Have an exciting overseas trip planned? While you’re shopping for sunscreen and packing your suitcase, you’ll also want to think about holiday spending.

One option for UK travellers is a travel money or multi-currency debit card - but which is the best option for you?

Here, we’ll be comparing two popular options in the UK - the Post Office Travel Money Card and the Revolut debit card. We’ll look at how each card works, how much it costs, what currencies are supported and everything else you need to know.

We’ll also touch on an alternative - the Wise card. This clever debit card automatically converts your pounds to the local currency in 150+ countries at the mid-market exchange rate (close to what you can see on Google), with only a tiny, transparent conversion fee*.

Join over 14.8 million people worldwide using Wise with their foreign currency transactions.

💳 Learn more about the Wise card

Post Office travel card vs. Revolut card - an overview

Let’s start with a quick at-a-glance comparison of both cards:

What is the Post Office Travel Money Card?

The Post Office Travel Money Card does pretty much what it says on the tin. It’s a pre-paid contactless Mastercard, which you top up with your chosen currencies. You can then spend in those currencies overseas, without having to pay any extra fees or worry about exchange rates.

The card supports 22 currencies¹ and is managed using the Post Office Travel App. This is where you can buy, activate and top up your card, as well as checking your balance and moving money between currencies.

You can also check exchange rates, which is important when topping up and converting currencies - for example, when adding money in GBP to a EUR balance.

The card is valid for three years, after which it’ll need to be renewed.

What is the Revolut card?

The Revolut card is a little different to the Post Office Travel Money Card. It’s a standard contactless debit card (one which doesn’t expire or need to be renewed) attached to Revolut current accounts. However, it is designed to be used overseas, and you can use it to spend in an impressive 150+ currencies.⁴

It’s not a pre-paid card, so you don’t need to top it up with your chosen currency. You’ll just need to make sure you have enough money in your Revolut account, then the card will use this balance and automatically convert currency for you when you spend - we’ll look at how much this may cost in fees later.

Revolut also offers free virtual cards you can create instantly, as well as personalised and special edition cards. Sign up for its Metal plan to get an exclusive reinforced steel card, or the Ultra plan for a luxury platinum card.

You can manage your Revolut card in the app, along with everything else related to your Revolut account.

Which is cheaper - the Post Office Travel Money Card or the Revolut card?

Cost is likely to be one of the most important factors you’ll be considering when choosing a travel card.

There are a few different costs to consider, including initial fees (including card delivery fees), ongoing subscription costs and the fees for spending and withdrawing cash overseas. You also need to check out exchange rates, as these can affect the cost of overseas spending more than you think.

Initial costs and subscription fees

It’s free to get both the Post Office Travel Money card and the Revolut debit card, but you may have to pay a delivery fee with Revolut.² If you order your card in the app, it’ll tell you what the delivery fee is.

You’ll also need to sign up for a Revolut plan, something you don’t need to do with the Post Office travel card.

The free Revolut Standard plan comes with a debit card, but you can also upgrade to Premium (£3.99/month), Plus (£7.99/month), Metal (£14.99/month) or Ultra (£45/month)³ if you want more features, perks and increased limits.

There are no ongoing subscription fees with the Post Office Travel Money Card. However, you will pay a load commission fee of 1.5% (min. £3, max £50) every time you top up the card with GBP.¹

There’s also a monthly maintenance fee of £2 if you have a balance remaining on your card after it’s expired.¹ So, make sure you clear the balance or renew the card to avoid this.

Spending fees

It’s free to spend in pre-loaded currencies with the Post Office Travel Money Card.

Revolut doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees for overseas spending, but there may be currency conversion fees involved.

Each Revolut plan has a fair usage limit on currency conversions before a fee applies. If you’re on the Standard plan, for example, you can spend in currencies other than GBP up to a limit of £1,000 a month before a fee of 1% will apply.²

There are also fees of 1% if you spend in another currency on a weekend.³ These fees are lower (and the limits higher) for paid Revolut plans.

ATM fees

You can use both cards for withdrawing cash from ATMs all over the world, but the fees and limits differ for each.

The Post Office Travel Money Card charges a fee for every withdrawal - there’s no fee-free allowance at all. The fee and the withdrawal limit varies by currency, for example:¹

The Revolut card, meanwhile, gives you a fee-free allowance for ATM withdrawals which varies depending which plan you’re on.

On the free Standard plan, you can withdraw up to £200 a month without any Revolut fees (although ATM operator fees may apply). Above this, the fee is 2%.²

The limits for fee-free ATM withdrawals are higher for paid plans, increasing to a maximum of £2,000 a month for the most expensive plan, Ultra.³

Exchange rates

Whenever foreign currencies are involved, you need to pay close attention to exchange rates. These can sometimes hold an extra cost, in the form of a mark-up on the exchange rate or an explicit foreign exchange fee.

With the Post Office Travel Money Card, a currency conversion will be involved when you top up your card. This is because you’ll be using GBP to top up a foreign currency balance. The rate the Post Office uses varies by currency, and does include a markup on the mid-market rate - you can check it here.

A currency conversion will also apply when spending on your Post Office card in an unsupported currency, or one you’ve not already loaded onto your card. In this case, a ‘cross-border fee’ of 3% will apply.¹

With Revolut, the currency conversion happens when you spend. It offers fee-free currency exchange up to plan limits, which start at £1,000 per month for its free Standard plan.³

Crucially though, this is only for transactions taking place between Monday and Friday. If you spend or send another currency on a weekend, an extra fee of 0.5% to 1% will apply. These fees don’t apply to Premium, Metal and Ultra plans.³

If you exceed your plan limits, you’ll pay an additional 0.5% to 1% (no fees for Premium, Metal and Ultra plans).²

An alternative way to spend worldwide - the Wise card

If you’re looking for a convenient, low-cost way to spend abroad, it’s important to compare all the available options.

So along with the Post Office and Revolut, you might also want to check out the Wise card. It lets you spend in 40+ currencies worldwide for low fees* and mid-market exchange rates. These rates apply all the time, not just on weekends - and there are no fair usage limits on spending.

Open a Wise account and you can order your Wise card for a one-time fee of just £7 and use it to spend in the UK and 150+ countries worldwide.

✅ Sign up with Wise for free

**Investments in funds are never guaranteed and your capital can be at risk. In the UK, Interest and Stocks are provided by Wise Assets — this is the trading name of Wise Assets UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Wise. Wise Assets UK Ltd is authorised as an investment firm and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our FCA number is 839689. We do not give investment advice, and you may be subject to pay tax. If you're not sure, seek qualified advice. You can find more information about the funds on our website.

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Sources last checked 07-Oct-2025