Access Prepaid Worldwide report found that one in three young Britons overspend on holiday, to the tune of £175. Top travel worries for young people were running out of money, overspending and having their card / cash stolen.
LONDON – Access Prepaid Worldwide, a MasterCard subsidiary, launches its new Young Traveller Cash Passport prepaid card. The card, available exclusively online, is based on its award-winning Multi-currency Cash Passport. The card has been specifically designed and tailored to appeal to the youth market by showcasing how to make travel money easier, safer and smarter.
To celebrate the launch, Access Prepaid has released its first ever youth holiday spending report, which explores the travel spending habits of 18-29 year olds in the UK. The study found that 38 percent of young people in the UK spent £175 more than they intended to on their last holiday abroad, despite taking an average of £297 in holiday money away with them. Interestingly men not only took more cash with them than women (£304 versus £292), but they also overspent by more too. The most common reasons for overspending were eating out (34%), followed by shopping (31%), alcohol (25%), excursions (24%) and presents (20%).
Amongst young travellers, the biggest concerns regarding travel money and spending whilst on holiday are running out of money (30%), spending more than they intended to (25%) or having their card / cash stolen (24%).
Jon Milsted, Head of Product, Marketing and Business Strategy for Access Prepaid Worldwide said “We’ve spent a lot of time really understanding what young travellers are looking for when it comes to organising their travel money and we’ve tailored our existing Multi-currency Cash Passport product to suit their needs. Our new Cash Passport has been designed for the youth segment, with clear and easy to understand features that make keeping travel money secure and budgeting simple. Our research clearly showed that young people are looking to be more financially savvy when it comes to holiday money, and we believe the Cash Passport is the safer, easier and smarter way for them to budget for and enjoy their travels.”
The research found that for the younger generation the most common form of money to take on holiday is cash, with three quarters (76%) citing this as their usual choice for spending money. A third (33%) take a debit card while nearly a quarter (23%) rely on credit cards. Prepaid cards come in fourth with 12% normally taking their spending money in this form and twice as many men (18%) using a prepaid card compared to women (9%). Of the 69% of respondents who have never used a prepaid card before, nearly half (45%) would consider doing so in the future.
Thinking back to their last holiday, 34% of young people surveyed put money into a savings account to help plan for their upcoming trip. This was the most popular method of saving, followed by putting cash aside which a fifth of respondents did. 18% used a credit card for some or all of their holiday spending money, with men more likely to rely on plastic than women (23% vs. 14%).
Youth Spending – Access Prepaid Worldwide, a MasterCard subsidiary
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