A few comments following my recent trip to Italy. Most people can do their own search for money and check rates from the usual suspects = Travel Agents, the Post Office, Tesco, M&S etc. The fact is that a few credit and debit cards give very good rates for simply going abroad and drawing cash from an ATM or using a credit card for purchases. At the moment the N*tionw*de is fee free within the EU. I put something on my credit card and was charged at a rate of 4 cents better from that the rate I got at the airport for a pre-booked purchase of cash. This is itself a lot cheaper than just walking up with £s cash.
I was talked into taking a Cash Passport the other day. It is a debit/cash card issued under the Mastercard logo. It costs 2% to add cash to it which at least is stated up front. At the airport I picked up Euros 500 and asked them to put 300 of them onto my euro denominated cash passport. They said they'd have to change them into £s, back to Euros and then credit me! Rubbish! I shall draw my balance and close the account!
|
Currently better to use a debit card in ATMs in Euro countries than change £ to € over here, the latter works out not far off 1:1 once fees and commision are accouinted for whereas ATM transactions are around 10% better at least.
|
Forgot before my summer holiday that Santander now charge a foreign use fee on the debit card. Those £1.50's added up.
Going to try their Zero credit card, purely for foreign use and pre-funded before departure.
|
...that Santander now charge a foreign use fee on the debit card...
Even in Spain?
|
>> ...that Santander now charge a foreign use fee on the debit card...
>>
>> Even in Spain?
Possibly not in Spain, certainly in both France & Germany.
|
|
I have a Post Office Travel card - load up the card before you go, good exchange rate no commission or charges and a scam proof system.....interestingly change shops were giving 1.14 in Greece no commission or charges, mind you Co-oP travel shops are very good.
|
i was in italy earlier this year and only used my debit cards as the wife brought some readies with her
strangely the charges on my business debit card were better than on my private debit card (all santander) cant say this company is my flavour of the month as i was with alliance and leicester but they basicall all use the same trough behind the bike sheds so i dont dwell on it anymore
|
|
Thanks for that pointer PU. I shall be ditching my cash passport asap. I have checked - they want £6 to tranfser my cash on the card into my current account. My Flabber is well ghasted!
|
|
Santander are cheeky people. They charged me 1% to use own current account to pay for cash ordered at Travelex! I asked them why they didn't charge me 1% for spending my money in Sainsburys and they referred me to T&Cs Part 4, Para 74(b) and there it was! surcharge for buying currency!!!!
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Sat 20 Nov 10 at 12:25
|
Lloyds TSB are rotten, charges for using the debit card or drawing money + %age charges.
The post office card had a catch, can't remember what it is now but it still worked out cheaper for us to buy reddies and use a debit card abroad.
I remember what the catch is, can only be loaded with Euros or Dollars. Nae Zloty :-(
|
>> Santander are cheeky people. They charged me 1% to use own current account to pay
>> for cash ordered at Travelex! I asked them why they didn't charge me 1% for
To be fair, most of them do this.
As far back as 2003 (and so the situation today will have probably got worse), the Indy reported
"Banks offering Switch cards - including NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Halifax and Bank of Scotland - tend to absorb the fee charged by the Switch network on behalf of their customers. But Lloyds TSB, Barclays, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the Co-op pass on the fee levied by Visa.
For example, all customers buying currency at a Travelex bureau de change have to pay 1.5 per cent commission for any amount over £200. So if they are changing £500, they will be charged £7.50. But people using a Co-op Visa debit card, say, face paying another £10 - 2 per cent of the £500 - for a total bill of £17.50. A Switch debit card user would pay £10 less, and could even save the entire £17.50 by going to the Post Office, where there is no commission on foreign currency.
"It's not a consumer charge but, passed on, it's a hidden charge," says Mike Naylor, senior researcher at the Consumers' Association. "There's usually a distinction between using a credit card and a debit card, but not one between debit cards."
The charge arises because Visa's "interchange" banking process creates a handling fee for foreign currency purchase in the UK - a charge borne by the banks that issue Visa debit cards.
Of the six biggest high-street institutions, five pass this charge on to customers. All blame Visa, pointing out that the charge can be found in the small print of their debit card accounts. Only one provider, Nationwide, absorbs the extra cost."
The latest situation is summarised by Martin Lewis
"Beware how you pay for foreign exchange.
While the holiday money comparison will find you the cheapest rates, there’s another possible hidden charge at bureau de change. All credit cards and some debit cards, including Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Natwest, Santander & RBS, charge a cash withdrawal fee.
Use a different card if possible or withdraw pounds on your debit card and pay with that."
Last edited by: John H on Sat 20 Nov 10 at 12:47
|
PP was that actually a direct charge as opposed to using a debit card?
In the days when our local HSBC did currency the teller helpfully advised me to use my card to withdraw £200 cash from the ATM outside rather than pay for my euros using a debit card.
|
|
My recollection is that I bought £200 worth of euros at Travelex, bought on line to get the best rate, and it appeared on my bank account as £202. I now transfer cash from Santander to Nationwide, on line, and then pay travelex for my currency from Nationwide. However, as I noted earlier, I can get a better rate and no fees on both the nationwide credit and debit cards used abroad as things are at the moment.
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Sat 20 Nov 10 at 12:52
|
|
M&S and the PO offered similar advice (albeit you can withdraw cash at the counter in the PO and then convert) Smile's only weakness is charges on foreign transactions - PO can only e loaded with Euros and Dollars but suits my needs. Helpfully Lloyds can give you a Dollar debit card for nothing if you get them on a good day.
|
Foreign Currency - Hard Cheese
