New credit card for using abroad?

FullCircle said:
Now that the Nationwide Flex isnt operative anymore, I just spotted this one from Sainsburys, which looks like it will work for liveaboards.
Downside is the £5 a month fee, but free ATM and free purchases.

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/get-t...t-card-to-use-abroad-5471.aspx?source=1000459
Click to expand...
Putting it into perspective the Nationwide CREDIT card, charges nothing on purchases in Europe and, in my case, gives me 0.05% cashback on all UK purchases.

The problem lies in the DEBIT card, which will cost, from 01 November, £1 for every European ATMS withdrawal and a surcharge of 2% on the value of cash drawn.

A large number of traders in Italy, Greece etc will only accept cash - they don't want the hassle of a credit card and will, if they can be pressed to accept a credit card, add about 1.5-6.0% onto the transaction, to cover the charges made by their bank.
The confusion, in this post is about the difference between a credit and a debit card.

Nationwide have been forced into this, because of the number of freeloaders, who have opened a Flex account, purely to benefit from the no-charge withdrawal of cash from European ATMS.
Nationwide have always had to pay fees to the bank through whom the withdrawal has been made - in the past they've absorbed the fee, because they're a mutual, for their members.
 
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charles_reed said:
Putting it into perspective the Nationwide CREDIT card, charges nothing on purchases in Europe and, in my case, gives me 0.05% cashback on all UK purchases.

The problem lies in the DEBIT card, which will cost, from 01 November, £1 for every European ATMS withdrawal and a surcharge of 2% on the value of cash drawn.

A large number of traders in Italy, Greece etc will only accept cash - they don't want the hassle of a credit card and will, if they can be pressed to accept a credit card, add about 1.5-6.0% onto the transaction, to cover the charges made by their bank.
The confusion, in this post is about the difference between a credit and a debit card.

Nationwide have been forced into this, because of the number of freeloaders, who have opened a Flex account, purely to benefit from the no-charge withdrawal of cash from European ATMS.
Nationwide have always had to pay fees to the bank through whom the withdrawal has been made - in the past they've absorbed the fee, because they're a mutual, for their members.
Click to expand...

Yes I will admit only opened my NW a/c for foreign use after I worked out how much I was losing. Next time I think I'll use Fair FX or Caxton FX, whichever has the best rate at the time. These were mentioned in another thread recently...
 
Prepaid cards still charge you, though not as much as Flex will. The only non-charging debit card is the Metro one.

I have noticed during the last 6 weeks, in contrast to previously, that Visa is regularly giving one close to mid-market rates.
In the past you've been hit with a double whammy - a stated withdrawal charge (except on Flex), plus an hidden transaction fee in that the Visa rate has been lower (3-5%) than the mid-market rate.
Perhaps they're all going to come clean and tell you what the genuine charge is, rather than hide it in the bid-offer spread.

I suspect the Visa operation may have been given a covert warning by one or another of the banking ombudsmen, in the UK, the US or the EC, that they've got to come clean with charge-reporting.

All-in-all a bit of a storm in a teacup!!
 
New 'Fees Free'Debit Card for Withdrawing Cash Abroad.

I note that from 'Money Saving Expert' that the Norwich & Peterborough B.S.
will be offering a 'fees free' Debit Card starting January 2011.
Hopefully this will replace my Nationwide Debit Card for overseas cash withdrawals.
 
I use my Lloyds TSB Mastercard (Credit) as it incurs no charges for payment or cash withdrawls abroard.
The exchange rate is usualy good.
 
Nationwide are still at the better end of the debit card market.

Still galling having to pay fees seeing as they have my cash to play with on the money markets before I spend it.


Bankers!
 
FullCircle said:
Now that the Nationwide Flex isnt operative anymore, I just spotted this one from Sainsburys, which looks like it will work for liveaboards.
Downside is the £5 a month fee, but free ATM and free purchases.

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/get-t...t-card-to-use-abroad-5471.aspx?source=1000459
Click to expand...
Why do people, totally ignorant of the vast difference between credit and debit cards bother to post?

Nationwide Flex is a DEBIT card - that means you could (before 01Nov) go to an ATMS and draw your own cash out at no expense.

A credit card ALWAYS costs you a commission for cash - it is also useless in many third-world countries (including Greece) because a very limited number of outlets are prepared or able to accept them.

As it so happens the Nationwide credit card, charges nothing for purchases abroad and is an infinitely better deal than the Sainsbury card.

Such misinformation should be avoided.
 
raggy said:
I use my Lloyds TSB Mastercard (Credit) as it incurs no charges for payment or cash withdrawls abroard.
The exchange rate is usualy good.
Click to expand...
Suggest you check your statements against the amount withdrawn and the mid-market rate of conversion.

