Convenient cashless travels

If, like me, you love to travel, here’s the good news. You now have the option to go cashless when traveling with EastWest Travel Money, a pioneering product of EastWest Bank.

A first in Southeast Asia, the EastWest Travel Money can be loaded simultaneously with up to six different currencies — US dollar, Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen. One can use the card to make purchases or avail oneself of services in more than 30 million VISA-affiliated establishments and online merchants worldwide. The card can also be used to withdraw cash in local currencies from automated teller machines across the globe, subject to applicable fees and charges of the host bank or network.

The great thing about the card is that once the currency is loaded, the exchange rate is locked-in so cardholders need not worry about fluctuating exchange rates.

Recently, EastWest hosted an exclusive dinner event at The Blue Leaf Pavilion at McKinley Hill in Taguig City. RX 93.1’s The Morning Rush boys Chico Lagbao and Gino Quillamor hosted the event.

Many guests were eager to get the card after listening to EastWest Bank president and CEO Antonio Moncupa Jr., executive vice president and head of retail banking and operations cluster Gerry Susmerano and Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam Iain Jamieson talk about the benefits of the card.

Food served at the launch included a deconstructed version of takoyaki, tuna and corn relish canapé and barbecued ribs. Main courses were composed of traditional beef pot roast, pork steak with apple barbecue sauce and fish and chips. Bite-sized slices of mango shortcake and dark chocolate mousse were also served. There were also free-flowing red and white wines throughout the night.

For many frequent flyers, the Travel Money card is most ideal because it eliminates the need to carry large amounts of cash. It also requires low load amount and no minimum maintaining balance, as compared to a foreign currency denominated deposit account. The minimum load amount is roughly the equivalent of $10 in any of the currency and maximum load amount across all currency wallets is $12,000 in a single card. Moreover, there are no annual fees, finance charges, monthly payments and late charges to worry about as compared to credit cards.

EastWest Bank also announced its Travel Money promo.  More customers have the chance to be among the first to own and experience the convenience of EastWest Travel Money as the bank is waiving its P500 card application fee and loading fee of $5 until Dec. 31. Customers can avail themselves of the free loading fee even after this period.

(To find out more about EastWest Travel Money and its promo, visit www.eastwestbanker.com or any EastWest branch.)