The Cheapest Way to Spend Overseas Discussion Area

pat_morris

We want to transfer 8.000 euros to france to pay a deposit.
Is there a cheaper way to transfer money to save on charges?
We are with HSBC but they won't do it at the banks because it's not over 10.000.
Pat

King_Weasel

I have a similar question, except that it's Tanzania and shillings, not France and euros. My son's friend out there wants around £2,000 I believe to buy a second-hand car. He has a credit card - NOT Nationwide (so I've told him to think about Nationwide debit and credit cards) - but, apart from the costs, the daily cash limit reflects Tanzanian prices, not ours, and it would take many visits to build up the amount.

Western Union is pretty expensive. He's got a UK bank account only, I believe, not being a Tanzanian citizen.

Suggestions welcomed!

King Weasel

kirkie_2

I have got a Nationwide Flexacount. Is it as simple as just putting your cashcard into any cash machine whilst abroad and you get the relevant currency at no charge?

pin

kirkie wrote: »

I have got a Nationwide Flexacount. Is it as simple as just putting your cashcard into any cash machine whilst abroad and you get the relevant currency at no charge?

Basically, yes. Although just double check you are getting a conversion in foreign currency, it seems some ATMs are now using DCC.

mateyboy

pin wrote: »

Basically, yes. Although just double check you are getting a conversion in foreign currency, it seems some ATMs are now using DCC.

Excuse my ignorance but What is dynamic currency conversion

Kevoh

After reading posts about issues a few overseas travellers were having with their nationwide CC, I decided to go the Audi Card route. We travel to America at the end of next week and will be using it in person for the first time then.

I have informed Audi card CS the dates I will be travelling and also that I will be making online purchases. I was informed that they may contact me to ensure that certain purchases (esp. online) were actually made by me.

Last week, I test drove my Audi card online and bought some goods from Amazon.com. I was charged an exchange rate of 1.9274, which on the audi card online site displayed as 0.52, which is a good rate. We are now hoping the pound touches the $2 mark by April.

Donnie

Formula_1 wrote: »

I have a Barclaycard Platinum Visa and asked Barclaycard to explain the 2.75% commission charge on non sterling currency transactions. They said the charge was raised by Visa International on all cards. They said that whilst other card suppliers passed on the charge as a separate fee on customers' statements, Barclaycard absorbed it into the currency exchange rate and did not pass it on. If this is true (hard to prove as the exchange rate can change several times per day), it would appear that there would be no advantage in changing to Nationwide's credit card, especially if the latter has a very short payment period (as highlighted by Raspberry Fool, above). Can anybody throw any light on this?

Barclaycard are lying? Visa charge was 1% on International transactions.

Has Visa changed its fee structure for international transactions?

Effective April 2, Visa assesses a 1% International Service Assessment (ISA). The ISA is not a currency conversion fee but rather a charge to issuing banks when transactions use the global payment system. It is not a charge to cardholders. The ISA will also be charged to Issuers on same currency, cross-border transactions like DCC. Visa will no longer charge issuing banks the 1% Multicurrency conversion fee. It is important to note that Issuing banks determine the cardholder pricing structure. If you frequently travel internationally, the different pricing structures charged by issuing banks should be one of the factors you take into consideration when you select the Visa card that best suits your needs, just as you would compare annual fees, interest rates and rewards programs.

Donnie

mateyboy wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but What is dynamic currency conversion

From the VISA website.

What is Dynamic Currency Conversion?

Some merchants now offer to convert your bill into your home currency. This is called dynamic currency conversion and means the merchant—and not Visa—is converting the currency. As a consumer you may value knowing the exact price in your home currency at the point of sale but you should also know you may be charged extra for this service by the merchant. Visa requires that you are provided a meaningful choice at the point of sale and you have the right to buy your purchase in the local currency so that you do not incur any additional fees the merchant may assess. Visa also requires merchants offering this service to inform you of the exchange rate including any applicable commission being charged. If you choose DCC for a transaction, you receive the merchant rate, not Visa's rate.

Donnie

falc wrote: »

Hi there, can anyone tell me the latest state of play on spending abroad? I am possibly going to China as well as Rome on business, and am wondering which credit cards to use abroad? At the moment I use Liverpool Victoria in Europe and Nationwide Classic abroad. The latter are proving very stingy with their credit limit (£1700 after 1 year), so I am thinking of taking out another card as well just in case as there's nothing more annoying than running out of credit on the other side of the world! I saw an ad for the Goldman Sachs credit card (can't remember which one!) saying it also gave free spending abroad. Anyone know of this? Is it a good deal? Are Goldman Sachs reliable? If I spend with Liverpool Victoria in China will I get charged?

FYI, Nationwide have not been exceptionally easy to work with, although not dire. If you get even one letter of your address wrong (e.g you say 7 instead of Flat 7 when they have your address written down as Flat 7) when buying something on the internet they will refuse the purchase. It took about two months for the application to go through in the first place, so I missed being able to use it on my holiday! Then despite perfect credit rating they wouldn't extend my limit on my card - given that most family holidays seem to reach the £3k limit without too much difficulty, a £1k limit is a bit of a nuisance.

http://www.audi.co.uk/audi/uk/en2/financial_services/audi_card.html

Donnie

pat_morris wrote: »

We want to transfer 8.000 euros to france to pay a deposit.
Is there a cheaper way to transfer money to save on charges?
We are with HSBC but they won't do it at the banks because it's not over 10.000.
Pat

http://www.hifx.co.uk/personal/one_off_transfers/overview.aspx

http://www.currencies.co.uk/pages/online-foreign-exchange-trading-company.htm

For more, do a Google search on "Currency brokers".