Multicurrency travel smart card to help travellers

The first multicurrency prepaid travel card, Gocash, has been launched jointly by the UAE Exchange in partnership with MasterCard. People can load up to $5,000 worth of digital money in six preferred currencies and use across the world to make purchases, pay for other services and withdraw cash from over 1.5 million ATMs.

The smart card promises to shield international travelers against the risk of currency fluctuations and Gocash is accepted in across 34.3 million merchant locations around the world.

Gocash offers an exchange rate lock facility that will allow card holders to peg the currency rate at the prevalent market price at the time of loading the card.
Up to $5,000 can be loaded in one card and it can be recharged from various platforms including the internet.

A multimedia  advertisement campaign featuring the colonial era travelers  from Europe, Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo, along with the famous Arab traveler, Ibn Battutta is also launched to promote Gocash.

Gocash was launched on December 12, 2012 by Abdulla Humaid Al Mazroei, Chairman, UAE Exchange and  BR Shetty, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, UAE Exchange, at the Atlantis Hotel.

Gocash is the first multicurrency travel card and a customer has the option of six currencies in one card, but the IT departments of UAE Exchange and MasterCard are working to increase the number of currencies that can be loaded in one travel card.

Currencies that can be loaded on Gocash includes US and Canadian dollar, Indian Rupee, Saudi Riyal, UAE Dirham, Singapore and Hong Kong dollar, Thailand Bhat, Malaysian currency, among others.

“We have kickstarted a revolution in world travel. We have been working with MasterCard for the last two years to develop this product. Our first product with MasterCard was the Smart Pay System, launched two years ago, which is now helping thousands of workers and employees to withdraw their monthly salary through the Wage Protection System."

This multicurrency travel card is our second product launch in association with MasterCard and more such innovative and technology driven products are in the pipeline," Sudhir Kumar Shetty, Chief Operating Officer, UAE Exchange said.

A customer can load up to six different currencies on gocash from a bouquet of 15, a unique feature unparalleled in the travel payment industry and the long term plan is to increase the number of currencies in each card to 50. “This new innovation is in line with our vision to bring as much convenience for customers as possible under one roof,” he added.

Promoth Manghat, Vice President, Global Operations, UAE Exchange said the exchange rate lock facility protects users from exchange rate fluctuations while on the move and gives the traveler peace of mind.

“Choice of currencies, security features and worldwide acceptance add to the convenience, making gocash a unique innovation from the UAE Exchange stable. With this we take yet another step towards our vision of bringing maximum convenience to our customers on the move.”

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