TravelMoneyMax.com Discussion Area

Andyjenk

How do Santander's Exchange Rates when using the Zero card compare compare with other providers? If I get cash out of a cash machine and pay for currency on the high street with it then there are NO charges other than the exchange rate. If I use a Santander Zero card I have interest on top, so wouldn't the Santander Exchange Rate need to be a LOT better to compete? Similarly with the so-called "best buys" they are all on-line, so you have to pay extra on top. Am I missing something? It seems strange that the so-called best buy uses exchange rates you can't see before you buy!

PNEfan

On visiting Abbey / Santander today was advised to switch my current account to a new Santander Zero current account (done v quickly in the branch) as this enables me to use my existing Abbey / Santander Visa Debit card to withdraw cash free of any charges from machines abroad. To qualify you need to have an Abbey mortgage, and at least £1000 going into your account per month. It pays interest too.

Sounds great, but what I'd really like to know is how competitive their exchange rates are - can't seem to find that info on their website.

jonthedog

@Andyjenk...slightly late now, I know, but yes, Santander/Nationwide's rates are MUCH better than a high street vendor. If you use these cards to get money out abroad then you'll get the ACTUAL inter-bank exchange rate, i.e. buying is the same as selling. A typicial high street vendor will 'load' their made-up exchange rates by around 5-10% each way. To get a rough approximation of how much, just look at the percentage difference between the 'buy' and 'sell' rates advertized and half it. Or better yet, just check the actual exchange rate on the bbc website or www.xe.com ...this is the rate you will get with Santander/Nationwide. In Europe, Nationwide won't charge you a penny, so it is effectively 'free' money, elsewhere it is 0.84%. Santander, in contrast, does charge mandatory interest on cash withdrawals which equates to ~2.84% charge (assuming you pay this off in full every month...see the calculation earlier on in the thread); this is still massively better than any exchange you could get prior to leaving the UK, but nowhere near as good as Nationwide. It's possible you may be able to pre-load your Sandander account with cash to stop the interest charges as mentioned earlier in the thread...don't know if anyone's had any sucess doing this?

hsbcarter_2

I just used the tool and paid for my travel money via debit card to "The Change Group". Everything went smoothly and the money has arrived this morning via special delivery.

In January I was expecting 700 euros for my £700 but just got 820 euros for £693.

For some silly reason we feel flusher!

Some a big thumbs up to the tool and also to "The Change Group".

techtitch

Hi all, anyone have any tips on the cheapest place/way to buy travellers' cheques please? (Or point me to a page or forum I've missed?)

Most of my money will be from ATM withdrawls (I thought I was settled on a Halifax credit card in credit until I saw this forum - further research needed!) but I'm spending a year travelling Sub-Saharan Africa so want to carry a few dollars and dollar travellers' cheques as backup.

Thanks
Chris

traveller45

Always worth double checking if possible just before you go to get money.

I checked at lunchtime and found Square Deal FX giving the best Euro rates - 1.164, but by the time I got to the place after work this had dropped to 1.149. not a huge difference but bigger drop than the rest of the places in the list.

Still a very useful tool though

mikeholden

Buy currency from Tesco with a Tesco credit card, and there is no fee involved on the card. This improves their "best buy" status in many cases.

AnneR

Tescos will match any rates in 5 miles and did so no problem based on a rate I reserved online from Thomas Cook. This was the best I could do based on collecting and paying cash as my cards would have charged. We cant collect at the airport as we are there at 3am!!!
I got 25 more Euros than the post office were offering. They also do Travelex cards but you need id which I didn't have.
Happy holidays! Anne

onesixfive

If you have a co-op loyalty card you can get credit/points when buying travel money....anything free's worth having!

adindas

They use Visa Whole sellers exchange rate. It is one of the best exchange rate that you will ever get and could normally onbly be beaten by interbanks exchange rate.

PNEfan wrote: »

On visiting Abbey / Santander today was advised to switch my current account to a new Santander Zero current account (done v quickly in the branch) as this enables me to use my existing Abbey / Santander Visa Debit card to withdraw cash free of any charges from machines abroad. To qualify you need to have an Abbey mortgage, and at least £1000 going into your account per month. It pays interest too.

Sounds great, but what I'd really like to know is how competitive their exchange rates are - can't seem to find that info on their website.