Best Prepaid Travel Credit Card in Canada for 2025

A prepaid travel card is an excellent alternative to carrying cash around when travelling abroad.

When issued under a license by Mastercard or Visa, you enjoy security and can conveniently make payments in millions of locations worldwide.

The top free prepaid travel card in Canada is the EQ Bank Mastercard. If you want a premium prepaid travel card (with monthly fees), consider the KOHO Extra Mastercard. This review covers how it works and some alternatives.

Best Prepaid Travel Cards in Canada

With the KOHO Prepaid Mastercard, you earn cash back you can cash out anytime. And when you upgrade your subscription to the “Extra” plan, you don’t pay foreign currency transaction fees.

With the EQ Bank Mastercard, you earn cash back on all purchases (no limits and no categories). It waives foreign currency transaction fees and ATM transaction fees in Canada.

Other prepaid travel cards worth checking out include:

• Neo Money Card
• Wise Debit
• Wealthsimple Cash Card

KOHO Prepaid Travel Card

KOHO’s versatile prepaid cards are excellent for earning cash back anywhere in the world.

Compared to regular credit cards that charge anywhere from 2-3% in foreign transaction (FX) fees, you’ll only be charged 1.5% on non-Canadian dollar transactions with your free* KOHO card. And with KOHO Extra, the foreign exchange fee is completely waived.

With the standard KOHO Essential Plan, you earn 1% cash back on groceries and transportation (think public transit, gas, Uber, and more), plus up to 5% cash back at partners.

To get the travel benefits, i.e. no FX fees and free eSim, you can upgrade your account to KOHO Extra. When you sign up using the GETCASH referral code and make your first purchase, you get a $40 cash bonus.

KOHO Extra

To get more benefits from a Mastercard prepaid travel card, you can sign up for KOHO Extra at $12 monthly or $144 annually.

This plan includes access to 1.5% cash back on groceries, restaurants, and transportation, plus 0.50% cash back on all other purchases.

It waives the foreign currency transaction fee when you spend abroad, which is a saving of 1.50%.

This KOHO package also offers one free monthly international ATM withdrawal, pays interest on your balance, and offers a free eSim with up to 3GB of data.

All KOHO prepaid travel cards come with Mastercard’s Zero Liability Policy, virtual cards, and access to support via chat and email.

You can add them to mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay for easy payments on the go.

EQ Bank Prepaid Mastercard

The prepaid Mastercard from EQ Bank works for everyday transactions and when you are travelling abroad. It has no monthly or annual fees and comes with several perks, including:

• Unlimited transactions online and in-store
• 0.50% unlimited cash back on all purchases
• No foreign currency transaction fee – a saving of up to 3%
• Free ATM withdrawals in Canada at any location (ATM fees are refunded)
• Up to 4.00% interest is earned on your entire balance
• Access to free Interac e-Transfers

To get a free EQ Bank Mastercard, open a free EQ Bank Savings Plus Account online, fund it with any amount, and order a card in a few clicks.

There is no minimum balance to maintain your EQ Bank Account, and cash back earned is paid out monthly.

Also, your deposits are protected by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation by up to $100,000 per insured category, per depositor.

Here’s our detailed overview of the card.

Cash Back Prepaid Cards Can Be Great For Travel

A prepaid card is a key component of your travel kit if you want to enjoy security and convenience while on travel status. It removes the need to carry cash on your person, and there’s no direct link with your chequing account, so your bank account won’t be drained in case of a loss.

With the EQ Bank Mastercard, you enjoy all these benefits, and the card is also accepted worldwide wherever Mastercard is accepted.

After opening an account, you get a virtual card and a physical card. You can easily lock and unlock both your virtual and physical cards in-app if needed to prevent access to your cards. It can also be added to a mobile wallet like Apple Pay.

How To Get a Prepaid Travel Card

Visit EQ Bank or KOHO to set up an account and download the app. A virtual card is available instantly for use, and a physical card is sent to you by mail.

You can fund your account using e-Transfer or online banking.

Alternative Prepaid Travel Cards in Canada

Other Mastercard and Visa prepaid travel cards you can use include:

Neo Money Card

A Neo Money card pays up to 3% cash back on your spending. The standard account has no fees and pays interest on your balance.

Wise Debit

A Wise debit card is linked to your Wise account and can be used to make payments wherever Visa is accepted.

You can make two free ATM withdrawals of up to $350 CAD monthly. Excess amounts incur a 1.75% fee.

If you have a multi-currency account with Wise, you can use the Wise Card to access these funds when abroad and pay in your preferred currency.

Wealthsimple Cash Card

The Wealthsimple Cash Card is another Mastercard prepaid travel card for Canadians.

It does not charge extra fees for foreign spending and pays 1% cash back on purchases.

You can load your card using e-transfer or direct deposit.

FAQs

Related: How To Build Credit from Scratch Using KOHO