Santander Zero Cash Withdrawals

twitch1979

Hi All

I am thinking of getting a Santander Zero card for spending when abroad.

I currently use a post office credit card for purchases and my nationwide card for taking out cash but looking for a new solution since nationwide now have a fee outside of Europe.

My question is, if I load cash via net banking onto the zero card so it is in credit, when I take out cash, do I get charged any fees ?

I read in martin's guide there is a 27.9 % cash withdrawal interest rate but is that waived when you load money onto the card ?

Thanking all in advance for their help.

Thanks

simon_templar_2

You cant load money onto the card. The T&C's state you cannot do this, even if you are actually able to do so you wont be able to use that money as they will put a block on it. I see your way of thinking as a tactic but they have closed that avenue down.

twitch1979

simon_templar wrote: »

You cant load money onto the card. The T&C's state you cannot do this, even if you are actually able to do so you wont be able to use that money as they will put a block on it. I see your way of thinking as a tactic but they have closed that avenue down.

That is a pain, so basically there is no "free" way to withdraw cash from a current account or credit card when outside of Europe then ?

So it looks like paying Nationwide 1% is the cheapest option ?

I don't want to touch pre paid cards if possible as I know the rates aren't great such as the travelex one and involves planning ahead what need to be loaded which I am not so good at ;-).

speedbird1973

There's nothing to stop you withdrawing the cash and making a payment to clear it straight away. You'll may a tiny bit of interest, but that's all.This is assuming your card is clear to begin with.

dzug1

Cumberland Building Society offer a debit card that doesn't charge.

You have to live in their branch area to open an account though. Roughly stretches from Preston to Dumfries west of the Pennines.#

The caxton fx and fairfx cards have better rates than the travelex one - but still don't work out free.

lisyloo

There's nothing to stop you withdrawing the cash and making a payment to clear it straight away.

Assuming you have internet/phone access which is a big assumption.

Internet/phone charges can be high in hotels andcruise ships are extortionate (e.g. £6 per minute via satellite) and do you really want this hassle when you are on holiday?
I don't want to spend my holiday time, chceking out the prices of internet cafes.

1% from nationwide seems very reasonable to me.

speedbird1973

lisyloo wrote: »

Assuming you have internet/phone access which is a big assumption.

Internet/phone charges can be high in hotels andcruise ships are extortionate (e.g. £6 per minute via satellite) and do you really want this hassle when you are on holiday?
I don't want to spend my holiday time, chceking out the prices of internet cafes.

1% from nationwide seems very reasonable to me.

I agree lisa, 1% or 3% makes no odds to me personally, however the OP wanted the cheapest way to withdraw funds abroad. Which would be a Santander Zero card and quick repayment (many hotels have free internet or in my case i'll pay for the internet anyway even if it isn't free).

So what ware your thoughts on the actual question asked lisa?

lisyloo

So what ware your thoughts on the actual question asked lisa?

Well I certainly wouldn't pre load.
Apart from it being stopped in this case, I am continually reminding people that card companies do not insure credit balances (they only insure their losses), so any fraud or theft results in loss of money.

I have been abroad many times myself where I've found it expensive/difficult or even impossible to access the internet.
Sea cruises are extortionate as it's done by satellite and you quite often have to purchase a large package of internet minutes, you can't just buy a few, so min would be say $50.

I would personally go for Nationwide.
I don't know where the OP is going, but my own personal experiences of travel are that the expense of mobile calls or internet, can easily exceed that 1%.
Of course if they know they have free internet included or know in advance the charges that they will be paying, then that would be a different matter, but I tink it would be a mistake to assume the costs are negligeable.

Many hotels for example charge for 24 hours, so you can't just buy 5 minutes.

Perhaps others have different experiences or do other types of travel, but I've only been one place where it's been easy and cheap (hilton, recyjavik), everywhere else has been greater than Nationwide charges.

Of course if they can set up a payment in advance to go on a particular day that might be a solution, but that's not how my credit cards get paid.

chattychappy

Actually the OP didn't say he was going on holiday.

But anyway it depends where he's going - all we know is it's outside Europe. I spend alot of time in Asia and there is no shortage of free WiFi - cafes, hotels etc. I have never had a problem getting internet access free and depend on it.

Even if the OP has to pay for net access, he might be going online anyway - eg to check emails, update facebook pages etc.

I think it's no bad thing to go online from time to time to keep an eye open for fraud etc.

Provided the OP pays Zero within about 2 weeks, he should make a saving over Nationwide.

The only downside I can think of is that sometimes it "looks bad" on your credit record if you are taking cash advances.

lisyloo

But anyway it depends where he's going

I totally agree it depends.
I was just making the point not to make the assumption that it's cheaply and easily available. There can be costs (both internet and travel), risks (dodgy areas) and hassle (from persistant natives or just the time factor).
For example Nile cruises IME don't offer internet access on the boats. Getting to an internet cafe is possible but you'd probably have to miss out one of the trips of a lifetime to pay bills (you might also need to go to some dodgy areas that you don't know) so I guess that depends on your priorities, but most people wouldn't want to forgoe a fantastic trip to pay bills.
I was expecting to use it on a cruise ship recently (QM2 - cunard) but because of the high cost and large bundles we decided not to use the internet or make calls (as did most people).
Same when we went to New York, you had to buy it by the day in the hotel (crowne plaza). Of course we could have found an internet cafe in NY, but what you rather do? Trip of a lifetime sightseeing? or find somewhere to pay your bills?
On cruise ships you have very limited time in each port (hours) and travellling often takes time.
In some places we would need a taxi to get into town e.g. Iceland in the snow, in other destinations the hassle factor was intolerable e.g. Tunisia.

As you say, depends entirely on where he/she is going and what they are doing.
If you are on business or living somewhere it's not the same as being on a holiday when it might be the only chance in your life to see the place.
If you have free internet access at your desk everyday, then yes I agree, pay it off ASAP and pay the small interest.
However you also need to be aware of the order of allocation of payments if you are using the card for other things e.g. if you have interest free purchases, the majority of card companies would allocate your payments to the free or cheapest items first before clearing the more expensive cash advance, so be aware you might need to clear your WHOLE balance to be safe.
I am saying that as a general point without any specific info about this particular card.

twitch1979

Thanks for all your replies.

I will be going to Australia in January and also stopping off in either KL or Seoul so this is my immediate plan.

I like to sound of the Cumberland building society account that was suggested but live in London so assume I won’t be eligible.

As I haven’t travelled outside of Europe since Nationwide have started charging the 1% fee I was looking for a more cost effective solution for any future trips. I probably travel to counties outside of Europe 2-3 time per year.

Although I will normally have internet access in most places I go I wouldn’t want to have to rely on getting online to clear any cash advance from my credit card but if this works out best will look into it.

How does Santander calculate interest of cash advances? If I take out £100 (or foreign equivalent) today and say can’t get online to Thursday, how much interest do I pay and how can I work this out?

Also, I know sometimes credit card transactions can take up to 2-3 days to show online, is it the same with Cash Advances? As you can’t pre load the credit card, do you have to wait for the transaction to show before you can clear it?

Someone also mentioned that lots of cash advance can effect your credit rating, has anyone had any experience with this point?