Santander Zero question

zebedy

Hi, I've applied for the Santander Zero card (for foreign use) and been accepted, just waiting for it to arrive.

Can someone confirm for me that there are no charges whatsoever if I use it to withdraw money from an ATM whilst abroad (so no cash withdrawal fee as well as no loading charge). However, I understand it will charge a vast rate of interest on the withdrawal from the day i withdraw (even if I have a direct debit set up to pay off the card in full every month).

if all that is correct, then I was wondering if i could get round this interest charge by making sure I had a positive balance on the card before going abroad and only withdrawing an amount less than that positive balance? Surely they couldn't charge interest if the money I was withdrawing was already in the account?

Usually I use the nationwide debit card to withdraw money whilst abroad but outside EU there is now a 0.84% Visa fee, so I was hoping to still find a way to do it with no charges.

NickX

zebedy wrote: »

I was wondering if i could get round this interest charge by making sure I had a positive balance on the card before going abroad and only withdrawing an amount less than that positive balance? Surely they couldn't charge interest if the money I was withdrawing was already in the account?

You are correct here in that your proposal would avoid the Santander Zero interest charges on cash withdrawals. However, I seem to recall that the revised Terms and Conditions on this card prohibited the account from going into positive balance and that they may freeze the account under such circumstances so you may run into trouble by doing this.

Personally I think you are safer paying the 0.84% with Nationwide. In comparison to other cards this still offers an excellent saving on foreign currency transactions and remember no charge is levied for most European countries.

DesG

From anecdotal evidence, it seems that Abbey and Post Office have a hidden 1% loading on their exchange rate.

So you are better off with Nationwide even outside Europe.

Cheers, Des.

simon_templar_2

You cannot 'preload' the card.

djm1972

DesG wrote: »

From anecdotal evidence, it seems that Abbey and Post Office have a hidden 1% loading on their exchange rate.

So you are better off with Nationwide even outside Europe.

Cheers, Des.

Exactly. I'm a cynical sod and when I first saw the advert for the "zero" card my immediate thought was; "Yes - but what is your exchange rate...."

zebedy

Thanks all, looks like I'll stick with Nationwide for abroad use then and just keep the Abbey Zero as a back up

chattychappy

The earlier thread didn't match my experience. I spend more time in the far east than I do in the UK these days.I always used to use Nationwide and I'd periodically check the rate I got with https://www.oanda.com (it has historical rates that are easily accessible). On average the rate I got was very close to the "mid" rate shown, but could be above or below.

I switched to Abbey Zero and started using it overseas in April. I find I get pretty much the same spread of rates as I used to with Nationwide before they introduced the non-Europe 0.84% loading.

So I would go with Abbey (now Santander) Zero.

Bear in mind the rate you get is the date it goes through, not the date of transaction. This makes comparisons tricky as it's not always clear when a transaction is processed - though usually it's the same day.

Peeky

Zebedy - How long did it take to find out if you had been accepted? I applied on Friday and no news yet.

zebedy

I applied some time last week. Can't remember what day and I received a letter in the post on Saturday with the credit agreement for me to sign.
So I heard within a week.

good luck

Peeky

I just phoned but apparently no status yet. I get the feeling i have left it to late. I am off to the USA a week on Tuesday and i am not certain it will arrive in time

chattychappy

Another couple of points:

1) Do take the PIN even if you don't intend using it in ATMs. It's becoming common for chip&pin enabled merchants to be required to ask for the PIN even if it's not been rolled out domestically. In some cases this causes confusion as retailers have never seen this before. (Also difficult if the machine has been screwed down behind a glass barrier!)

2) If you're to be away for a while, apply for the online facility as soon as you get the card. They send something through the post and it takes a little while. I didn't get the activation details in time, so had to periodically ring them up to check balances / repayment amounts. A bit of a pain.

I've never actually used it in an ATM (except to change the PIN), BTW.