Overseas' spending: Visa vs Mastercard

will-in-estoril

Excluding loadings, is a similar rate of exchange applied to Mastercard and Visa transactions abroad?

I have both a Post Office Mastercard and Nationwide Visa credit card. Nationwide has just introduced fees on non-European transactions, currently 0.84%, rising to 1% in July. However, if the Visa exchange rate is better than its Mastercard counterpart, is there any point in ditching Nationwide just yet?

I ask the question, as there is bound to be some debate this week as Abbey relaunch their Zero Mastercard.

(I'd love to ditch my Nationwide card but will not cut off my nose to spite my face.)

baby_frogmella

Visa and Mastercard wholesale rates are identical, so you're better using your Post Office mastercard for overseas transactions. Visa rates can be found at:
http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp


Mastercard use https://www.xe.com which is what both Audi mastercard and Abbey Zero customer services have told me. Comparing todays wholesale rates between Visa and Mastercard to GBP:



USD
Visa 1.51 MC 1.51


AUD
Visa 1.97 MC 1.98


JPY
Visa 148 MC 148.53


CHF
Visa 1.69 MC 1.70

RichardJW1

well all I can say is that when I experimented with a same-day cash withdrawal between 3 cards the Nationwide Gold came out the best.

The rates calculated out at Natwest Gold mastercard - 1.3919, Barclaycard Visa 1.4673, Nationwide Gold Visa - 1.4934.

will-in-estoril

RichardJW1 wrote: »

well all I can say is that when I experimented with a same-day cash withdrawal between 3 cards the Nationwide Gold came out the best.

The rates calculated out at Natwest Gold mastercard - 1.3919, Barclaycard Visa 1.4673, Nationwide Gold Visa - 1.4934.

Natwest and Barclaycard both load their exchange rates by something in the region of 2.75%, and probably throw in other fees to boot, which makes the comparison a bit skewed.

Very brave (or foolish?) of you though to stick your credit card in an ATM as an experiment. Not the cheapest way of experimenting!!

dzug1

baby_frogmella wrote: »

Visa and Mastercard wholesale rates are identical, so you're better using your Post Office mastercard for overseas transactions. Visa rates can be found at:
http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp

Well if the Visa and Mastercard rates are identical it means that Mastercard also charge the 1% but keep quiet about it. Remember that Nationwide are NOT actually charging 1%, they are discontinuing a 1% discount.

And - probably irrelevant - in the US Visa and Mastercard both charge a 1% loading to local cardholders. That's before anything their banks do.

RichardJW1

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Very brave (or foolish?) of you though to stick your credit card in an ATM as an experiment. Not the cheapest way of experimenting!!

Well, Will_in_Estoril first of all I didn't "stick" it in an ATM, I went to the local bank! secondly I have lived and worked for over 12 years in the former soviet republics and this is the ONLY way of successfully withdrawing cash for living and working - what is more in ALL this time I have never had a problem!!! Hence why after doing some research the Nationwide Gold Visa is cheaper in the long run, in this instance I am talking about $1,000 cost me £42 more with Natwest Mastercard

What do you suggest? I go in to a bank in UK and cash £20,000 worth in to USD and travel abroad with it? That would certainly but putting myself 'on offer' and a really 'smart' thing to do in January when I was at home and the rate was so poor!!!

RichardJW1

one of the annoying things about the online accounts/statements I find is that neither the Natwest mastercard or Barclaycard Visa actually quote the exchange rate - however good old Nationwide Visa does!

RichardJW1

will-in-estoril wrote: »

Natwest and Barclaycard both load their exchange rates by something in the region of 2.75%, and probably throw in other fees to boot, which makes the comparison a bit skewed.

......and I will go on to say that in fact they aren't skewed, they are 'real' time and what the cost of withdrawing money on the same day really cost because as I have said in the post above this with the exception of Nationwide the others seem to think it prudent not to quote their exchange rates in the online accounts.....in the day & age where we are blasted with facts and figures they seem reluctant to cough up and advertise this little detail

The local bank adds 5% for a Visa transaction, Barclaycard then charge 2.75% cash handling fee and 2.7% commission fee.
For the Nationwide Gold is still the 5% local bank fee but only 2.5% handling charge and so far 0% commission.

Mastercard on the other hand is 3% local bank fee, plus 3% handling charge. However their currency exchange rate worked out poorer because they don't quote the excahnge rate OR the commission percentage, just lump it all together and why I quoted what I did

will-in-estoril

@RichardJW1

Can I refer you to Martin's article on overseas' use of cards?:money:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#cheapest

(Despite what you might say the received wisdom is that it is not a good idea to borrow money on a credit card via a cash advance: ATM or bank counter, you are still subjecting yourself to sky-high interest, in addition to the loading, the withdrawal fee and the local bank's cut. In your case a Nationwide debit card may have been a better solution, where only the local bank charge would seem to apply.)

Anyway, back to the main issue: the exchange rates used by MC and visa before loadings are applied by individual card issuers ie gross rates unskewed by such loadings:

If the Mastercard rate is 1% less favourable than the Visa rate then the Nationwide visa will continue to be as more competitive than the Post Office and Abbey Zero mastercards for purchases within Europe (as defined by Nationwide), and as competitive outside Europe.

1% might not sound a lot, but it amounts to £100 on £10000 worth of spend, and is greater than most banks are offering savers.

RichardJW1

oh well, then I look forward to seeing you post the results of your findings on here

europa

RichardJW1 wrote: »

Well, Will_in_Estoril first of all I didn't "stick" it in an ATM, I went to the local bank! secondly I have lived and worked for over 12 years in the former soviet republics and this is the ONLY way of successfully withdrawing cash for living and working - what is more in ALL this time I have never had a problem!!! Hence why after doing some research the Nationwide Gold Visa is cheaper in the long run, in this instance I am talking about $1,000 cost me £42 more with Natwest Mastercard

What do you suggest? I go in to a bank in UK and cash £20,000 worth in to USD and travel abroad with it? That would certainly but putting myself 'on offer' and a really 'smart' thing to do in January when I was at home and the rate was so poor!!!

Will-in-Estoril was only trying to point out that this is not a fair comparison as only the Nationwide card has a non-loading policy. So clearly the Nationwide card would come out top in your comp!

In any case, the original question was whether the Nationwide or PostOffice card is better for using in US. This is what i was also wondering. Anyway the answer is now clear. If the transaction occurs in Europe, it should make no (or v little difference). However, outside Europe the PO card should be slightly cheaper. Either way, the only credit cards one should ever use abroad (if feasible) are the Nationwide or PO cards!