Originally Posted by
Majuki
Thanks for the information. I'm wondering what the acceptance would be like in China though considering there's no chip, and I also assume no QuickPass. I also saw on the website that there's a 1.49% currency conversion fee, but ICBC's reports 0%. In practice, UnionPay's rates are generally slightly less favorable than Visa or MasterCard, but I've found them to be within 30 bps of either. I assume the 1.49% would be on top of whatever UnionPay's conversion rate is.
What are the options for loading money onto the card?
I signed up for the card and got mine the other day.
Funds are loaded by bank transfer - linked via the Ecard website. I haven't loaded any money yet so can't confirm the transfer time.
In the packet of disclosures that came with the card, there's a $4.95 monthly fee mentioned. There's ZERO mention of this on the website, so I've emailed them about it and am waiting for a reply. If that's right, it's a complete deal breaker (the 1.49% FTF is bad enough).
Also, the website shows a graphic of the card with a chip, but as you mentioned there's no chip in the card, and no QuickPass as well.
If there's no monthly fee, I might load it with a few hundred dollars to hand off to travel partners who get stuck just as a back up, but otherwise it probably won't be that useful for me.