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MSE News: Banks axe debit card bureau de change fees
Former_MSE_Guy
Posts: 1,650 Forumite
"The dreaded fee to buy foreign currency in the UK on a debit card is slowly dying, after banks were forced to axe the charge following pressure from the Office of Fair Trading...."
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Comments
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If there's a fee, why wouldn't you just take out £100 in cash first? And I thought MSE wanted people to stop bringing cash abroad?0
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If there's a fee, why wouldn't you just take out £100 in cash first? And I thought MSE wanted people to stop bringing cash abroad?
What if you want more cash than you can withdraw from an ATM?
This charge was often also applied when buying a prepaid card for use abroad (in some cases, even if the card was denominated in Sterling), which is one of the MSE-recommended ways to take currency abroad.
While having a specialist debit/credit card for overseas use is the optimum solution, not everyone travels frequently enough to make it worthwhile.
This charge was a real pain, and I'm glad to see the back of it.Let's settle this like gentlemen: armed with heavy sticks
On a rotating plate, with spikes like Flash Gordon
And you're Peter Duncan; I gave you fair warning0 -
So basically they couldn't justify the charge. Sounds familiar that... We've gotten rid of small optional charge but still have high bank charges which can cause a snowball effect as banks are still (wrongly in my view) allowed to prioritize these charges over and above other debts a person owes.
Both are service charges (at least according to the test case) but I know which does more damage...Mixed Martial Arts is the greatest sport known to mankind and anyone who says it is 'a bar room brawl' has never trained in it and has no idea what they are talking about.0 -
I have noted that debit card fees for buying foreign currency were supposedly being removed by banks, but in my search to see whether this is indeed the case, I have found that Santander still charge a fee, as quoted in their info. See below:-
When you withdraw cash abroad (either in a bank or at a cash machine), we charge you a cash withdrawal fee of 1.5% subject to a minimum fee of £1.99. The same charges apply when you use your debit card to buy foreign currency or traveller’s cheques at another bank, the Post Office, bureau de change and other outlets displaying the Visa sign.0
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