Having had such a card (Lloyds Mastercard) I know your post to be utterly incorrect.
 
bendyone said:
I have a Citibank Debit card account (Euros), no charges at all. I also get a good exchange rate when I top it up.
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Extract from Citibank's T&C shows you may be mistaken - look at the last item

. Any transaction in a currency which is not in the currency of the Account, for example if You use Your Citibank Card to acquire goods, services or currency abroad, will be converted into Sterling using our reference exchange rate (which is Visa's exchange rate on the date it processes the transaction and percentage commission that we set on the amount of the payment. If your account is in a currency other than Sterling the Sterling amount will then be converted by us into the currency of the account using the Citibank UK exchange rate applicable at the time. There may be delay before a transaction abroad is debited or credited to the Account.

2. Please note that the amount that can be withdrawn at an ATM is also subject to the individual machine limit, your available balance and limits that Citibank may set for fraud or other crime prevention purposes.

3. Transactions will be debited from your nominated Citibank accounts normally within five days from the date of purchase.

4. Citibank's reference exchange rate applies if the transfer is made across currencies. If you transfer from a Citibank account abroad to a UK Citibank account you may be charged a fee.

Please note that a charge of 2% (minimum £2, maximum £5) is applied to all ATM cash withdrawals made using your Citibank Card, in a currency other than Sterling, from a Sterling Account.
 
charles_reed said:
Suggest you check your statements against the amount withdrawn and the mid-market rate of conversion.

Having had such a card (Lloyds Mastercard) I know your post to be utterly incorrect.
Click to expand...

You may have HAD one in the past but i have one now.
There is no fee for useing it or withdrawing cash abroad. The exchange rates are good and the exchange fee is low.
 
raggy said:
You may have HAD one in the past but i have one now.
There is no fee for useing it or withdrawing cash abroad. The exchange rates are good and the exchange fee is low.
Click to expand...
I attach an extract from the Lloyds Mastercard charges, which card I still possess, strongly suggesting you are in error.

<<Cash Withdrawals

*
Introductory rate - not applicable
*
Monthly rate - 2.075%
*
Simple annual rate - 24.900%
*
Effective annual rate - 27.9%>>

Perhaps you'd like to produce independent evidence apart from your misplaced faith.
 
Bearing in mind that NW Flex & E-Saver interest is ****, there is another option, open an account in the country you're based in and do a CHAPS transfer. Transferring a few thousand into the local account from NW costs a one off £25, much cheaper in the long term than repeated small withdrawals. A debit card on that account is more acceptable to traders and no charges for purchases or cash withdrawals. Works for us.
 
GrahamM376 said:
Bearing in mind that NW Flex & E-Saver interest is ****, there is another option, open an account in the country you're based in and do a CHAPS transfer. Transferring a few thousand into the local account from NW costs a one off £25, much cheaper in the long term than repeated small withdrawals. A debit card on that account is more acceptable to traders and no charges for purchases or cash withdrawals. Works for us.
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I'd agree, with that.

When I was in France I had an account with Credit Agricole, I used to write out a £ sterling cheque, to myself, pay it in and they'd convert it (about 3 days later) into FF - with no charge.

What goes in France, unfortunately, doesn't go in other countries, notably Italy and Greece, where banks are smaller and more grasping.

In Greece, especially, credit and debit cards are only acceptable by a minority, of larger traders. Probably, because of the totally underestimated black economy, most will only deal in cash.

On balance, NW Flex still remains (@ 2% of withdrawal +£1) one of the least expensive options.

It all goes to re-inforce my dislike, suspicion and contempt for bankers.

Direct political action may be in order - string up a few from lamp-posts "pour encourager les autres"?
 
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GrahamM376 said:
Bearing in mind that NW Flex & E-Saver interest is ****, there is another option, open an account in the country you're based in and do a CHAPS transfer. Transferring a few thousand into the local account from NW costs a one off £25, much cheaper in the long term than repeated small withdrawals. A debit card on that account is more acceptable to traders and no charges for purchases or cash withdrawals. Works for us.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I do. I have an account with ABNAmro in Holland. Put a lump sum into it in March, then draw euros from any ATM in Europe at no cost. I use it all through the year for various trips. An account can be opened from UK.
 
Another vote for Caxtonfx. You get a good rate of exchange and know exactly what you have paid for the euros withdrawn at the ATM. We load it in April with a largish sum and then if we need to top it up we reload in seconds using the mobile phone texting service. Only disadvantage I can see is the Newcastle Building Society who run the service going bust!
 
As Charles points out, the biggest part of the cost of most transactions is the bid/offer spread on the currency conversion. If the outfit says "no commission", it's the means to pull you into a bigger spread. If they say "no charges", the spread will be even bigger.

The interbank spread on Euros/£ is typically €0.007 per euro.
A "no charge" spread at the airport will be €0.16 per euro, nearly 8% off the mid market rate.

A high street bank won't tell you their difference from the mid market rate for card transactions of smaller amounts. They will flannel with words like "competitive", and confine themselves to telling you how much cash you will receive. 4% is not uncommon for picking up cash. 2% more usual for bigger bank to bank transfers (£5,000 plus). Specialist currency traders offer about half that.

So opening a Euro account in another country, then transferring a lump via a currency trader, is easily the best way to keep those costs down if your boat is based abroad. Opening a euro account linked to your UK bank usually incurs a monthly charge, say £8 or so, with conditions attached such as big balances to be maintained. So pause before thinking of that route.
 
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