Cash Withdrawal vs Money Changing

Kenni-c

Hi,

To put it simply, this is my scenario:

Travelling to Greece and Turkey in a week's time
Nationwide Debit card DECLINED (poor credit score)
Post Office credit card DECLINED (ditto)
Left with Lloyds TSB debit and credit cards (VISA)

I've heard horrible stories about Lloyds TSB cards charging a fortune to use overseas. So, quick question:

I'll be spending about €750. Will it be more cost-effective to use Lloyds debit card to withdraw money or to convert pounds to euros at the bureaux de change?

Any other alternatives?

Cheers!

Biggles

A LloydsTSB debit card charges:-

2.99% exchange rate loading on all transactions plus

On cash withdrawals: 1.5% charge (min £2, max £4.50)
On purchases: £1 charge.

Ok, nowhere near as good as a Nationwide card, but still a lot better than you'll do at a bureau de change! Plus, if you withdraw too much at a BdC, what will you do with what's left over when you get home? You will pay twice as much to change it back to pounds. With a debit card, you only draw what you need.

MarkyMarkD

All this talk of banks charging "a fortune" for overseas transaction has to be considered relatively.

OK, some banks charge more than the nothing charged by Nationwide debit card. But the amounts are normally less than you incur changing money in advance, and you don't have the risk of carrying around lots of cash.

Marty_J

Can you not simply use a Nationwide cashcard and withdraw money from ATMs?

I had no trouble getting a cashcard account with Nationwide, and my credit history isn't great. I used it to withdraw money for three months in the US at the start of the year.