Nationwide credit card abroad

Ben8282

zagfles wrote: »

That's because it's usually hidden in the rate. Try checking you cards' T&Cs - unless it's one of the small minority who don't charge, you'll see a foreign transaction fee of around 3% or so. .

Exactly. It is hidden in the rate. It does NOT appear on the statement as a separate commission amount. So how does the OP know that they have paid £14.77? How has the OP calculated something hidden in the rate?

A cash advance fee would be shown yes, ... usually 3% ... although fuel, car rental etc are mentioned which I assumed were purchases not cash advances. I don't believe that any commission free offer on foriegn currency will apply to cash advances taken from a foriegn ATM.

zagfles

Ben8282 wrote: »

Exactly. It is hidden in the rate. It does NOT appear on the statement as a separate commission amount. So how does the OP know that they have paid £14.77? How has the OP calculated something hidden in the rate?

Because some credit cards are most honest than others, and explicitly itemise the forex charge.

A cash advance fee would be shown yes, ... usually 3% ... although fuel, car rental etc are mentioned which I assumed were purchases not cash advances. I don't believe that any commission free offer on foriegn currency will apply to cash advances taken from a foriegn ATM.

You're confusing commission free foreign currency purchases (ie foreign cash purchases in the UK) with commission free card usage abroad. They are two completely separate things.

So called "commission free" foreign currency purchase in the UK is a con. A large commission is hidden in the rate. Take the PO for instance:

http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/travel/travel-money/travel-money-tips/exchange-rate-calculator

Their EUR rate is 1.1176 today.

Then look at the rate you'd get if you made a purchase with a commission free credit card (eg Halifax Clarity). They are a MasterCard - MasterCard rates are pretty much the interbank rate - they publish their rates here:

https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html

Current EUR rate is 1.161486. Most banks will take a commission from this and give you a worse rate, but the likes of the Clarity card don't. You get the rate on the site.

So "commission free" cards really are as close to commission free as you'll get (I think there's a very small markup in the MC/VISA rates). Commission free foreign currency purchase is a total con as the commission hidden in the rate is usually around 5%.

Ben8282

zagfles wrote: »

Because some credit cards are most honest than others, and explicitly itemise the forex charge.

What forex charge? We are talking about foriegn purchases for restaurant bills, fuel, car rental not cash transactions. The Mastercard/Visa rate will be applied.

JasX

You must have been reading a section well over a year out of date. Nationwide is definitely the wrong card for overseas spending these days since they added a heap of charges to push themselves up towards the higher end of overseas spending cards.

Halifax, Post Office or Santander Zero are the current 'best buys' I believe but be sure to check the small print before applying

zagfles

Ben8282 wrote: »

What forex charge? We are talking about foriegn purchases for restaurant bills, fuel, car rental not cash transactions. The Mastercard/Visa rate will be applied.

Erm, yes, and marked down by about 3% by most banks. Except the "commission free" ones like the Clarity.

It seems Nationwide are more honest than most and rather than hiding their commission in the rate, they explicitly itemise it. Presumably because they want people to buid up their "commission free" allowance by using the card in the UK.

JasX

Ben8282 wrote: »

What forex charge? We are talking about foriegn purchases for restaurant bills, fuel, car rental not cash transactions. The Mastercard/Visa rate will be applied.

You will incur a Foreign Exchange (forex) charge somewhere along the line as at some point the foreign currency used to pay for said restaurants, car rentals etc etc needs to be converted back to £££s

Most cards include some kind of loading here up to 2.5%...... soem still have the gall to do this then STILL itemise a separate 2.5% charge to hit you with so overall cost works out around 5%.

Best to do your homework in advance and take a card that does neither..... which is NOT a nationwide card, and hasn't been for quite some time

_gav_

JasX wrote: »

Best to do your homework in advance and take a card that does neither..... which is NOT a nationwide card, and hasn't been for quite some time

I agree with what you are saying, but need to correct one point. If you have an older Nationwide card they are perfectly fine, they do not add any loading or apply currency fees. It is the newer Nationwide cards that do. See my earlier posting.

Thought it best to clarify this position.

zagfles

_gav_ wrote: »

I agree with what you are saying, but need to correct one point. If you have an older Nationwide card they are perfectly fine, they do not add any loading or apply currency fees. It is the newer Nationwide cards that do. See my earlier posting.

Thought it best to clarify this position.

They do outside the "VISA Europe" area! But only 1%.

I made the mistake of assuming Croatia was is the VISA Europe area (other non-Euro/non-EU countries like Norway are in it). But it isn't, so got charged 1% for purchases. Would have been better using my Clarity...

Nationwide have a list here:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/creditcard/managing-your-card/atozlistofcountries.htm

Also note their debit card charges 2%, no matter how old it is...

chattychappy

Yep, the "old" NW cards (eg NW Gold) are 1% out of Europe. It is top of my backup pile in Asia (where most of my spend is). Pretty good for not getting blocked.