Thomas Cook (India) Limited has announced the expansion of its prepaid forex card portfolio to 28 currencies, marking a significant step in enhancing payment convenience for Indian travellers. The move comes amid evolving travel patterns, with increasing demand for secure, seamless and digital-first payment solutions as outbound travel diversifies across emerging and short-haul destinations.
The expanded portfolio includes the addition of 16 new currencies, positioning the company among providers with one of the widest currency offerings on prepaid forex cards in India. This enables travellers to load and transact directly in local currencies, reducing reliance on multiple currency conversions and improving cost efficiency.
The newly added currencies include Chinese Yuan, Swedish Krona, Vietnamese Dong, Malaysian Ringgit, Indonesian Rupiah, Danish Krone, Hong Kong Dollar, Qatari Riyal, Norwegian Krone, Omani Riyal, Kuwaiti Dinar, Bahraini Dinar, Bangladeshi Taka, South African Rand, South Korean Won and Philippine Peso. These complement the company’s existing portfolio of major global currencies such as the US Dollar, British Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen, Singapore Dollar, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Swiss Franc, UAE Dirham, Thai Baht, Saudi Riyal and New Zealand Dollar.
The initiative reflects growing demand from Indian travellers exploring new destinations where local currency access can often be limited, leading to higher costs through multiple exchange layers. By enabling direct transactions in local currencies, the expanded forex card offering supports more transparent and efficient international spending.
The prepaid forex cards are available on both Visa and Mastercard networks, ensuring wide global acceptance. Customers can access the service through Thomas Cook India’s omnichannel network, including retail outlets, digital platforms and partnerships. Notably, the integration with Blinkit enables customers to purchase and load forex onto prepaid cards within a short turnaround time, while Forex on WhatsApp provides 24×7 assistance, including rate checks and transaction support.
The cards also support contactless payments and are compatible with select digital wallet integrations such as Google Pay at enabled international merchant terminals, aligning with the growing preference for cash-light travel experiences.
Deepesh Varma, Chief Business Officer – Foreign Exchange, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, said, “At Thomas Cook India, innovation and customer-centricity are at the core of our offerings. We are witnessing strong and sustained growth in travel demand from Indian consumers to emerging and short-haul destinations across Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and beyond. Our expansion to 28 currencies for our prepaid Forex Cards is a direct response to evolving travel patterns, enabling our customers to transact seamlessly in local currencies while benefiting from greater transparency and cost efficiency.
Importantly, this initiative also supports our strategic focus on driving a digital-first approach to forex usage—shift from cash towards secure, smarter prepaid solutions. Additionally, through our partnership with Blinkit, we have further enhanced convenience by enabling customers to buy and load forex on their prepaid cards in under an hour—delivering speed, flexibility and ease to today’s digitally savvy and globally mobile Indian traveller.”
Ravi Datla, Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions, South Asia at Mastercard, said, “As international travel from India diversifies into newer and emerging markets, access to simple, secure and widely accepted payment solutions becomes increasingly critical. Mastercard’s deep expertise in cross-border payments, coupled with our global acceptance network, enables seamless transactions across geographies and currencies. Thomas Cook India’s expanded prepaid forex card suite, now offering access to 28 currencies, builds on this strength by allowing travellers to transact directly in local currencies, reducing the need for multiple conversions. The result is a truly cash-light, transparent and secure payment experience that delivers consistent convenience and confidence wherever their journeys take them.”
Sridhar Keppurengan, Head of Cross-Border Payments, India and South Asia, Visa, added, “Our cross-border strategy is rooted in creating seamless, secure, and accessible payment solutions for travellers. The expansion of Thomas Cook Visa forex card portfolio to 28 currencies further leverages our vast international footprint and extends the same security, transparency, and convenience to cardholders making cross border transactions. This offering is yet another pivotal step in our broader vision to foster global connectivity for the Indian consumer, through continued innovation and service excellence.”
