Westpac Worldwide Wallet review: Features, fees, exchange rate, and more

Traveling abroad is an exciting opportunity to explore new cultures, cuisines, and landscapes, but some of the fees attached to spending your cash overseas can really bring the mood down. That’s why it is important to find a travel card that not only saves you on fees, but makes spending your money internationally easy.

In this guide, we’ll dive into the ins and outs of the Westpac Worldwide Wallet reloadable card, covering its features, fees, exchange rates, and safety measures. You can also learn more about the Wise card, an easy way to stretch your dollars when paying in foreign currencies.

What is Westpac Worldwide Wallet?

The Westpac Worldwide Wallet is a reloadable travel money card for Australian travellers that can be pre-loaded with different currencies to spend overseas.¹ Issued by Westpac, one of Australia’s major banks, it works similarly to a standard Westpac debit card, enabling you to make purchases at home, online, and overseas, anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The card’s key advantage is the ability to lock in exchange rates by preloading foreign currencies, giving you certainty about your budget and helping you avoid unexpected costs from fluctuating rates.

Is Westpac Worldwide Wallet safe?

The Worldwide Wallet travel card includes a few features that help keep your money safe while travelling.

• Protection from fraudulent transactions with Mastercard Zero Liability
• Instantly lock and unlock cards through the app if lost or stolen
• 24/7 Worldwide Wallet support in Australia
• Not connected to your main bank account, meaning it can’t be compromised

The Worldwide Wallet is a product from Westpac, which, as one of the major banks, is regulated in Australia. They hold an Australian Financial Services Licence and an Australian Credit Licence, so they have to follow the rules associated with that.

Westpac travel card - Key features

The Westpac Worldwide Wallet card comes with various features and benefits that may appeal to you when choosing which Australian travel money card to use on your next trip. Some of the main features are:

• Hold up to 11 currencies
• Lock in favourable exchange rates by converting currency in advance
• Receive two physical cards for each account holder
• Compatible with Google Pay
• Access to Mastercard Flight Delay Pass at more than 1,000 lounges
• Access to Mastercard’s Priceless Cities program
• Get cashback when shopping overseas with Mastercard Travel Rewards

The 11 currencies that are supported by the Westpac travel card are AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, CAD, JPY, THB, ZAR, SGD, and HKD. It’s possible to spend in other currencies as well, with the funds being converted at the time of purchase from one of the other currencies that you hold.

Fees and charges

When choosing a travel card, it’s important to take note of some common fees that you may incur in maintaining an account and making certain transactions. If you have a Worldwide Wallet travel card, here are the fees associated with maintaining and using it.

Westpac Worldwide Wallet’s exchange rate

There are two exchange rates applied using the Westpac Worldwide Wallet card, which depend on the type of transaction being made. If you make a purchase using your travel card in a currency you do not hold a balance in, you’ll access Mastercard's exchange rate with a 2% margin applied.

When making conversions through your online banking portal or the Westpac App for your travel card, you’ll access Westpac's exchange rate. Westpac does not disclose whether a margin is applied in their exchange rates, so we’ll compare the rates with Wise card. Wise uses the Wise card with no hidden fees or markups, essentially the rate you see on Google.

As you can see, the Wise rate is generally better than the Westpac rate, suggesting that Westpac may apply a markup to its exchange rates. This is something to be aware of, as it can add up as you convert and spend more.

Is Westpac Worldwide Wallet good?

Whether or not the Westpac Worldwide wallet is good is a matter of weighing up the pros and cons, then applying them to your situation to see if it’s a good fit.

The Westpac Worldwide Wallet offers some handy perks for frequent travellers, like holding multiple currencies, avoiding inactivity fees, and access to lounge passes and cashback. However, the exchange rates can be less competitive, especially if you're spending in currencies not loaded on the card.

If you're looking to switch to a more flexible travel card with transparent fees and exchange rate, the Wise card is worth considering as an alternative.

Bring the Wise card to spend in 150+ countries at mid-market-rate

The Wise card is a simple way to save up to 7x when you're spending internationally. You can spend in 150+ countries at mid-market rate — basically the rate you see on Google. With no foreign transaction fees and low, transparent pricing, Wise usually gives you the best value for your money.

Simply create a Wise account for free, order a card and top-up AUD to get started. Having a physical Wise card allows you to make chip and pin payments, as well as make some free ATM withdrawals each month for when you're abroad. You can get digital cards and add to your Google or Apple Pay wallet for instant use. Spend directly with the Wise account in AUD and let auto-conversion do the trick or convert in advance to your desired currency. You can hold and exchange 40+ currencies in your Wise account and spend the currencies you hold for free.

Wherever your travel takes you, the Wise card makes spending money abroad cheaper and easier.

🚀 Get your Wise card

1. Westpac - Travel money card
2. Westpac - Worldwide Wallet PDS
3. Westpac - Foreign Exchange Rates