
The three tools, in one line each
- Forex card: prepaid, loaded in foreign currency at today's rate, best for locking exchange rate and daily spending.
- International debit / credit card: your regular bank card that works abroad — best for emergencies and hotel guarantees.
- Hard cash: unbeatable for tips, taxis, street food, and 'the machine is not working, sir'.
Forex cards (load before you fly)
Best for
A forex card is a prepaid card loaded with USD, EUR, GBP, AED or a multi-currency wallet at an exchange rate you lock the day you load it. When the rupee falls after you land, your card doesn't care. When the rupee rises, you slightly overpaid — but not by much.
- Trips longer than 5 days.
- Multiple ATM withdrawals abroad.
- Locking today's rate against currency volatility.
- Anywhere you're worried about card cloning — the forex card isn't linked to your main bank account.
Watch out for
Our go-to issuers in 2026 are Niyo Global (Yes Bank), BookMyForex, and HDFC Multicurrency. Niyo is the smoothest for frequent travelers; BookMyForex has the best rates on load day; HDFC is the safest bet if you already bank with them.
- Reload fees when you top up mid-trip.
- Cross-currency conversion charges — loading USD but spending EUR costs 3–4% in hidden markup.
- Inactivity fees after 6 months of no use.
- ATM withdrawal fees abroad (₹200–300 per withdrawal on top of any local ATM fee).
"A forex card is not free money. It's a locked-in bet that today's exchange rate is better than tomorrow's. Usually it is. Sometimes it isn't."
International debit and credit cards
Best for
Your regular Indian debit or credit card almost certainly works abroad — but at a cost. Most Indian banks charge a 3.5% forex markup plus 18% GST on that markup, so you're paying roughly 4.1% over the interbank rate on every transaction. On a ₹2 lakh trip, that's ₹8,000 quietly leaking out.
Exceptions worth knowing: Niyo Global's debit card, Fi's international card, and IDFC First Wow Credit Card all offer zero forex markup on international spending. If you travel more than twice a year, one of these is worth having in your wallet.
- Hotel guarantees and car rental deposits (holds authorize better on credit cards).
- Backup when your forex card runs out or gets blocked.
- Large purchases where the merchant charges no forex surcharge.
- Building travel-eligible credit card rewards.
Hard cash — how much is actually enough?
The instinct is either 'I'll carry USD 2,000 in cash just in case' or 'I have a card, I don't need cash.' Both are wrong. Our rule of thumb: carry 15–20% of your trip budget in destination currency for tips, taxis, street food, prayer donations, and the inevitable 'machine down' moments.
For a 10-day Europe trip budgeted at €2,000, that's €300–400 in cash. For a week in Thailand budgeted at ₹80,000, roughly ₹12,000–16,000 worth of Thai baht. Exchange in India through a registered forex dealer like BookMyForex or Centrum — never at the airport, where markups are 5–8% higher.
The mix I actually travel with
For a typical 7-day international trip, this is what's in my wallet on landing day: a Niyo Global forex card loaded with 70% of my budget, an IDFC Wow credit card for emergencies and hotel holds, and 15% of the budget in destination cash exchanged in Ahmedabad the week before. I've refined this over 50 trips. Feel free to steal it.
