Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

EveryWhere

wallofbeans wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm travelling to Spain this weekend for a week and just trying to sort out what best to do for money. I have a solid credit rating so should be able to get a Metro Bank account to use while there.

But I've now realised that I need a credit card too (for car hire) and Metro Bank is the only option for getting one fast so I'll probably do that.

If I have a Metro Bank credit card, do I need the bank account too? Or would it be just as good to use the credit card for a week and then just pay it off as soon as I get back?

Thanks!

Whilst Metro Bank will issue a debit card on the spot, they may wish to establish a banking relationship before issuing a credit card. So don't depend on getting a credit card at such short notice.
Look to car hire options that don't require a credit card, just in case.

OceanSound

richardw wrote: »

Try a different ATM is the answer, you did, and got the correct rate. Some banks just do things differently, sometimes I think it may be the translation to English. MasterCard may have no control over these oddities.

I recently withdrew cash using clarity card from ATM in vietnam. ATM didn't tell me there was a fee (or offer me choice to cancel transaction). Later I found that they had added 50,000 VND per transaction for withdrawing 2 x 2,000,000 VND.

I checked the mastercard website and it says this:

Q: What is the fee for withdrawing money or taking a cash advance from an ATM?
A: Mastercard does not determine ATM fees. Any fees charged by the ATM owner are disclosed at the time the transaction is initiated. At that time, you are given the option to discontinue the transaction if you do not wish to pay the fees....

Remember same thing happened in Laos a few years back and I contacted Mastercard, didn't hear back from them.

Probably need to contact the card issuer (Halifax), right?

murphydavid

=OceanSound
Remember same thing happened in Laos a few years back and I contacted Mastercard, didn't hear back from them.

Probably need to contact the card issuer (Halifax), right?

Yes and if unresolved (as you could have on the previous occasion if the amount was worth the effort) http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/default.htm

However you may have difficulty persuading the other parties of the accuracy of your experience. Did the ATM have an English language version of the instructions. Did it ask you something to the effect: Do you want the ATM bank to do the currency conversion and did you say NO.

OceanSound

murphydavid wrote: »

...However you may have difficulty persuading the other parties of the accuracy of your experience. Did the ATM have an English language version of the instructions. Did it ask you something to the effect: Do you want the ATM bank to do the currency conversion and did you say NO.

Yes to the 1st question. See below:

2nd question: Did I choose 'allow ATM bank to do currency conversion'?
There was no such option. Actually, I've not seen such an option on any of the many ATM's I've used in Vietnam. Perhaps someone on here can confirm/rebut my experience with their experience.

EveryWhere

OceanSound wrote: »

I recently withdrew cash using clarity card from ATM in vietnam. ATM didn't tell me there was a fee (or offer me choice to cancel transaction). Later I found that they had added 50,000 VND per transaction for withdrawing 2 x 2,000,000 VND.

I checked the mastercard website and it says this:

Remember same thing happened in Laos a few years back and I contacted Mastercard, didn't hear back from them.

Probably need to contact the card issuer (Halifax), right?

You might be able to convince the 'Halifax Bank' of the veracity of your claim, but I have been to Vietnam quite a few times and they always state the fee (if there is one and there more than often is) on the screen beforehand.
Secondly, even if you attempt to convince someone that it wasn't displayed on the screen, it would have been displayed on the receipt after the first transaction.
So you would have known before you attempted the second transaction.

In this case you appear to have been rather unfortunate. To find an ATM that not only didn't inform you of the fee on screen beforehand but also not on the receipt.

If you can furnish the receipts to Halifax Bank, I am sure they will entertain your claim. Without such evidence, you can only expect goodwill.

ATM fees in Vietnam are clearly displayed before you agree to the transaction.

One reason why I know this is because I made a point of searching out no fee providers whilst I was there. They are few and far between and they can also change between visits. But always displayed on the screen if they charge and always displayed on the receipt even if they don't charge.
Which bank's ATM did you use and in which city??

EveryWhere

murphydavid wrote: »

Yes and if unresolved (as you could have on the previous occasion if the amount was worth the effort) http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/default.htm

However you may have difficulty persuading the other parties of the accuracy of your experience. Did the ATM have an English language version of the instructions. Did it ask you something to the effect: Do you want the ATM bank to do the currency conversion and did you say NO.

