Nationwide Credit Card

MikeR371

I used my (old) Nationwide credit card to withdraw some euros at the weekend in Spain. The rate I got was 1.09, and this was before the cash advance fee and interest. I thought this card used to give "perfect" exchange rates, is this no longer the case? The "spot" rate at the moment should have given me around 1.14.

Seems very poor value indeed, worse in fact than changing cash at home.

stilltheone

Perhaps you allowed the bank who owns the ATM to do the exchange for you. It's a practice that is rife in Spain. Dynamic Currency Conversion.

aerostar

stilltheone wrote: »

Perhaps you allowed the bank who owns the ATM to do the exchange for you. It's a practice that is rife in Spain. Dynamic Currency Conversion.

What he means is that you should have selected to be charged in EUROS, not in £. You are given the option at the ATM.

FluffyFiFi

Is this the same for the US? I always thought Nationwide gave a good rate and was planning on taking my CC with me for purchases.

MikeR371

aerostar wrote: »

What he means is that you should have selected to be charged in EUROS, not in £. You are given the option at the ATM.

Ah I bet that's it. It did come up with some sort of message like this and I thought I was being savvy by choosing the right option, but I may well have gone for the wrong one.

I went to Amsterdam a while back and the rate I got there was 1.133 when the spot rate was 1.138 so it seems the NW card is still good value if used correctly.

zagfles

MikeR371 wrote: »

Ah I bet that's it. It did come up with some sort of message like this and I thought I was being savvy by choosing the right option, but I may well have gone for the wrong one.

I went to Amsterdam a while back and the rate I got there was 1.133 when the spot rate was 1.138 so it seems the NW card is still good value if used correctly.

Does your statement show the amount in EUR? If it doesn't, then that's what happened, you chose to be billed in GBP and the currency conversion was done by the bank owning the ATM, and you got ripped off. NW won't even know the EUR amount.

If NW did the convesrion you'll see the amount in EUR as well as GBP on your statement.

MikeR371

No, doesn't show the amount in EUR.

This is really annoying! When I saw the question on the ATM I knew exactly what it was trying to do, but for some reason I went for the wrong option. D'oh!