Spending in Spain- Halifax Clarity or Faifx prepay- which is cheaper?

mikezoe65

stinky84 wrote: »

As to prepaying the card I enquired about this when taking it out but was told it was not allowed

This is true- taken from FAQs of Clarity Card webpages
"Can I put money on my card to increase my available credit whilst on holiday?
Credit cards are not designed to be used this way. Using the card in this way breaches the product's Terms & Conditions, which state:
7.7 You must not make payments or transfer funds from another credit or store card to your account that would leave a credit balance on your account. We may return any funds that exceed the balance owing on your account to the account from which the money was sent.
Top
Will I get charged interest if I withdraw cash from a cash machine?
You pay interest from the day you withdraw cash, but unlike many other cards, there's no withdrawal fee. Whilst we won't charge you a cash advance fee, some independent cash machine providers may charge a fee for their service."
How do I know which ones dont charge this fee? Can I assume all Bank holes-in-walls are free from the charge in Spain?

mikezoe65

stinky84 wrote: »

As luci says allthough the exchange rates on the Clarity satements show as €1.12 or €1.13 etc to the £

Just looked at my new Clarity Card online statement and it doesn't show the exchange rate used for my first two purchases- urghh. Do they show the rate used when they send you a printout each month?

luci

It should show you the euro rate online if the transaction was processed in euros, mine does.

If it doesn't show the euro rate then it is likely to have been processed in GBP at their own rate.

I specifically asked for a large transaction to be processed in euros the other day. The guy said it would depend on the card used whether that option was available. He said that some cards go straight to GBP with no option. The Clarity card had the option for both so obviously I chose euros.

mikezoe65

luci wrote: »

It should show you the euro rate online if the transaction was processed in euros, mine does.

I'm beginning to wonder whether they have issued me with a Clarity Card or a Standard Mastercard! I've looked at the paperwork which suggests it is a Clarity Card (12.9% interest to be charged) but nowhere on the online statement does it use the word Clarity (actually uses term Standard Mastercard) nor on the blue card itself. Can you clarify (pun intended) which card I have from the above?- the 16 digit card number starts 5286

Johnnyy_Boy

mikezoe65 wrote: »

I'm beginning to wonder whether they have issued me with a Clarity Card or a Standard Mastercard! I've looked at the paperwork which suggests it is a Clarity Card (12.9% interest to be charged) but nowhere on the online statement does it use the word Clarity (actually uses term Standard Mastercard) nor on the blue card itself. Can you clarify (pun intended) which card I have from the above?- the 16 digit card number starts 5286

Well I just got a Clarity Card and is all the same as above. I wondered the same as well to be honest.

luci

Clarity isn't mentioned anywhere apart from the agreement you sign and send back. It's not on the card and online it just states Standard Mastercard. Nothing to worry about, but I would be worried that 2 transactions seem to have gone through as GBP instead of euros.

mikezoe65

luci wrote: »

Clarity isn't mentioned anywhere apart from the agreement you sign and send back. It's not on the card and online it just states Standard Mastercard. Nothing to worry about, but I would be worried that 2 transactions seem to have gone through as GBP instead of euros.

That's reassuring! I know the two transactions were originally in euros (deposits for a stay in two hostels in Madrid) but the entries on the Clarity online statement are solely in GBP having been converted somehow. I would have like to see the conversion rate used by Halifax.

melb

I wonder if the hostel used their own Dynamic Currency conversion without telling you whereby they can set their own rate of conversion? I've only used mine to draw out money abroad but it gave the amount I withdrew, the amount it came to in GBP and the exchange rate used.

mikezoe65

melb wrote: »

I wonder if the hostel used their own Dynamic Currency conversion without telling you whereby they can set their own rate of conversion? I've only used mine to draw out money abroad but it gave the amount I withdrew, the amount it came to in GBP and the exchange rate used.

That would explain how on the booking confirmations one hostel did show the conversion rate (and Clarity simply used that figure) yet on the other only the euro total was shown yet on the Clarity entry only the GBP equivalent was shown. I calculated the actual conversion rate on the latter (Halifax's) as slightly different from the Hostel rate used.

Wannie_2

mikezoe65 wrote: »

That would explain how on the booking confirmations one hostel did show the conversion rate (and Clarity simply used that figure) yet on the other only the euro total was shown yet on the Clarity entry only the GBP equivalent was shown. I calculated the actual conversion rate on the latter (Halifax's) as slightly different from the Hostel rate used.

It shouldn't be slightly different. If no exchange rate is shown, it is likely that DCC was used on both.
Rife in Spain.