Cash withdrawals abroad

alexk83

Hi
I am going travelling to India, Singapore, Australia, Buenos Aires, and through Central America, depart October 2011 and return June 2012.
I will need to withdraw cash from ATMs on a regular basis and am keen to avoid loading fees, bank transaction charges and any other fees that may be associated.

I have read of various options on moneysavingexpert.com :
- Halifax Clarity credit card, charged 12.9% interest (even if repaid)
- Sainsburys Gold credit card, charged 24.9% interest (not if repaid in full)

I don't understand the interest charges noted - will I be charged 12.9% / 12months = £1.075 on every £100 i withdraw on the Halifax Gold card even if i repay in full at each month end?

I intend to set up a direct debit to repay the card in full each month so I assume this will mean cash withdrawals on the Sainsburys Gold card will be completely free (pay 24.9% / 12months = £2.075 on every £100 not repaid at the month end)?

Is this correct?

Would I be better off taking out a Norwich & Peterborough BS Gold Classic current account and using the debit card on this account, assuming I dont go into an overdraft? Are the terms of this current account guaranteed until July 2012?

Thanks for your help

Alex

Reesy1981

If youre in London, you could try Metro Bank. I dont believe they charge for overseas transactions etc

chattychappy

alexk83 wrote: »

I don't understand the interest charges noted - will I be charged 12.9% / 12months = £1.075 on every £100 i withdraw on the Halifax Gold card even if i repay in full at each month end?

Yes, it would be roughly £1.075 per month. But the amount you pay depends how long the amount is outstanding for. Eg if you made the withdrawal just after a statement date and paid 3 weeks after the next statement (ie the one on which it appears) then you would pay 7 weeks' interest - so almost double. If you made the withdrawal the day before the statement date and paid it off the day after, then you'd pay about 2 days' interest - about 7p.

The sooner you pay, the better. But bear in mind that payments are applied to statemented transactions before unstatemented transactions. This is relevant if you are mixing purchases with ATM withdrawals.

If you sign up for DD (which I never do) then you should check what happens if you make separate manual payments. You might not want to wait for the DD to be taken because of the interest you are running up.

alexk83 wrote: »

I intend to set up a direct debit to repay the card in full each month so I assume this will mean cash withdrawals on the Sainsburys Gold card will be completely free (pay 24.9% / 12months = £2.075 on every £100 not repaid at the month end)?

Is this correct?

Not much written about this card here, but according to my understanding, yes. No interest if paid for in full. But if you pay so much as £1 short, then all transactions will have interest applied from the date of transaction until payment is received.

alexk83 wrote: »

Would I be better off taking out a Norwich & Peterborough BS Gold Classic current account and using the debit card on this account, assuming I dont go into an overdraft? Are the terms of this current account guaranteed until July 2012?

Probably best asked in the current account forum (or whatever it is). Generally I prefer to use CCs because I prefer the underlying regulatory environment if things go wrong.

But whatever you do, take backups. You just can't rely on any piece of plastic working overseas with the reliability it does in the UK.

stilltheone

Of course you are paying a £5 monthly fee for the Sainsburys Gold Card and in return you get the fee free service and some travel insurance(with a quite high excess).

If you are happy to pay the fee then the card is fine, just set your DD to pay the full amount and don't worry about it.

The other option are the Metro Bank debit and credit cards. There are the best value currently.

The other thing to bear in mind is that these are all Mastercards. Probably a good idea to have some form of VISA card too.

moronic50

Why not take some travellers cheques with you? Old fashioned and a little bit of a hassle to exchange but maybe they will save you some money in the long run? The other alternative is the travelex cash passport.

Load it up with pounds just by transferring money from your UK bank account and take cash out wherever you are for a charge of 1.49%. I would link you but currently not allowed!

alexk83

thanks for the advice,

It sounds like the Halifax card may end up being quite expensive if i am withdrawing cash every few days and only paying it off monthly?

Seems like im much better off with the Sainsburys card if i set up a monthly direct debit to clear the full balance as i will be drawing £10k over 8 months so £5 per month seems good value?

I will probably just use my normal hsbc or lloyds mastercards for any one-off purchases as easier to keep track of and i think this will be rare.

Im not from london but I am visiting this weekend so I could open up a Metro current account - would you recommend this above a Norwich & Peterborough account for withdrawing cash abroad? I would like to have 2 card so one credit and one debit card.

Thanks once again for your help

stilltheone

alexk83 wrote: »

thanks for the advice,

It sounds like the Halifax card may end up being quite expensive if i am withdrawing cash every few days and only paying it off monthly?

Seems like im much better off with the Sainsburys card if i set up a monthly direct debit to clear the full balance as i will be drawing £10k over 8 months so £5 per month seems good value?

I will probably just use my normal hsbc or lloyds mastercards for any one-off purchases as easier to keep track of and i think this will be rare.

Im not from london but I am visiting this weekend so I could open up a Metro current account - would you recommend this above a Norwich & Peterborough account for withdrawing cash abroad? I would like to have 2 card so one credit and one debit card.

Thanks once again for your help

Yes, I would, as their CC is better and you have restricting conditions. You can try for both their debit and credit card, though don't expect a high limit on the CC.
Avoid using your Lloyds and HSBC cards if you can.

chattychappy

alexk83 wrote: »

Seems like im much better off with the Sainsburys card if i set up a monthly direct debit to clear the full balance as i will be drawing £10k over 8 months so £5 per month seems good value?

In case you hadn't noticed, bear in mind that the travel insurance policy is limited so you will probably need to arrange this separately. Most annual policies have per-trip limits (typically 30 to 90 days) and a limit on the total number of days you can be away (typically 6 months) so you need to buy with care.

beano-ni

N & P "Gold Light" or "Gold" Current Accounts both fee free cash withdrawals.

www. nandp.co.uk/current-account/gold-light-current-account/