Halifax Clarity cc withdrawing cash abroad question!

english_bass

Hi everyone,

I've just received my first credit card - a Halifax Clarity.

The main reason I got it was for the free cash withdrawal abroad perk, as I am spending a couple of months in Asia from next week.

As I've never had a cc I'm a little confused! If I'm abroad in say Vietnam, and use a bank ATM to withdraw £200 equivalent, will I not have to pay any charges/interest on that as long as I pay it back before the end of the month?

Same question for UK ATMs too. As long as I pay off the card at the end of the month, are there ANY charges/interest I will have to pay? Or will it be purely what I withdraw/spend.

Thanks, sorry I'm new to credit cards!

Thanks

Jim

CLAPTON

yes you pay interest from the day you withdraw cash to the day you repay

english_bass

CLAPTON wrote: »

yes you pay interest from the day you withdraw cash to the day you repay

Booooo. That's rubbish. Though can the repayment system be set up so it instantly repays the money from my current account, to avoid any interest?

My main bank account is also with Halifax so I'd hope this would be easy to set up if possible.

lisyloo

Booooo. That's rubbish

Actually it's one of the best deals around.

Though can the repayment system be set up so it instantly repays the money from my current account, to avoid any interest?

Yes, but it's not straightforward.
If you know when and how much you can set up BACS transfers in your on-line banking in advance.
The problem is you might not know when and how/much and if you put your account into credit then that's in breach of terms and conditions and MAY cause problems (like getting your card stopped).

You could call/text someone at home if you have someone you trust to operate your on-line banking especially if you have a joint account with joint access.

The other alternative is to make banking payments over the internet whilst abroad.
I have been told this isn't safe and there has been some discussion about whether this is safe or not, but after a combined 40 years+ in IT in my household, our choice is not to connect to banking sites from foreign internet cafes or wi-fi OR to spend lots of time searching for internet cafes whilst on holiday.

If you are only going for a couple of weeks, my advice is to pay it back as soon as your get home.
I took out £1200 in Egypt and it cost me less than £4 which is tiny in the context of my holiday (I spent about £12 on wifi but didn't connect to banking sites).

CLAPTON

english_bass wrote: »

Booooo. That's rubbish. Though can the repayment system be set up so it instantly repays the money from my current account, to avoid any interest?

My main bank account is also with Halifax so I'd hope this would be easy to set up if possible.

on £200 at say 15%
then thats £200 x 15% /365 = just over 8p per day interest
maths is wonderful

english_bass

CLAPTON wrote: »

on £200 at say 15%
then thats £200 x 15% /365 = just over 8p per day interest
maths is wonderful

Good work. Thank you

ironlady2022

You can always ask a relative to pay it in cash for you over the counter so long as they have details or a giro slip. It is the best credit card for overseas use. You get a perfect exchange rate if you swipe it at the shops or use it in restaurants. If you are with a group of friends, you can use it to pay the whole restaurant bill and take their cash, then you can avoid drawing cash. This is my method os using the card.

chattychappy

english_bass wrote: »

If I'm abroad in say Vietnam, and use a bank ATM to withdraw £200 equivalent

Funny you say that. I'm in Saigon now.

Just to let you know, that most ATMs here charge 1% (or similar). Some just don't seem to work at all. If you're in Saigon, a good place to go is the HSBC by the Cathedral. Walk down Dong Khoi (with the Cathedral entrance behind you). You will see the Metropolitan Building - in the front is the "Coffee Bean" coffee shop and on the side to your right as you continue down Dong Khoi is HSBC. The ATM sign has disappeared and you might not even notice it's an HSBC, but go in the entrance and you will see several HSBC machines. Key thing is they are inside - more secure than being outside. There is always a security bloke nearby.

Be very careful with the currency - it's easy to get the zeros muddled up and attempt to withdraw too much or too little. Roughly VND3,000,000 is £100. It will tell you that VND3,030,000 will be charged.

Nothing to add to the comments above, except that following a recent thread there is a question mark in my mind as to whether Clarity really is loading free. Clarity is always being recommended, but not many posters have reported doing real tests by reference to exchange rates or side-by-side comparisons. I use Zero for cash, Post Office for purchases and other cards (eg NW Gold visa) for backups. You must have backups. These cards certainly do what they say on the tin. PO/Zero - no loading. Zero free for cash, but charge interest (like Clarity, though higher - but irrelevant if you pay quickly). Nationwide Debit really did used to be 0%, then 1%. Not used it since it went up to 2% + £1. NW Gold Visa really is 1%. I've tested all this myself.

Two further points about Vietnam. It is quite common for places that accept credit card to insist you pay extra to do so. Often 3 or 4% extra. This is particularly true of hotels (except the very posh ones). They do not feel any need to tell you in advance, despite displaying visa/mastercard logos.

You can change GBP cash directly into VND. No need to go via USD. Pretty much everything is priced in VND except hotel rooms. Generally where a price is in USD, you can pay the VND equivalent and they won't cheat you.

Proper money changing places don't charge commissions and give a very good rate - VN is still a cash economy and people are changing money all the time (and changing to gold). So you might want to consider taking some GBP cash (clean 50s or 20s). There is a very reliable and honest exchange place further down Dong Khoi. Corner of Nguyen Thiep, opposite Gloria Jeans Coffee. You offer the cash, they show you the amount on a calculator (so no language issue), you agree and they count it out. It's always a fixed rate. The rate is generally slightly better than the bank rate. I was there today! Notes torn or written on are not generally accepted in Vietnam, whether foreign or local.

