Nationwide's free foreign withdrawals smoke and mirrors ?

eeja

agsnu wrote: »

Abbey Zero is the only credit card in the UK which will not charge any fees for cash advances abroad (although it will incur interest at 27.9%)

BUT you do not even have to pay the interest charge !!....just make sure the zero card is in credit by putting in some funds before using the card .

On the subject of the zero card it would appear rather restricted in its issue with a high refusal rate but this of course cannot be verified.

missile

RichardJW1 wrote: »

I never realised they offered a Visa Debit card, but I will inquire next time I'm back in U.K.

No need to wait you can apply for a Nationwide Flex Account on line @ > http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/default.htm

gozomark

http://www.visaeurope.com/personal/travellingabroad/xe_faqs.jsp

How does Visa calculate its rate?

Every day – except weekends and public holidays – Visa calculates the rate for the next day's transactions. The Visa rate is selected from a range of rates available in wholesale currency markets or the government-mandated rate in effect one day prior to the applicable central processing date.
Visa makes this rate available to the banks that issue payment cards to consumers and these may be adjusted when banks bill the cardholders. Adjustments could include the application of a foreign transaction fee. The rate Visa makes available to its issuing banks may vary from the rate Visa itself receives.
Most consumers find that using Visa is a convenient and cost-effective way to make purchases and obtain cash when traveling internationally.

dougz_2

http://www.visaeurope.com/personal/travellingabroad/exchange.jsp
I think the Visa site is misleading. Their supposed calculator of what price they would sell you currency merely quotes xe.com rates, which you certainly won't get because they are live mid-prices that nobody can buy at.

And as for the corporate.visa site quotes, they seem even more ridiculous. The prices on there seem to remain stuck for days on end, and every time I look it has an offer way better than the market so I am sure you won't get that either.

If anyone knows a way to find out what rate Visa (and/or Mastercard) actually offer for foreign currency card purchases I would love to know.

gozomark

I took out € on Monday night (23/2), dated yesterday (24/2) on online statement - 1.133 rate

the visa site isn't misleading - as per my post above "Every day – except weekends and public holidays – Visa calculates the rate for the next day's transactions. The Visa rate is selected from a range of rates available in wholesale currency markets or the government-mandated rate in effect one day prior to the applicable central processing date." So in other words they fix a rate each day, and its the mid price rate (or possibly with a 0.1% spread) - whatever it is, its the best rate possible

as for the xe.com rates - from visa link

How accurate are the rates provided by Xe.com?

The rates you are shown are from Xe.com’s database of foreign exchange rates and are subject to their terms and conditions. These are provided to give an indication of the rate you could expect to receive.

thumshie

I've made CA on the same day(local time) - even from the same ATM - and received different rates..Now it could be that the rate changed at 0 GMT (or some other set time) but on quite a few occations I've got different rates associated with the same day.. Maybe next time I'll do lots of transactions through a day noting the time to see when it changes and if it changes more than 1 for a 24hr period...:o

perky_v

Is there any cash machine in the UK, where you can withdraw foreign currency (mainly USD and EUR) using a Nationwide debit card??

apt

perky_v wrote: »

Is there any cash machine in the UK, where you can withdraw foreign currency (mainly USD and EUR) using a Nationwide debit card??

No there isn't. (Or at least those that do impose their own charges that will be passed on.) Part of this discussion has been overtaken by Nationwide's announcement that it is passing on on Visa's charge (1% from July) to non-European countries plus a few in Europe like Croatia. This comes in on 1 June for the debit card and May for the credit card. So it looks like pre-loading an Abbey Zero credit card might be the best way of getting cash abroad.

gozomark

apt wrote: »

Nationwide's announcement that it is passing on on Visa's charge (1% from July) to non-European countries plus a few in Europe like Croatia. .

thanks for that - do you have a link to the announcement ? I've had a look on Nationwides website and not seen anything to that effect

dazza.mk

gozomark wrote: »

thanks for that - do you have a link to the announcement ? I've had a look on Nationwides website and not seen anything to that effect

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm