Natwest charge for buying currency with your debit card!

financial_warrior

Just got back from a trip away and noticed that Natwest had charged me £4.50 for using my visa debit card to pay for currency at Travelex. After querying this with them they said:

It's in the Ts and Cs
It isn't applied to currency purchases made through them
Taking the money out out of the cash machine next to the Travelex branch doesn't cause you to be charged.

All I could ask is why the hell I'm ever charged for cash advances on a debit card!?! They seemed to have little response for this, other than to say it's detailed in the Ts and Cs. What is this charge for exactly? How does it differ to any other Point-of-sale (POS) transaction that I undertake in the UK, and don't get charged for?

I was refunded £4.50 as a 'goodwill gesture', but I was assured that future charges would not be refunded. I love goodwill gestures that come with a threat, makes me all warm and full of... well goodwill

Watch out for this one!

Toe-Jam

This is not exclusive to Natwest, it is a "feature" of visa debit. There are a couple of banks that don't pass on the charge but most do.

giraffe69

You've just done some comparing and worked out that ordering currency from your bank is not the cheapest way to go and then, when you go to an alternative, they hit you with £4.50 to narrow the margin. Lloyds Visa Debit certainly does this.

Debbie_A_3

I think that this little trick is outrageous, but it is becoming commonplace. Does anyone have a list of the debit cards that do not (yet) charge you for making what is in effect a sterling transaction.

stephb34

Debbie_A wrote: »

I think that this little trick is outrageous, but it is becoming commonplace. Does anyone have a list of the debit cards that do not (yet) charge you for making what is in effect a sterling transaction.

Martin does on this money page somewhere, but off the top of my head halifax and nationwide don't and they're visa debit. I know when the natwest was maestro they didn't charge but some foreign exchange places won't accept maestro cards anymore.
When i recently used my nationwide card abroad i knew they were going to charge but for some reason i thought it was only 1% and it wasn't it was 2% so i won't be using that again.

trets77

it's like a minefield isn't it?

Try to avoid paying a fortune in debit card fees ect by taking a mixture of cash and the top travel card, and then you find you are actually charged to buy the cash from someone who is not them ( I think some even charge you to buy currency of them using their own cards !!)

Your greedy bank wants some bubbly for the shareholders meeting one way or another.

anyhow you can avoid if you plan ahead and have the correct cards. full list of cards here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

other than that it might be better to get cash over the counter and go to your local travel agent ect .

financial_warrior

Thanks for all the comments. Whilst I agree it's always worth shopping around for the best financial products, this particular charge is one that is hidden away inside the Ts and Cs, and is also one that both a clerk and a 'manager' inside my local Natwest branch were unable to explain. It is called a Cash Advance Charge, but this is not a cash advance. I acknowledge the charge exists - it appeared on my statement - but what is it for?

Am I charged for cashback at Sainsburys? No.
Am I charged for ATM withdrawals? No.
Was this charge applied when I made the same transactions with Travelex with my Maestro card? No.
Is it a cash advance? No.

What exactly is the charge? Who is applying it? What is the justification for applying it?

Perhaps someone from Visa or Natwest would like to comment?

spheric

This was sneaked in when they changed the debit cards from Maestro to Visa Debit. I complained at the time, and the girl at the call center was oblivious to it. She went through all of the bumpf and found it hiding in there, checked it with her manager (who'd also not spotted it), and told me she'd ring back after finding an account without it.

She never did.

I moved some accounts elsewhere in protest, but it was something of a pyrrhic victory - at least I didn't get caught out by the charge the first time I went away.

Starrystarrynight

I found this out, too, much to my annoyance when I used my NWB visa debit card to buy some currency. Won't be making that mistake again. I could understand it if a credit card was used, but was fuming when I found it applied to debit cards, too. I used to work for NWB and did think about moving, but I imagine all the other banks would be pretty much the same.

lynx10

Just discovered a £4.50 'cash advance charge' for currency purchased by NWB/VISA debit card in June 2012 - but no charge 12 months ago for a comparable transaction.

Anyone know what the banking regulator thinks of this stunt ?

exel1966

Currently Halifax Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Nationwide do not charge for currency exchange in the UK when using a debit card.

For those that do charge It costs them approx 10p per transaction to provide this service, but they have been charging up to £4.50.

By the end of 2012, consumers can use their debit cards to buy foreign exchange from banks, bureau de change, the Post Office and travel agents without any hidden charges simply for paying on a card. This has been agreed by the banks and the OFT.

You'll find that with the removal of this charge the costs will be reflected in the exchange rate given.

EDIT : NatWest/RBS ceased to charge from 4 July. Barclays June 1.
Lloyds TSB has yet to set a confirmed date.