Bangalore: Mangalore-based Corporation Bank has launched a prepaid travel card in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Visa. Corporation Bank is the second public sector bank in the country after the State Bank of India (SBI) to launch such a card.

SBI and Visa International had launched a prepaid travel card in 2004. The card from Corporation Bank is currently available for US dollars and would enable a customer to make purchases, withdraw cash in local currency (currently US dollars) at ATMs while traveling abroad.

“The card helps travelers avoid the risk of carrying foreign currency, credit or debit cards and traveler cheques,” said B.R. Bhat, general manager, Corporation Bank.

Last year, nearly 8 million Indians traveled abroad. The bank expects to sell 25,000 such cards over the next one year. It will soon launch such cards for currencies in euros and pounds and later for yuan also.

Corporation Bank did not divulge the revenue sharing model amongst the three partners. Bhat says that the advantage of using the travel cards is that there is no transaction cost involved, unlike credit cards.

The minimum loading amount for these cards is $200 and maximum $9,000 at any single instance.