Santander Zero DEBIT card or FairFX 'Anywhere' prepaid mastercard in India?

LindaandNicole

I'm having trouble getting my head around comparisons too, and I think that some of the info on the 'Top cards for spending abroad' is a little out of date (not sure where to send feedback - couldn't see any easy email address links to report this, so hopefully someone from the team might see this and pick the issues up).

Firstly updating info. It is no longer true that 'the Fairfx card has no spending fees'. I have a Fairfx 'Anywhere' (mastercard) pre-paid card, and there is a fee payable of 1.4% of every point-of-sale transaction. That's on top of the £1.50 fee for cash withdrawals from an ATM. It may not sound like much but on a >£1000 hotel bill that's over a tenner to Fairfx in fees!

Secondly, Santander Zero. I have one of these accounts with a Santander Zero DEBIT (visa) card. I've been on the phone to them to clarify how much it will cost me to use this in India, and they say, categorically, 0% NO fees for point-of-sale transactions, and 0% NO fees, or 'interest' charged for cash withdrawals at an ATM. No commission payable on getting rupees either. Zero fees, they said proudly. NB - this is on the Zero DEBIT card. If you had a Zero CREDIT card then there would be 27.9% interest charged on cash withdrawals. however, they say that they have 'stopped that product' now, so ignore the references to this on the 'best cards' section of the site unless you already have one!

Thirdly, I come to my question, which I hope the more financially-minded upon here will be able to help me with. It seems to me given the above, that I'll be better off just keeping enough money in my current account for my holiday expenditure; and withdrawing it as I need it from ATM's in India. Also, using it to pay the big hotel bill at the end? This looks as though it will be cheaper than the Fairfx card, as there are no fees, but am I missing something here to do with exchange rates? I've emailed both Fairfx and Santander to try to work out which is cheapest but I'm generally getting standard 'cut and paste' 'card terms' responses. Also, I used to think that any purchases made on the Fairfx card would be more likely to be 'covered' because its a mastercard; but the small print on the Fairfx card says no, it's not a credit card. So, can anybody enlighten me any further? thanks ever so, Linda

benjus

The "Top Cards for spending abroad" article is rather behind the times regarding prepaid cards. When it talks about FairFX cards it is not talking about the FairFX Anywhere card. It also omits the TravelEx Cash Passport Globe, which charges 1.49% but with no cash withdrawal charge.

Anyway, back to your question. AFAIK Santander are telling the truth, and there are no charges associated with using it abroad, so it is your best option.

It is, of course, a good idea to take one or more backup cards in case of loss/theft.

Regarding being "covered" - neither of these cards is covered by CCA Section 75 as neither of them are credit cards. Mastercard and Visa both have chargeback schemes to handle disputed transactions, but this is not enshrined in law. I'm not too sure how this works with prepaid cards, but I suspect you'd have more luck with Santander than FairFX if you needed to dispute a transaction. Better still, get a fee-free credit card to use for purchases and keep the debit card for cash withdrawals only - that way you get Section 75 protection. I'm not sure why you seem to think Mastercard gives better protection than Visa...

Toe-Jam

I don't know what is so hard to work out.

Santander ZERO = No charge
Fair FX Anywhere card = 1.4% Charge for exchange + £1 atm usage.

Withdrawing £100 in India will cost you £100 with Santander Zero
Withdrawing £100 with FairFX will cost you £102.40

Obviously you don't withdraw pounds in India, but I thought it best to keep things simple.

Thats 8026.36 ruppes with santander
and approx 7920 with Fairfx.

And as the other commenter says above, its not a good idea to rely exclusivly on 1 card. Santander can block the card for fraud prevention while you are abroad and it will be a costly phonecall back to the UK to get it sorted out.