It was not a case of DCC. Likely they just missed the on-screen message about the ATM fee.
They can always post a picture of their receipt that shows no fee if that is the case.
If no fee is indicated on the receipt they have a case.

OceanSound

EveryWhere wrote: »

.... But always displayed on the screen if they charge and always displayed on the receipt even if they don't charge.
Which bank's ATM did you use and in which city??

Can you see the big picture I attached with post #2819. The bank name is on the top left of the screen.
The fee is usually displayed at that point in the process. As you can see (I assume you can), only the withdrawal limit/per transaction is displayed. I hit the 2,000,000 button on the bottom left and the cash came out immediately. Requested receipt. No receipt came out for either transaction.
Have you ever used an ATM belonging to that bank? (if you can see the picture that is.) Hard to miss if you can see it!

EveryWhere

OceanSound wrote: »

Can you see the big picture I attached with post #2819. The bank name is on the top left of the screen.
The fee is usually displayed at that point in the process. As you can see (I assume you can), only the withdrawal limit/per transaction is displayed. I hit the 2,000,000 button on the bottom left and the cash came out immediately. Requested receipt. No receipt came out for either transaction.
Have you ever used an ATM belonging to that bank? (if you can see the picture that is.) Hard to miss if you can see it!

No, have not used VIB, as I saw they charged 50,000 Dong.
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/foreign-atm-debit-fees-vietnam-2078358/#p27442745 confirms this.

If you did research beforehand, you could have avoided a bank that not only has a low maximum withdrawal, but also a relatively high withdrawal fee.

Compounded by the fact that you withdrew again, even when you did not receive a receipt after the first transaction.

It's just over £3, forget about it. Next time, do your research and obtain a receipt.

OceanSound

EveryWhere wrote: »

No, have not used VIB, as I saw they charged 50,000 Dong.
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/foreign-atm-debit-fees-vietnam-2078358/#p27442745 confirms this.

If you did research beforehand, you could have avoided a bank that not only has a low maximum withdrawal, but also a relatively high withdrawal fee.

Compounded by the fact that you withdrew again, even when you did not receive a receipt after the first transaction.

It's just over £3, forget about it. Next time, do your research and obtain a receipt.

I did see the redflagdeals post you mention. But thats from Feb 2017. So you can't really pin this one on me.
ATM's (actually the one or two ATM's) that don't charge change frequently in Vietnam. e.g. I use to be able to use MB bank ATM's without fee (for Santander Zero card). Then I couldn't use that ATM at all (it wouldn't dispense cash at all with that card). Discovered that SeaBank didn't charge a fee. Same think happened as it did with MB bank, then VPBank..
The same date I made the VIB withdrawal I made 2x withdrawals at Vietcomm bank ATM. They disclosed that there is a fee of 50,000 VND per transaction. I am fine with that because it was stated clearly before withdrawal. You don't hear me moan about that do ya?
VIB didn't tell me. That's nasty!. Anyway, I was going to visit the same ATM now and do a withdrawal while video recording it (so I have the evidence if it goes to Ombudsman), before doing that I gave halifax a call.

They credited my account with £3.00. But what you need to comprehend is, it's not the money. Any fee has to be disclosed before customer agrees to transaction. I always put principle before pounds and pence.

edit: fee needs to be disclosed on screen, not just on receipt. Receipt is often dispensed after the transaction. Coupled by the fact that the paper for the receipts can run out!

Harrythecat

My question is when you load money onto a currency card, in my case buying euros, what do you actually pay? Obviously there’s an exchange rate but also the card company’s build in a profit margin.

The reason I ask is that I currently use a Caxton card in Europe but I’ve also just got a Transferwise card, purely because I’ve had money paid to me in euros which I wanted to keep in euros.

Caxton charges no cash withdrawal fee. Transferwise charges 2 percent (over 200 Euro in any month). I’m guessing that by the time I’ve bought euros from Caxton I’ll have already effectively paid 2 percent so I might as well just take the visible hit on the euros I’ve already got. Am I right?