Say no to Nationwide cards for travel

irishkev

Although Nationwide are widely reported as a great card to carry when you travel due to the savings you can potentially make on cash machine fees, what they don't tell you is that if your cards are lost or stolen when you're abroad there is absolutely nothing they can do to help you.

I'm a journalist currently on a journey around the world. My cards were stolen on the second week of my trip. I was lucky as A friend was able to bring replacement cards out to me in the US.

When I contacted Nationwide I was told that they could not send the cards to me or allow me to get a cash advance at a bank abroad.

I also found that recently Nationwide have prevented me from transferring money from my account to another bank account which already had a previous connection with my Nationwide Flexaccount.

I contacted them regarding this and was told that although I could previously transfer cash between these accounts I now had to use a card reader, which I haven't brought with me as I had been able to make transfers between these accounts without the additional security measures previously.

I intend closing all of my accounts with them on my return to the UK. But please take this as a warning. I was lucky that I was carrying other cards. If I had only had my nationwide cards I would have been in a right mess.:eek:

pilates39

One lesson to be learned from this story - take your card reader with you - never travel without mine.

EycplUK

irishkev wrote: »

Although Nationwide are widely reported as a great card to carry when you travel due to the savings you can potentially make on cash machine fees, what they don't tell you is that if your cards are lost or stolen when you're abroad there is absolutely nothing they can do to help you.

I'm a journalist currently on a journey around the world. My cards were stolen on the second week of my trip. I was lucky as A friend was able to bring replacement cards out to me in the US.

When I contacted Nationwide I was told that they could not send the cards to me or allow me to get a cash advance at a bank abroad.

I also found that recently Nationwide have prevented me from transferring money from my account to another bank account which already had a previous connection with my Nationwide Flexaccount.

I contacted them regarding this and was told that although I could previously transfer cash between these accounts I now had to use a card reader, which I haven't brought with me as I had been able to make transfers between these accounts without the additional security measures previously.

I intend closing all of my accounts with them on my return to the UK. But please take this as a warning. I was lucky that I was carrying other cards. If I had only had my nationwide cards I would have been in a right mess.:eek:

So you got robbed of your cards and they stopped anyone else using them ?
You did not take a card reader with you , No cards so what use would a reader have been ?
They would not send you a replacement card ? while you are abroad ??
And you want to close all your A/c`s with them ?
I say , Well Done Nationwide ! they take all the steps to make sure your a/c was not compromised and you moan about them !
Maybe you will be better served at the Spanish outfit !

withabix

I hope you are a better journalist than you are at managing yourself.

Get an Amex card.

cubegame

Perhaps if you didn't lose your card in the first place?

alanrowell

So if you don't use Nationwide, who do you use? Which banks will post a card to you in some far flung corner of the world?

moonrakerz

irishkev wrote: »

I'm a journalist currently on a journey around the world.

I thought all journalists had big fat expense accounts - so why bother with a card that is meant for us "cheapskates" who have to pay for things out of own pockets ?

Apart from which, I think they did exactly what I would expect them to do in those circumstances !

wwwd

I've been more than happy with my Nationwide cards for use abroad and would recommend them to anyone.

If you're not happy with Nationwide then you're going to get a shock with all the other banks.

Mr_Lahey

I say this time and time again, the Caxton card is the best travel card.

Better than Natwest, better than FairFx and better even than Amex.

photome

Mr_Lahey wrote: »

I say this time and time again, the Caxton card is the best travel card.

Better than Natwest, better than FairFx and better even than Amex.

Is the exchange rate locked in at time of purchase? If it is then this card could be the best but on the other hand it could be expensive

Mr_Lahey

photome wrote: »

Is the exchange rate locked in at time of purchase? If it is then this card could be the best but on the other hand it could be expensive

Yes it is, but there are no other fees, and generally the rate is as close to XE as you can get.