Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

dzug1

nic_c wrote: »

I wonder how it would go if you preloaded it? Would there be no interest, just fees?
For instance my existing Zero says the highest interest accruing elements are paid off first, so if you paid £200 before you went and spent say £150 on cash and £400 on card purchases then there should be no interest from the cash and so long as you paid in full as normal, no interest??
(edit) found this was discussed on P64

The T&C say thou shalt not preload.

What happens if you do is unpredictable and can range from nothing to cancellation of the card.

There would be no interest if they accepted it and there are no fees anyway

PixelPound

dzug1 wrote: »

The T&C say thou shalt not preload.

What happens if you do is unpredictable and can range from nothing to cancellation of the card.

There would be no interest if they accepted it and there are no fees anyway

Assuming paying after use but paying before the statement day doesn't count as pre-loading, then you could repay for a purchases first

e.g.
Day 1 pay 100€ car hire, 200€ pre-booking trips
Day 1 transfer £300 by internet banking
Day 3 withdraw 300€ cash
Day 4 transfer £280 by internet banking
...

You are only transferring money after you have used it, but as "highest interest" is paid off first then the money transferred probably should mean interest isn't accrued.

Though, I suppose it depends how long you are going and how much cash you want to withdraw. Even at 27.9% you'll be charged 50p per £100 per week. so if you do most purchases by card a couple of 100€ withdrawals during a week to pay for stuff you can't use cards for will cost less than the normal ATM fee's for abroad use.

bullinn1

Please forgive me - I've been researching this for so long and there are so many out-of-date threads around on the net (let's hope the rules don't change again before I travel next week)... can anyone please confirm that I will not be charged on my Nationwide Credit card if I use it for purchasing goods in Spain and that if I load my Nationwide Debit card's account I will pay just 2% plus £1.00 per withdrawal from an ATM (I think plus some interest as well) and that that rate from Nationwide for cash is pretty good (especially as I am probably too late to make other arrangements) ... many thanks to anyone taking the time ... Roger

Nessie23

rogertb wrote: »

Please forgive me - I've been researching this for so long and there are so many out-of-date threads around on the net (let's hope the rules don't change again before I travel next week)... can anyone please confirm that I will not be charged on my Nationwide Credit card if I use it for purchasing goods in Spain and that if I load my Nationwide Debit card's account I will pay just 2% plus £1.00 per withdrawal from an ATM (I think plus some interest as well) and that that rate from Nationwide for cash is pretty good (especially as I am probably too late to make other arrangements) ... many thanks to anyone taking the time ... Roger

You can have a look here, http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money but basically if applied for the Nationwide credit card before 22 February 2011, then there is no load for purchasing goods.

Cash withdrawals Cash withdrawals Fee: 2.5% (min. £3) + interest on any money withdrawn. Rate for cash with Nationwide is not very good really, if I were you I would consider other alternatives such as a pre-pay card or a Metrobank account (which you can open on the spot if you are near London).

Hope this helps,
Nessie

KIrvy

I've today bought a load of Australian and New Zealand dollars and put them onto a Tesco Travelex Cash Passport. Took about 30 mins to complete, but....its "commission free" but the exchange rate meant that it cost me nearly £100 to get £1600 worth of currency. Thats more than 6%! That makes this passport more expensive than my Visa Debit card would have been....and I've got one of Martins 'worst buy' Santander debit cards! Just be aware of the swingeing exchange rates! I suppose they have to have this level of charge in order to maintain their bonuses, don't they? (or pay for the illegal PPI they sold, or pay off their bonus taxes).

bullinn1

Thanks Nessie for your advice - yes I was pre Feb 11 - however my local branch told me charge with a debit card was 2% - mind you lady that answered the phone at the Co-op (as part of my research) said their charge was 5.75 - not sure she was correct either .... all contributions to my confusion ! Regards Roger

dzug1

KIrvy wrote: »

I've today bought a load of Australian and New Zealand dollars and put them onto a Tesco Travelex Cash Passport. Took about 30 mins to complete, but....its "commission free" but the exchange rate meant that it cost me nearly £100 to get £1600 worth of currency. Thats more than 6%! That makes this passport more expensive than my Visa Debit card would have been....and I've got one of Martins 'worst buy' Santander debit cards! Just be aware of the swingeing exchange rates! I suppose they have to have this level of charge in order to maintain their bonuses, don't they? (or pay for the illegal PPI they sold, or pay off their bonus taxes).

I hope you didn't use your debit card to pay for them - that will be another 1.5% when your statement comes

You do make a good point though - there's numerous posts on here extolling cards for no or low fees - which overlook the exchange rate which will usually be the predominant factor.

Nessie23

rogertb wrote: »

Thanks Nessie for your advice - yes I was pre Feb 11 - however my local branch told me charge with a debit card was 2% - mind you lady that answered the phone at the Co-op (as part of my research) said their charge was 5.75 - not sure she was correct either .... all contributions to my confusion ! Regards Roger

Ah, well to complicate things Nationwide will charge you different commission rates :huh: if you use their debit card or their credit card. So the information you were given by the branch was probably correct. At present the NW credit card has better rates than their debit card.

However please note that you will pay interest on cash withdrawals with the credit card. So if you withdraw the cash then make a payment into the credit card account as soon as you can to minimise interest.

Nessie

bullinn1

Well again - sorry but the guy in branch on Saturday said don't use the credit card for cash put money onto the debit card and use that - you can probably see, again, why I'm somewhat confused .... I'll go back to the branch and get them to physically show me the 'wording' of the various rates ... thanks for taking the time Nessie ... regards Roger

stilltheone

KIrvy wrote: »

I've today bought a load of Australian and New Zealand dollars and put them onto a Tesco Travelex Cash Passport. Took about 30 mins to complete, but....its "commission free" but the exchange rate meant that it cost me nearly £100 to get £1600 worth of currency. Thats more than 6%! That makes this passport more expensive than my Visa Debit card would have been....and I've got one of Martins 'worst buy' Santander debit cards! Just be aware of the swingeing exchange rates! I suppose they have to have this level of charge in order to maintain their bonuses, don't they? (or pay for the illegal PPI they sold, or pay off their bonus taxes).

What the....?? You did WHAT?

This has less to do with Travelex and more to do with your thinking.

This is wrong on so many levels.

You've been a member here for more than a year, so you had good information at your fingertips.

First of all...you are in the UK, so why on earth would you buy foreign currency to put on to a UK based card??

In which currency is this card?

So you paid to buy Aus$ and NZ$ and then you paid again to convert them into whichever currency that the Tesco Cash Passport is denominated and then you will pay again when you actually use the card. What were you thinking? Is this a wind up?

You should have not purchased any currency, but instead obtained a Travelex Cash Passport Globe.

This would have cost you approx £24(including any withdrawals and spending) in total for your £1600.

Your current scheme has not finished with you yet. Wait for the hefty charges when you spend abroad.

I'm astounded.