Barclays Currency Charges

saloio

I recently bought two lots of foreign currency from my local Post Office and paid using my Connect card.
When I got my bank statement £4.50 had been added to each transaction. When I rang Barclays they said that this was their fee because I had bought foreign currency. I pointed out that the currency was bought from a third party and not them and in my view this purchase should be dealt with in the same way as any other. After speaking to a manager one fee was refunded.
Can they really make this charge? What could be their justification?

dzug1

Yes they can - most but not all visa debit cards do the same. You are lucky to have got a refund.

It's on the lines of a cash advance fee - you have withdrawn cash from other than an acceptable ATM, and you can be charged for it.

The PO should have warned you that you MIGHT be charged.

peterbaker

Well I have learned something.

Of course there is no justification for this charge whatsoever if the OP paid in GBP, and what's more, The Post Office has some kind of partnership with the main banks including Barclays does it not? Having pitched up with no cash I got directed to the Post Office by a village shop last month to draw out cash on my Connect Card via their counter CHIP & PIN. Worked a treat and I got a smile too! Does that mean I need to check my Barclays bank statement for Cash Advance charges?

What a flippin' world, eh? Whose cash is it anyway? :mad:

Edit: Well this is what MY statement said:

11/06/2010 Cash Withdrawal -£100.00 £X,XXX.XX
POST OFFICE
WHEREVER
11JUN 11:12 ATM

So that means I was not charged like the OP. Lucky me. It was a CHIP & PIN counter transaction at the Post Office, but shows on my Barclays statement as ATM. If the OP paid in GBP then I fail to see what business it is of Barclays what the money was used for afterwards i.e. foreign currency purchase. Must've been processed in some less than ideal way at the OP's Post Office, surely?.

dzug1

peterbaker wrote: »

Well I have learned something.

Of course there is no justification for this charge whatsoever if the OP paid in GBP, and what's more, The Post Office has some kind of partnership with the main banks including Barclays does it not? Having pitched up with no cash I got directed to the Post Office by a village shop last month to draw out cash on my Connect Card via their counter CHIP & PIN. Worked a treat and I got a smile too! Does that mean I need to check my Barclays bank statement for Cash Advance charges?

What a flippin' world, eh? Whose cash is it anyway? :mad:

Edit: Well this is what MY statement said:

11/06/2010 Cash Withdrawal -£100.00 £X,XXX.XX
POST OFFICE
WHEREVER
11JUN 11:12 ATM

So that means I was not charged like the OP. Lucky me. It was a CHIP & PIN counter transaction at the Post Office, but shows on my Barclays statement as ATM. If the OP paid in GBP then I fail to see what business it is of Barclays what the money was used for afterwards i.e. foreign currency purchase. Must've been processed in some less than ideal way at the OP's Post Office, surely?.

There is a difference - and I'm not saying it's 'justified' other than by being in the T&C. But it is so.

You took GB cash under an arrangement between the PO and Barclays. Barclays won't charge you, nor will the PO

OP 'bought' foreign cash. The PO won't charge him (other than through the exchange rate), but Barclays will - as will many other banks.

It would have been better to withdraw GB cash through the C&P device and hand it over the counter - though I suspect from the fee it would have been above the daily limit for cash withdrawal.

This issue should be better known - it crops up here, usually from a puzzled newbie - every few weeks.

peterbaker

dzug1 wrote: »

There is a difference - and I'm not saying it's 'justified' other than by being in the T&C. But it is so.

Noted.

This issue should be better known - it crops up here, usually from a puzzled newbie - every few weeks.

Well I am no puzzled newbie, just a principled oldie. This issue should be stamped on because it is completely unfair on the customer. <---PERIOD

spiro

If you buy foreign currency from the kiosks in Tescos they always warn you that you may incur a charge at your bank.

peterbaker

... And how daft is that? Why's it got anything to do with your bank to know what you have drawn out the cash for? We all know that the supermarkets actually get incentivised (paid) by the banks to offer cashback on Debit Cards at every opportunity, so why when you effectively are just spending that same cash on something else at the supermarket which happens to be foreign currency does the bank think it needs a fee??

It is plain stupid for the industry to have its knickers blowing in the wind like that.

Mikeyorks

peterbaker wrote: »

.. so why when you effectively are just spending that same cash on something else at the supermarket which happens to be foreign currency does the bank think it needs a fee??

From the 'holiday money / foreign currency' article on the Main site :-

Beware when paying on credit OR debit cards!
Sadly, buying currency from a bureau de change in the UK on a credit or debit card isn’t always treated as a UK transaction. All credit cards and some debit cards charge an additional fee on top of what you pay the bureau de change. See a full list of cards that charge.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#picker (50% down this article - as embedded link not enabled outside article)

saloio

So now I know. Thanks everyone -once bitten twice shy!

MrsManda

Last time I bought currency from a change de bureau (think it was in Going Places) they actually told me to pay with cash as it'd make sure I wouldn't incur charges so I popped to the ATM next door whilst they sorted out the currency for me.

photome

peterbaker wrote: »

... And how daft is that? Why's it got anything to do with your bank to know what you have drawn out the cash for? We all know that the supermarkets actually get incentivised (paid) by the banks to offer cashback on Debit Cards at every opportunity, so why when you effectively are just spending that same cash on something else at the supermarket which happens to be foreign currency does the bank think it needs a fee??

It is plain stupid for the industry to have its knickers blowing in the wind like that.

You are missing the point

You did withdraw cash and your bank didnt charge you and didnt know what you had drawn the cash for.

The OP didnt withdraw cash, he purchased foreign currency or a "cash advance" totally different thing and there are warnings everwhere that you may be charged not least on thi site in the travlemoney section


Do supermarkets get paid for giving cashback?, I though it was to save on cash counting charges