Plenty of free WiFi in Vietnam. Absolutely no security issues if you use your own laptop other than those you'd face back home. I've been here every year since 1997 and used internet here since 2000 as have a number of my expat friends. I'd say it's risky if you're not checking your accounts. Only issue is speed, internet can be slow here. Be wary of using public computers (I would assume all are infected with keyloggers etc., so think carefully about what you're typing. The reality is that most are not infected, of course and these days bank sites increasingly have measures to defeat such malware.)

Do not use your credit card somewhere where they use a manual imprinter (sorry sir PDQ broken, power cut etc). If you must, then be absolutely sure the card is only run through once, you strike through all blank areas around the amount and you keep your top copy until you get your statement. A mate of mine lost US$900 when $30 magically became US$930. He didn't keep the top copy. His CC provided the bank copy - a 9 had been added but they wouldn't believe him without evidence.

Final money saving tip (not CC related)! Assuming you're a UK citizen, you need a visa. Normal price from the London embassy - £38. Takes a week. Better to go to http://www.hotels-in-vietnam.com/hotels/Travel_Vietnam/vietnam-visa.html. (Others are available, but I know this one is OK.) US$14 (they add 3% for CC!) for an approval letter. All done by email. US$25 on entry at the airport (ideally you really do need US$ for this because you won't have had an opportunity to get VND yet). Total cost US$39.42. About £25.50. Much easier and quicker. The approval letter is sufficient for airlines at check-in.

If you plan to go in and out of VN (eg side trip to Cambodia/Laos etc) then pay extra for a multiple entry. Less hassle than getting an entry added here.

english_bass

lisyloo wrote: »

Yes, but it's not straightforward.
If you know when and how much you can set up BACS transfers in your on-line banking in advance.

I will have my laptop and regular internet access hopefully, so paying off the CC bill on the day or day after is certainly an option? I have never had a credit card before so I'm really a complete newbie in how they work. Since I'm going to be spending a few months over seas it felt the right time to get this one.

If you are with a group of friends, you can use it to pay the whole restaurant bill and take their cash, then you can avoid drawing cash. This is my method os using the card.

Excellent tip. Thanks.

Funny you say that. I'm in Saigon now.

Great! Thanks for the information. I will be in Vietnam in a few weeks (starting off in Thailand - doing the Thai, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam run). I may send you a PM on the subject if you don't mind rather than filling up this thread.

I will be using the card to pay for goods and services (not street vendors or budget hotels) and to withdraw cash.

lisyloo

Absolutely no security issues if you use your own laptop other than those you'd face back home.

Can someone cover off spoof access points please?
(We covered off encryption).
I am told it's not safe because of the possibility of spoof access points.

I will have my laptop and regular internet access hopefully, so paying off the CC bill on the day or day after is certainly an option?

Yes if you're willing to risk it.
I'm told by IT professionals it's not safe.
I'm mean using wifi with your own computer, or shared computers in internet cafes.
There is some disagreement about this.
We covered off hacking before but spoof access points is another issue.
Personally I wouldn't, but others on here would, so that's a choice you have to make.

If you want to be safe, then give your lender a call and ask then if you use hotel wifi (or whatever the scaneario is) and afterwards yoru account is used fradulently, then would they cover you. They sill surely tell you whether they consider that safe or unsafe.

If you do actually have the money then you could ask a friend/relative/colleague to do it for you.
There a perfectly legal ways to do this.
But you really have to ask yourself how much hassle you want for a few quid.
Do you want to entrust your money to a colleague to save £3.
Do you want to pay £10 for internet access to save £3.
Do you want to continually interrupt your holiday and relaxation for £3.
Another answer is simply to just forget it, pay when you get bakc and pay the £3.
I know the instinct is to want it as cheap as possible but you have to ask yourself are you going over the top to save a tiny amount.

chattychappy

lisyloo wrote: »

If you want to be safe, then give your lender a call and ask then if you use hotel wifi (or whatever the scaneario is) and afterwards yoru account is used fradulently, then would they cover you. They sill surely tell you whether they consider that safe or unsafe.

No call centre op is going to give you a direct and documented answer to that. And are you going to phone everytime you switch networks?

You've mentioned IT professionals before. Actually software engineering was my first degree before going into financial regulation/compliance/financial crime. I consider myself as professional as anyone in this area. Plus I have the personal experience of living off public wifi networks for a few years now. As for spoof access points - well spoof or not, if you have an encrypted connection via your browser to your bank then the routing should be immaterial.

Yep if Wifi costs, the OP has to factor that in too. The OP mentioned Vietnam. Free Wifi is widespread here.

No bank/financial institution has so far advised people NOT to use public wifi. So the legal position is this: they are liable for a fraudulent transaction (that's in the lending code which they've all signed up to). To put the liability back to on the cardholder they have to prove GROSS NEGLIGENCE or fraud. That is a tough hurdle - it's not even just negligence. Given the widespread use of WiFi, it is not negligent for people to use it as a means to conduct online banking.

For your ref (from lending code):
112. Unless the subscriber can show that the customer acted fraudulently or with gross negligence, their liability for their credit card being misused will be limited as follows:
...
o If someone else uses the card details without the customer’s permission for a transaction where the cardholder does not need to be present (for example, buying something over the internet), the customer will not have to pay anything;