Singapore, September 25:

Debit cards are emerging as the cheapest way to pay for purchases and withdraw cash abroad, a study said today.

The study of the real costs of foreign currency transactions for outbound travellers in 12 markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by MasterCard found that debit cards had the lowest overall costs among the foreign currency products.

Cash and traveller’s cheques incurred high breakage costs, the amounts spent converting unused foreign currency back into local currencies, stated the report published in The

Business Times.

“What we’ve found is that consumers may want to separate their travel budget from other spending,” Robert Walls, head of debit product management for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, was quoted as saying.