Santander Zero Current Account for Travelling

cbrown89

Hi,

Im going travelling in 3 weeks and im looking at different options for safely carrying large sums of cash.

Seems I can either go with the santander zero account which doesnt charge for overseas transactions but I am unsure what the exchange rate is like...

Or I could go for a pre-paid cash card such as the FairFx card which also does not charge for over seas transactions.

Does anybody have any opinion or ideas on what would be the best choice?

Thanks,

Colin

ses6jwg

the santander zero current account uses visa's rate of exchange so you can't really get much closer to the market rate

it does however have some qualifying criteria

benjus

All prepaid cards charge for overseas transactions in some way. If the card is not in GBP then you will pay by getting a suboptimal exchange rate when you load currency onto the card. If the card is in GBP then they will either load the exchange rate or charge a fee per transaction.

Credit cards like Halifax Clarity and Santander Zero credit card give free overseas transactions but charge interest for cash withdrawals.

Current accounts like Santander Zero, Metro Bank, N&P are the only way to get completely free overseas transactions. As mentioned above, the exchange rate comes direct from Visa or Mastercard and is to all intents and purposes equal to the wholesale spot rate.

cbrown89

I meet the qualifying criteria set for the account.

The FairFx pre paid card seems to have the best rates with no loading charge but it does charge you for withdrawls. It seems that the santander zero account is the best option, that way I can then withdraw cash or use it as a debit card. I take it theres not a list of countries it wont work in as Im going to Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.

burnsy89

cbrown89 are you an existing Santander Current Account customer? Or would you be opening a new one - because if it's a new current account, there's additional criteria that you have to switch an account using the Account Transfer Service in order to be eligible!

CLAPTON

whatever you do ensure you have 3-4 different ways of paying in case a card is lost, refused etc.

cbrown89

Im an existing customer burnsy89 im going to phone them today if they are still open....

ses6jwg

If you already have a full adult current account with Santander AND

- You fund the account with £1k+ pcm and have done so for at least 3 months
- Have a minimum of 2 DDs/ SOs
- Have an investment/ mortgage/ savings of 10k+

To upgrade to the Zero takes about 2 minutes, your cards, cheque book, sort code and account number all remain the same.

You recieve a welcome letter in the post about 2 weeks later, and enjoy your 12 months of 5% up to 2.5k, and free cash withdrawals and use abroad.

happy35

am confused by the above would I qualify? I fit the first 3 criteria but on the last one my investments, savings and mortgage are not with Santander and are now less than £10000 as I paid it off my mortgage.

Would like one of these for my holidays as dont like carrying loads of cash

adindas

I will say better to call them, as they could tell you straight forward whether you qualify or not and open it straight away. They might have some discretion and also you have nothing to loose ....

happy35 wrote: »

am confused by the above would I qualify? I fit the first 3 criteria but on the last one my investments, savings and mortgage are not with Santander and are now less than £10000 as I paid it off my mortgage.

Would like one of these for my holidays as dont like carrying loads of cash

adindas

I think here it is not because it does not work but what based on people experience reported on this forum, the banks in these countries will charge you for using their ATM machines. So it is applicable to all cards with Visa or Master card logo on it, not just for Santander Zero .... This also includes any Pre-paid card ....

But it is still better than any other alternatives that you might have such as the use of pre-paid cards, foreign cash exchange on money changers, etc

In majority of EU countries you will not get charged for using most of ATM machines so if you are using Santander Zero debit card you will get Visa Whole sellers exchange rates which is very difficult to be beaten by any other alternatives of cash withdrawal.

cbrown89 wrote: »

I take it theres not a list of countries it wont work in as Im going to Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.