I know this is an old thread. But I am commenting my experience today just in case someone might find it useful.
I just did a withdrawal from a Scotia Bank ATM using an Axis Bank multicurrency card today.
I was charged CA$3.00 for the transaction by Scotia Bank and C$2.5 by Axis Bank. Moreover Scotia did not let me withdraw more than C$1000 today even after I tried multiple withdrawals. Luckily there were no charges for multiple failed attempts.
I will have to try again tomorrow to withdraw the rest of the amount.
Correction :: Axis bank charged me $3.32 for a single withdrawal. That's $2.81 withdrawal fee plus 18% GST.
Additional info: I took the card via one of the Full Fledged Money Changers (FFMC) in which case only they can reload the card. FYI most of them don't do it as it is for one time use primarily for travellers. They just issue new cards as many times you want to travel rather than reload an already issued one. I don't know why they follow that practice.
Or you can send a signed copy of the Reload Form and authorisation to your family/ friend and they can go to the forex card issuing bank branch. But that's gonna take a lot of time and effort.
So best practice for a PR new comer from India on forex card usage is.
1. Carry as much in cash as you are allowed to which is capped at $10,000. Load forex card only for anything over and above that limit.
2. Do not load your card for big amounts definitely not multiples of $1000. Because if you are withdrawing, you can only withdraw $1000 in a day which will cost you $6.62 (in case of Scotia ATM at least). So the more times you withdraw the more money you are losing on charges.
3. On the contrary, this is still a very good option if you really need to bring in more money in the range of $2000-7000 (over and above $10000 cash). Because, one wire transfer later from India is going to cost you upwards of 50$ in fees and charges altogether at sending and receiving institutions. Say you want to withdraw $7000, you will have to do 7 withdrawals which will cost you 7 x 6.62 = $46. Anything above $7000, wire transfer will become the cheaper option if you can plan it to be done all at once. But if you are anxious about how the currency rate is going to change OR you happened to get a really good deal with the rate OR are not in a position to do wire transfer at one go later when needed, just load up forex card.
4. As soon as you come here, check for offers on opening accounts for new comers in various banks. For example, Scotia doesn't charge anything for account maintenance for the first one year of your arrival at least this year. They also have some $300 cash back if certain (doable) conditions are met. Open a bank account here, deposit all your cash and start using the debit card immediately. In a week, they will send you credit card with some $3000 limit. Choose the credit card that comes with offers like cashback etc. So using your forex card at point of sale is also not the best way to spend the money once you have the credit card.
5. For max benefit if you don't fit in case 3 above , load it with around $1300~1500 over and above your cash limit, you can spend around $300 to $500 at shops and commute cards until you wait for your credit card to come which usually takes a week. Then you can either keep using the forex card for shopping or just withdraw the rest of the $1000 at one go until you finish off the remaining amount.
