Start with the kind of card
Start with the kind of card, because it decides how the money moves. A debit card spends what is already sitting in your bank account. A prepaid card holds a balance you load yourself, and it simply stops when that balance runs out. For everyday spending, a debit card suits you if you keep a running balance, while a prepaid card suits you if you prefer a fixed amount you top up as you go.
Most of the cards in this comparison are debit cards. ABA Bank, ABANCA, ABN AMRO Zakelijk, Absa, Absa Bank Mauritius, Absa Seychelles, ActivoBank, AEON Bank, AffinityPlus Credit Union, 1st National Bank Saint Lucia and ACB Grenada Bank all issue one. The Absa review shows how a long established account presents that same product.
A smaller group is prepaid. Absa Kenya Multi-Currency Prepaid Card, AccessMore and the Advcash (Advanced Cash) Card all work on a loaded balance. If you would rather see a fixed spending pot than a live bank balance, a prepaid card gives you that. If you would rather the money stay in an account you can see and manage, a debit card is the better shape.
Match the network to where you pay
The network is the brand printed on the card, and it tells you how widely it is accepted. Most of the cards here run Visa: ABA Bank, ABANCA, Absa, 1st National Bank Saint Lucia, ACB Grenada Bank, AEON Bank, AffinityPlus Credit Union and the Absa Kenya Multi-Currency Prepaid Card.
Advanzia Bank sits on a different network, with Mastercard on its card. Neither network is wrong, so let your own spending decide.
If you also spend from a crypto balance, our crypto debit cards ranking covers the other side of the same question, because the network and the support setup matter just as much there.
Read the free ATM allowance before the fee list
The quickest way to compare everyday cost is the free ATM allowance, because cash is the thing most people use most. Absa lists a free ATM allowance of ZAR 2,000, so withdrawals inside that allowance cost you nothing extra.
Other brands list no free withdrawals. The free ATM allowance at 1st National Bank Saint Lucia is XCD 0 and at ACB Grenada Bank it is XCD 0, so plan on taking cash less often there. Each figure is the whole allowance for the account, not a per withdrawal amount, so read it as printed.
After that, look at how the rest of the account is priced. A card with no free withdrawals can still be the cheaper choice for you if you rarely use a machine and the account itself carries nothing to hold.
Check how you get help
A card is easy to like until it is declined at a till. The number of ways a brand lets you reach someone is a fair tie breaker, and the answers across this set differ a lot.
ActivoBank lists phone support and nothing else, and the ActivoBank review is the place to judge what that means in daily use. The Advcash (Advanced Cash) Card lists a help centre only, while Advanzia Bank offers email and a help centre.
ABN AMRO Zakelijk is the broadest of the group, with chat, phone, a help centre and a community. Absa Seychelles, the Absa Kenya Multi-Currency Prepaid Card, ACB Grenada Bank, Addiko Bank Srbija and AccessMore each offer email, phone and a help centre. Absa Bank Botswana cards, Absa Bank Mauritius, the Absa Uganda virtual multicurrency card and ABA Bank keep to phone and email.
Write down which channel you would really use before you open anything. If your card gets blocked while you are abroad, an email only setup is a weaker plan than one with a phone line.
Worked example: two debit cards side by side
Take 1st National Bank Saint Lucia and ACB Grenada Bank. Both are Visa debit cards, so the kind of card and the network are settled and cost you nothing to compare.
The first real difference is cash. The free ATM allowance is XCD 0 at 1st National Bank Saint Lucia and XCD 0 at ACB Grenada Bank. If you take cash most weeks, the brand that includes a free allowance will cost you less over a year. If you pay almost everything by card, the two can come out level.
The second difference is help. 1st National Bank Saint Lucia offers email and phone. ACB Grenada Bank offers email, phone and a help centre, which counts for more if you are new to the brand and expect to ask basic questions early on.
Run the same four checks, kind of card, network, free ATM allowance and support, over the AffinityPlus Credit Union, a Visa debit card with help centre support. Same questions, different answers, and the comparison stays quick.
Where to read the detail
A shortlist is easier to keep when each name has a page behind it. Read the Absa review next to the Absa Seychelles review to see one brand presented for two different markets, and the ABN AMRO Zakelijk review if you want a card for business rather than personal spending.
Keep the order of the checks the same for every card: kind of card, network, free ATM allowance, then support. Written down in that order, the comparison takes a few minutes, and the cheapest card usually shows up within the first two passes.