Buying expensive equipment abroad. What's the best exchange rate?

poohwinnie5

Hi,

I'm buying some expensive audio equipment from a shop in Europe. I typically pay by bank transfer from my Nationwide flex account. I've been reading the article on the main site about buying abroad and I was wondering if this was still the best way to transfer the money? Thanks in advance.

poohwinnie5

poohwinnie5 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm buying some expensive audio equipment from a shop in Europe. I typically pay by bank transfer from my Nationwide flex account. I've been reading the article on the main site about buying abroad and I was wondering if this was still the best way to transfer the money? Thanks in advance.

I've been with the Nationwide for about 10 years.

zagfles

Have you got the new Nationwide Select card? (no fees for foreign transactions). That will almost certainly be much cheaper than a bank transfer, assuming your credit limit is up to it.

If not you might even find that paying by debit card is cheaper (it's 2% with Nationwide, but this is on top of the VISA rate which is pretty much interbank, so could be cheaper than a bank transfer).

poohwinnie5

zagfles wrote: »

Have you got the new Nationwide Select card? (no fees for foreign transactions). That will almost certainly be much cheaper than a bank transfer, assuming your credit limit is up to it.

If not you might even find that paying by debit card is cheaper (it's 2% with Nationwide, but this is on top of the VISA rate which is pretty much interbank, so could be cheaper than a bank transfer).

Hi,

Do you think it's worth me transferring the money to one of the debit cards described in the MSE article? 2% could be almost 90 Euro's with this transaction.Thanks

zagfles

poohwinnie5 wrote: »

Hi,

Do you think it's worth me transferring the money to one of the debit cards described in the MSE article? 2% could be almost 90 Euro's with this transaction.Thanks

Could be - but watch out for the conditions eg some require a min deposit per month, and MetroBank only have branches in London.

poohwinnie5

zagfles wrote: »

Could be - but watch out for the conditions eg some require a min deposit per month, and MetroBank only have branches in London.

I was thinking of sticking the money on a "Fair Fx" card and paying by bank transfer will I be any better off than transferring from Nationwide. The shop would prefer payment with a bank transfer. Thanks

soolin

Are you happy shop is legit as this is a completely unsafe way of making payment.