Nationwide Flex Account - what exchange rate do they use?

DaftMule

So it seem that opening the Nationwide Flex Account and using the debit card to withdraw money abroad is one of the best ways of getting travel money.

My question is, what exchange rate will be used by Nationwide when they convert the £ in my account to the Euros that come out of the cash machine? The Nationwide website seems to indicate it will be converted using the current "wholesale" exchange rate. If that is the case then this card/account seems to be a no brainer! As I write, the Post Office will give me a cash exchange rate of about 1.19 Euro / £. The wholesale rate is around 1.23 Euro / £. 4 cents extra...not much but over a few hundred quid, it adds up

can anyone confirm my interpretation is correct?

Pelican_eats_pigeon

Yes, they will be using the Visa rate, which today is 1.235. Indeed a no-brainer in most circumstances!

JodyD

Nationwide actually use travelex's rates, I spoke with them today regarding this, the rate today is about 1.19 ish

Donnie

JodyD wrote: »

Nationwide actually use travelex's rates, I spoke with them today regarding this, the rate today is about 1.19 ish

Nonsense.... please desist.

kuczer2

Donnie wrote: »

Nonsense.... please desist.

My thoughts exactly. Why would the poster want to lie like that?

The official line is

If you carry out a transaction using your card in a currency other than sterling, it will be converted to sterling on the day the transaction is processed by our card scheme providers at a wholesale rate of exchange, which may vary daily. For an indication of that exchange rate, you can see the Visa wholesale rate of exchange at www.visaeurope.com/fxcalculator. This is an "indication" because transactions are processed when the retailer passes them on to the scheme provider, which is generally not on the same day the transaction took place.

Taken from the Nationwide site - http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm

DaftMule

Phew...If we were only getting 1.19 Euro to the £, that doesn't make it much more useful than taking cash. The only benefit is not being charged for withdrawals from cash machines.

photome

JodyD wrote: »

Nationwide actually use travelex's rates, I spoke with them today regarding this, the rate today is about 1.19 ish

Are you going to explain why you have posted such nonsense?

Edit

Had a thought , do you mean buying cash over the counter rather than withdrawing from a foreign ATM

kuczer2

photome wrote: »

Are you going to explain why you have posted such nonsense?

Edit

Had a thought , do you mean buying cash over the counter rather than withdrawing from a foreign ATM

All is forgiven if that was the case. Although, reading the original post whilst awake would have avoided such a mix up, I would have thought.