Cheaper cash abroad

DoctorAndy

I want to convert about £5000 into euros to pay for wedding photographers etc in October this year. Which is the most cost effective way of doing it without having to walk onto flights from the UK with vast wads of cash in you r bag?

lisyloo

Travellers cheques?

Degenerate

It depends on a how much time you have and how many different financial products you are willing/able to obtain.

If you had a Halifax Clarity credit card, A Santander Zero credit card, a Santander Zero current account debit card, a Norwich & Peterborough debit card and a Metro Bank debit card, you could stand at a foreign ATM and withdraw up to £1700 of the local currency a day without any exchange rate loadings or fees. This is the cheapest forex you will ever get.

OTOH, there are more straightforward ways that you may prefer. As Lisyloo pointed out, travellers cheques are one option, but they do have fees. A fee of 1% (for example) on £5K amounts to £50. You may consider the fees worth it to save hassle.

Doitin

Santander zero has a £300 per day max. cash withdrawal. Interest is 27.95 APR which works out at around 0.77% per day. Even making daily bank transfer to clear card balance would cost around 44p per day since it looks like it takes at least 2 days to allocate payment to card balance. Some foreign ATM machines will still charge a usage fee regardless!
What you may save by paying cash could be outweighed by transaction fees! Direct bank transfer is an option, costs often per transaction rather than % cost from most banks. Some use Bank of England spot rate which is at least fair, others use their own internal rate, which isn't always fair or transparent to you.

lisyloo

A fee of 1% (for example) on £5K amounts to £50. You may consider the fees worth it to save hassle.

True, but carrying cash is not very safe.
An electronic transfer is likely to have commission of circa 2.75% built into the exchange rate.

[Deleted User]

Santander Zero card works well for cash from foreign ATMs provided you log all your holiday charges and credit your card QUICKLY. Do not wait for the statement and direct debit payment or you will pay interest.
If you will only use it for holidays, as I do. then beware the 'DORMANCY CHARGE' after 6 months.

Sonay

Beware All "Mastercard" Credit Cards, even Halifax Clarity, they take extra commision at ATM exchanges. Upto 5% extra
"Visa" Debit cards is your best option if you are in a fortunate position and have the "cash in bank".

alscrackers

Thanks Sonay,
I was in the process of applying for a Halifax Clarity card! :embarasse
I need to pay for tickets over the internet in Danish Kroner and I have a Halifax Visa Debit card, which I wasn't going to use as this is one of the cards from hell! Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

Sonay

I would personally use a credit card for a "Purchase" especially if the value is over £100.

For cash withdrawels, even with the Martyn Lewis "NIL LOADING on a Halifax Clarity Card", my Nationwide debit card beat the Halifax card "hands down", the proof of the pudding being my statements thereafter.

To add insult to injury, (I had set up a Direct Debit to clear Credit Card debt completely after a month), the interest that had accumulated over the month, Halifax decided to charge interest on the interest, mmmmm. It was only 25p. But I rang them to say that if they keep charging interest on iterest and carry it on to the following month, the debt, albeit tiny will never clear.

They waived the 25p. And I shredded up my clarity card:A

lisyloo

Beware All "Mastercard" Credit Cards, even Halifax Clarity, they take extra commision at ATM exchanges. Upto 5% extra

Could you please tell us the source for this statement?
Thanks

Degenerate

Sonay wrote: »

For cash withdrawels, even with the Martyn Lewis "NIL LOADING on a Halifax Clarity Card", my Nationwide debit card beat the Halifax card "hands down", the proof of the pudding being my statements thereafter.

The Halifax Clarity is a nil loading card. Saying that your Nationwide debit card outperformed it is not very helpful if you can't provide us with more detail. There are a number things that could account for the discrepancy. Exchange rates fluctuate constantly, some ATMs do dynamic currency conversion, or you can be stung by local fees that are out of you card providers's control. Local fees may be levied for one type of card but not another, which may make a particular card cheaper in that case when it isn't generally.

Whatever happened in your particular case, the discrepancies could just as well go the other way. If you hadn't shredded it, your Halifax Clarity card would likely have worked out better in many situations. The Visa and Mastercard exchange rates are close enough to make no difference and the Nationwide debit card charges a 2% loading, so generally the Halifax Clarity will be considerably cheaper.

To add insult to injury, (I had set up a Direct Debit to clear Credit Card debt completely after a month), the interest that had accumulated over the month, Halifax decided to charge interest on the interest, mmmmm. It was only 25p. But I rang them to say that if they keep charging interest on iterest and carry it on to the following month, the debt, albeit tiny will never clear.

They waived the 25p. And I shredded up my clarity card:A

The levying of this "trailing interest" as it's known is standard practice with all credit card providers. You have to clear two statements to get rid of the interest.