Halifax Visa Electron Use Abroad

mancini601

Morning All,

I am going abroad very soon and am wondering whether I should use my Halifax Visa Electron Card when abroad....I have checked with the Halifax and they maintain that they only charge a flat rate of £1.50 if you use your Electron Debit Card in an ATM abroad. They have stated that they do not charge 2.75% (Foreign Exchange Fee) that every other bank (except NationWide) seem to charge.

Is this correct? I know they've said there is no Foreign Exchange Fee, but I do not want to get stung....equally I do not want to take much physical cash. Can anyone confirm the above please?

benjus

Who told you this? Sounds like a load of rubbish to me... maybe they are confused because the 2.75% fee is "hidden" in the exchange rate, rather than charged as a separate item.

From the Halifax website:

Making purchases in a foreign currency
When you use your card to make a purchase in a foreign currency or withdraw cash using a foreign cash machine, the transaction amount will be changed to pounds sterling on the date we take it out of your account. This may not be the same date as the transaction is carried out. We will select the appropriate exchange rate which will always be reasonable one, then include a conversion fee of 2.75% of the total amount of the transaction. We also deduct a service charge of £1.50 out of your account immediately for each transaction.

(http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/bankaccountcharges.asp)

This page appears to cover all Halifax current accounts, including Easycash.

benjus

Having said that, most other banks charge the loading fee of 2.75% (or similar) AND a percentage fee on top of that. Halifax charges a fixed fee of £1.50, making it less bad than the debit cards from most of the major providers.

Using your Halifax card in a foreign ATM will be cheaper than changing money in a typical high street bureau de change (e.g. the Post Office in-branch service).

If you don't mind pre-ordering your currency or you can get to a bureau de change with a really good rate, you could save a bit of money compared to using your card, but it won't be a huge difference.

For example, withdrawing €300 at today's rates:

Halifax card used abroad: £245.40
TravelEx (pre-ordered for collection at airport): £242.40
Post Office in branch (estimated rate 1.18): £254.24

So the Halifax card is a little more expensive than TravelEx, but much cheaper than using the PO in-branch rate.