Cheapest and best place to get foreign currency???

bestyman

hostertlady wrote:

Sorry for any misunderstanding but i have opened a nationwide flex account and got the Credit card purely as recomended on this site, but does it matter what ATM's you get the cash from? if there is no charge for getting cash out abroad on the flex debit card then i damn well dont want to pay charges by making a silly mistake.. thanks

Its the bank abroad that sometimes charge not nationwide.
It depends on the bank that you use abroad with the debitcard.
In Barbados Nov 05 and all the machines that I used didnt charge.
Just got back from Spain and all machines free apart from one that said there would be a 4% charge . Been a bit tight I cancelled the transaction and fund another bank.

Don`t know the situation in other countries for sure .

alared

Rikki wrote:

Crowncurrency have a good rate of 1.43 at the moment. HERE

£500 minimum

alared

bestyman wrote:

Just got back from Spain and all machines free apart from one that said there would be a 4% charge . Been a bit tight I cancelled the transaction and fund another bank.

Don`t know the situation in other countries for sure .

I don`t think you`re tight but very sensible and not like the majority of people who can`t be bothered to look for another machine.
If everyone did what you did then the greedy banks would soon drop their rip-off charges.

WestieFan

I agree, I would walk to another one just to make the point!

I asked a similar question a while ago re money abroad and got very good advice. So I opened a Nationwide Flexaccount - which only took minutes using their site. A few days later I received the paperwork, went into a branch with my ID and it was done and dusted very quickly.

Also, I got a very nice bonus.... they also offered me a credit card, which I have very gratefully accepted as I have not had one for over 20 years and have been refused recently by every company I applied to. I have been using debit cards which are not as safe, especially as I buy a lot of things online. It will be a very useful backup when it is holiday time.

And I don't have to take large amounts of cash with me, which is one less thing to stress about!

MrBen_4

I just applied for a Nationwide Flexaccount today and it all went through ok, except the lady was saying I need to use the account for about 4 months before I'm given a Visa Debit card. Great.. I'm going to New York in March and am stuck with just the cashcard! =( Is this normal?

bestyman

MrBen wrote:

I just applied for a Nationwide Flexaccount today and it all went through ok, except the lady was saying I need to use the account for about 4 months before I'm given a Visa Debit card. Great.. I'm going to New York in March and am stuck with just the cashcard! =( Is this normal?

We got a Visa debit card straight away. Perhaps you could have a low credit score? but even if this was the case 4 months does not make sense as its long time .

I would ask again at the bank . Our visa debit came with £750 overdraft so maybe if you explained you just needed the card , no OD. Good luck.

Could you not get one in partners name?

Bestyman

annievtaylor

Well...things are dropping rapidly so I would still recommend buying in advance at the best rates from Crown Currency exchange who now will allow purchases from £300 online and are soon to be bringing out a prepaid card with no overseas transaction fees so it will be cheaper than using bank cards/credit cards. i used them last year and they were excellent.:money: