New credit card for using abroad?

[F & L]

We have a Halifax Bank account in UK and a Lloyds Bank (previously Halifax) Bank account in Spain. With Internet or Telephone banking we are able to transfer money without any charges at a good exchange rate. Then use the ATM as required. It has worked great for us.

I am advised that in a few months while when computer systems allow this facility will also be available to LLoyds bank customers in UK too.

 

[Nollie]

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.

Hi Whiteshythe.
We have recently received conformation of this from the N&P along with a number of other changes to encourage savers to part with their hard earned cash. To qualify for fee free use of the debit card I believe that you must make four transactions per month or deposit 500 pounds per month into a gold current account which you will need to obtain the debit card. If these conditions aren't met a 5 pound monthly fee will apply.
Regards Nollie.

 

[drawp]

This is a minefield!

This is the latest from the Nationwide website - http://www.nationwide.co.uk/search/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=1259

(I think it says that charges now apply to all transactions (Purchases or cash withdrawals/advances on both credit and debit cards.)
-----------------------------
Cash withdrawals abroad

You can use your FlexAccount Visa debit card to withdraw cash or your Nationwide Credit Card to make cash advance withdrawals* abroad. The cash will be given to you in the local currency and converted to sterling on the date it is debited from your account, at the rate of exchange* applied by Visa.

Any cash machine which displays the Visa logo can be used to withdraw cash but the option to view your balance will not be available, use this link to locate a Visa cash machine**. There may also be a charge for withdrawing cash, use our A-Z list of countries to find out more.

* Cash advance fees: Gold card, Classic card, Reward card.
**Nationwide are not responsible for the content or accuracy of third party websites.

Purchases & Foreign transactions

You can make purchases abroad using any of the following cards please select the link to view the Foreign transactions information page:

FlexAccount Visa debit card - foreign transactions
Credit card - foreign transactions, and
Cash card+ - foreign transactions (cannot withdraw cash abroad using this card)
Charges

We charge a commission charge for using your card for all transactions in currencies other than sterling. Cash withdrawals overseas will also be subject to a Non-UK cash withdrawal charge in addition to the commission charge. These charges replace the existing 1% fee for transactions made outside the Visa Europe region. Find out more about our current rates and charges.

Please remember if you use your credit card to make a withdrawal you'll be charged a cash advance fee. The fees are as follows:

Gold card
Classic card

 

[PlanB]

As I read Nationwide terms and conditions, purchases using a credit card are still charge-free.

 

[charles_reed]

As I read Nationwide terms and conditions, purchases using a credit card are still charge-free.

The Nationwide site is, to put it mildly, confusing and by lumping credit and debit cards together increases the confusion.

Reading the item pasted below, it would appear that they do charge for certain credit card transactions made outside the € area:

"Foreign Transactions

Purchases and cash machine withdrawals

If you carry out a transaction using your card in a currency other than sterling, it will be converted to sterling on the day the transaction is processed by our card scheme providers at a wholesale rate of exchange, which may vary daily. For an indication of that exchange rate, you can see the Visa wholesale rate of exchange at www.visaeurope.com/fxcalculator. This is an "indication" because transactions are processed when the retailer passes them on to the scheme provider, which is generally not on the same day the transaction took place.

Third party charges

Nationwide continues to offer "commission-free" foreign transactions.

"Commission-free" means that we do not add any additional charges for exchanging currency which are designed to generate profit for the Society. We do, however, pass on any fee we incur from our card scheme providers for processing transactions in certain currencies (generally those outside of the European Economic Area and Turkey and Israel) other than sterling.

The fee is currently 1.00% and it will be included in the sterling amount shown on your statement.

The list below provides details of the countries for which a fee is charged. To check if you will be charged, please search for the country you are visiting by using the A-Z list. Unless stated otherwise a fee will be charged.

If you have any other questions regarding these charges, please phone 08457 30 20 10 or talk to an advisor at one of our branches."

I shall phone them, get a factual response from the agent and (because my trust of bankers is less than that for used-car salemen, MPs or politicians) confirm my understanding in a letter which I'll reproduce on this site.

 

[bendyone]

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.

You have not read my statement. It is a EURO account. I have been using it for a number of years with NO charges.

 

[charles_reed]

You have not read my statement. It is a EURO account. I have been using it for a number of years with NO charges.

The € account, if drawn from a Citibank ATMS in the local country attracts no charge.

If, however, it is drawn from a Visa ATMS it attracts (as far as I can make out from Citibank) the standard Visa fee of 1.5%, apparently this charge came in at the end of October.

Thanks, though, for the info - it's still the cheapest one around, bar Metrobank.

There are 49 Citibank ATMS in Greece for example.

PS Having just checked with Citibank their rate @ 15:25 was 98% of the Visa rate (£1 = 1.1456/1.170) which suggests you're paying a commission of about 2% on all your transfers, very similar to Nationwide Flex.

Devilishly slippery these bankers!!!

 

[john_q]

Have read this thread with interest, We use the Nationwide Flex a/c debit card and are based in the NW Caribbean

I think the consensus of opinion is that the Nationwide Flex a/c debit card is still probably one of the cheaper debit cards around.

In our area, Credit cards are of very little use as very few places taken them, if they do take them, the vendor will charge between 4 – 8% to cover their costs and using a credit card at an ATM is expensive and risky (card cloning etc.).

Any suggestions welcome as Nationwide have collected 15GBP extra off me so far this month