Fair FX charges

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chinita

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I have previously recommended this card as the ATM charges are @1.50 a go and it was possible to draw up to €1,000 from a bank per day without any charges whatsoever. I did so several times last year.

Not any more apparently.

Drew €1,000 from Barclays, Lagos, yesterday and asked if there were still no charges. 'No, no charges' she said.

When I checked the statement this morning I have been charged €15.00 'Authorisation'. Whatever that means.

It can only be Barclays as the cash is loaded from Uk bank and converted by Fair Fx free of charge.

Once again, the free lunch is not quite so free!
 
chinita said:
I have previously recommended this card as the ATM charges are @1.50 a go and it was possible to draw up to €1,000 from a bank per day without any charges whatsoever. I did so several times last year.

Not any more apparently.

Drew €1,000 from Barclays, Lagos, yesterday and asked if there were still no charges. 'No, no charges' she said.

When I checked the statement this morning I have been charged €15.00 'Authorisation'. Whatever that means.

It can only be Barclays as the cash is loaded from Uk bank and converted by Fair Fx free of charge.

Once again, the free lunch is not quite so free!
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I have a Caxton FX and no charges there as it is a prepaid Euro card - used it recently in both France, Portugal & Holland.

I have also just done a € transfer with HiFX and definitely no charges either for the transaction through HiFX, the sending bank RBS or the receiving bank Credit Agricole in France. The exchange rate is well below the tourist rate and marginally lower than the commercial rate as to be expected as HiFX have to make money somehow but way below the cost of sending money direct from RBS to CA

As an aside, many people used the Nationwide Flex account as it gave charge free cash withdrawal. That changed a few years ago and apparently it was VISA that stopped Nationwide giving the charge free access, not Nationwide itself. However, the new Nationwide FlexPlus account once again gives worldwide charge free cash withdrawal through ATMs. The only very slight downside is that it costs £10 a month but for that you get multi trip Europe wide travel insurance cover, Europe wide car recovery insurance, mobile phone insurance etc. I have switched to this new FlexPlus account and it has saved me around £400 a year on not having to have additional insurances and that allows for having to pay an excess for trips above the 31 day limit. You also get 2.5% interest on balances up to £2500 which works out about £70pa so the upfront cost of £120 is immediately reduced to about £50pa.
 
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Knowing how slippery bankers can and will be I'm not surprised at the charge you've experienced. You could challenge it - they have to prove that is the cost they incurred in the transaction if a UK bank.

Regarding the Nationwide Flex Visa - it's still the least expensive way of drawing small amounts of cash. They charge 2% + £1 for each transaction.
I don't go for the obfuscation of "tourist" rates or "commercial" rates - I use the mid-market rate which is the one the banks transact at.
I've found that Visa exchange rates are sightly less generous than Mastercard and both charge you a premium over mid-market rate, albeit a fairly small one. I have cards on both systems.

When I was in France I had a compte etranger with Credit Agricole - not only did they take my cheques, drawn on either RBS or Lloyds, and do the exchange @ market rates, but they used to pay me a small interest on the nett credit each month. From memory I had to transfer, £2000 as a minimum, but I had a debit card, cheque-book, etc. Unlike UK cards the debit card used to work in automated French filling stations.

I would suggest that people do check whether or not the FX cards are "free" - there are many more ways of making money out of the gullible than by calling it a "charge".
 
chinita said:
I have previously recommended this card as the ATM charges are @1.50 a go and it was possible to draw up to €1,000 from a bank per day without any charges whatsoever. I did so several times last year.

Not any more apparently.

Drew €1,000 from Barclays, Lagos, yesterday and asked if there were still no charges. 'No, no charges' she said.

When I checked the statement this morning I have been charged €15.00 'Authorisation'. Whatever that means.

It can only be Barclays as the cash is loaded from Uk bank and converted by Fair Fx free of charge.

Once again, the free lunch is not quite so free!
Click to expand...

One presumes you actually got that cash over the counter in a bank not through a Multibanco as they have a limit of 200 euro a transaction and 400 a day. Thus it was the charges of the bank who gave you the cash to confirm they would be re-imbursed by Fair FX, rather than a Fair FX charge.
 
I had trouble with a FairFX card in France about 3 weeks ago. The card was blocked without warning and I had to use normal credit cards instead. Not only did this cost me more but when I returned to UK I was left with Euros on the FairFX card that had I intended to use up abroad.

"Problem with the system" I was told.
 
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parsifal said:
I had trouble with a FairFX card in France about 3 weeks ago. The card was blocked without warning and I had to use normal credit cards instead. Not only did this cost me more but when I returned to UK I was left with Euros on the FairFX card that had I intended to use up abroad.

"Problem with the system" I was told.
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I have also had problems in France which seem to be due to a cultural clash between froggy banking and the rest of the world. Fair FX responded to e-mails very promptly, explained the problem and how they could do a manual work around. For larger payments Fair Pay gives even better rates
 
maxi77 said:
One presumes you actually got that cash over the counter in a bank not through a Multibanco as they have a limit of 200 euro a transaction and 400 a day. Thus it was the charges of the bank who gave you the cash to confirm they would be re-imbursed by Fair FX, rather than a Fair FX charge.
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Yes, same bank I used half a dozen times last year. Never any charge.

For convenience I often use the Multibanco in the marina, but for €1,000 it is worth the 10 minute walk to Barclays.

I will go and see them tomorrow and report back.
 
chinita said:
Yes, same bank I used half a dozen times last year. Never any charge.

For convenience I often use the Multibanco in the marina, but for €1,000 it is worth the 10 minute walk to Barclays.

I will go and see them tomorrow and report back.
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For 1000 euro you should look at FairPay where the rates are even better all you need are the person you are paying's IBAN and Swift numbers
 
jordanbasset said:
Used my Fairfx card through out europe and never got the charges you mentioned. Not sure the limit you are allowed but I take out 500 euros a time normally. Think it must be something unique to Barclays?
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+1, but I think OP is talking about an over the counter transaction, not withdrawing cash through an ATM.
I don't know any ATM that will give €1000, €500 is the most I ever found in Spain and €300 max is the norm.
 
maxi77 said:
For 1000 euro you should look at FairPay where the rates are even better all you need are the person you are paying's IBAN and Swift numbers
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Having looked at their rates you can get a much better rate for this from Currencyfair, especially if you use their market place system to ask for a better rate than the instant offer.
http://www.currencyfair.com/
As a eurozone resident I use this all the time to pay bills from a UK bank account and transfer to my own euro account.
 
BlueChip said:
+1, but I think OP is talking about an over the counter transaction, not withdrawing cash through an ATM.
I don't know any ATM that will give €1000, €500 is the most I ever found in Spain and €300 max is the norm.
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+1 This reflects my experience of using Fairfx.

I sometimes find there is a local daily limit on the ATM but that can be circumvented by making multiple withdrawals which is permitted until you reach your personal daily allowance.
 
silver-fox said:
+1 This reflects my experience of using Fairfx.

I sometimes find there is a local daily limit on the ATM but that can be circumvented by making multiple withdrawals which is permitted until you reach your personal daily allowance.
Click to expand...

In Portugal it is simple two visits to the multibanco a day with a 200 limit on each transaction. Mind you you can pay as many bills as you like every day at the machines
Min
 
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