Debit Card transactions abroad

princejim

OK I know this thread says credit cards but here goes, I have sorted out my credit card for use in Canada, the Yukon to be precise, using Santander o% uses card. But I was shocked to learn that if I used my A & L debit card I would have a transaction charge? Does anyone know if you can get a debit card with 0% usage?

td_007

princejim wrote: »

OK I know this thread says credit cards but here goes, I have sorted out my credit card for use in Canada, the Yukon to be precise, using Santander o% uses card. But I was shocked to learn that if I used my A & L debit card I would have a transaction charge? Does anyone know if you can get a debit card with 0% usage?

Nationwide debit card has no foreign usage charge - it has the Visa 0.84% charge which is tiny compared to approx 2.75% that other debit cards impose.

Toe-Jam

Coventry BS beats all those currency cards Fairfx , Caxton when you use your debit card. They advertise they charge 2%, but it is still cheaper !

Nationwide charge 1% outside of Europe, and it is difficult to get a debit card from them, and their customer service is appalling.

chattychappy

td_007 wrote: »

Nationwide debit card has no foreign usage charge - it has the Visa 0.84% charge

I call that a foreign usage charge of 0.84%, though they market it otherwise.

callum9999

Toe-Jam wrote: »

Coventry BS beats all those currency cards Fairfx , Caxton when you use your debit card. They advertise they charge 2%, but it is still cheaper !

Nationwide charge 1% outside of Europe, and it is difficult to get a debit card from them, and their customer service is appalling.

Coventary BS doesn't seem to provide a currency card? I can't see it on their website anyway. What is that 2% for? I have a Fairfx card and I'm not charged any commission when I load or use it (except for cash withdrawals I think).

Is it really difficult to get a Nationwide debit card? I got one back in June with a £100 a month job with no hassle whatsoever (I have had a childrens account since the age of about 7 though - maybe that helps?).

While we are on the subject, why would a bank not want to give you a debit card? Surely if they give you the card with an account without an overdraft, they have nothing to lose? I've had debit cards since the age of 13.

Toe-Jam

callum9999 wrote: »

Coventary BS doesn't seem to provide a currency card? I can't see it on their website anyway. What is that 2% for? I have a Fairfx card and I'm not charged any commission when I load or use it (except for cash withdrawals I think).

Is it really difficult to get a Nationwide debit card? I got one back in June with a £100 a month job with no hassle whatsoever (I have had a childrens account since the age of about 7 though - maybe that helps?).

While we are on the subject, why would a bank not want to give you a debit card? Surely if they give you the card with an account without an overdraft, they have nothing to lose? I've had debit cards since the age of 13.

Sorry the Coventry Card is for an actual account, Its not a prepaid card.

FairFX dont advertise any foreign transaction fees, because they charge you them before you leave i.e when you load the card, so they are technically not foreign. I have a Fairfx card also. It is cheaper if you plan on never using the ATM

for example...based on todays exchange rates

VISA WHOLESALE RATE IS :- 150 EUR = 133.960 GBP
so if you load 150 EUR to your fairfx card it cost s you 136.05 GBP so you can see your paying the fee on loading rather on spending.

Same amount on Caxton FX card is 136.49 GBP a few pence more, but free atm usage.

Coventry BS use visa wholesale rate + 2% so that would be 136.63 a whopping 14p more. :-)

The only thing is that the with the prepaid cards your guarenteed the rate, it won't change til you run out of money.

Keeping it in your account means it goes up and down. But much handier to change it back, and you won't lose out even more converting it back to sterling.

There is also a slight difference in exchange rates between visa and mastercard, visa is usually cheaper.

Today
Visa 1 EUR = 0.893068
MasterCard 1 EUR = 0.893867

Innocent_Guy

Taken from http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm

Third party charges
Nationwide continues to offer "commission-free" foreign transactions.
"Commission-free" means that we do not add any additional charges for exchanging currency which are designed to generate profit for the Society. We do, however, pass on any fee we incur from our card scheme providers for processing transactions in certain currencies (generally those outside of the European Economic Area and Turkey and Israel) other than sterling.
The fee is currently 1.00% and it will be included in the sterling amount shown on your statement.
The list below provides details of the countries for which a fee is charged. To check if you will be charged, please search for the country you are visiting by using the A-Z list. Unless stated otherwise a fee will be charged.
If you have any other questions regarding these charges, please phone 08457 30 20 10 or talk to an advisor at one of our branches.