What's better: Metro Bank Debit or Halifax Clarity Credit Card?

7sefton

Hi all,

I go abroad fairly often, usually just in Europe but sometimes further afield. I'm therefore keen to make sure I always get the best possible deal on spending aborad when I use my plastic.

At the moment I have a Halifax Clarity credit card. I try to put all my foreign spending directly on it, but sometimes withdraw cash from local ATMs. I'm aware that I am not getting charged any fees on this, but I do get charged interest on the amount I withdraw from ATMs.

I live in London, so can easily open a Metro Bank account, which comes with a Mastercard debit card which doesn't charge foreign usage fees.

My question is, is the Metro bank account a better option for saving me money on foreign spending, or is there very little difference?

Thanks

zagfles

Yes MetroBank is better, as you'll save the interest you'd pay on the Clarity.

If you frequently have long holidays it's definitely an idea to get a MetroBank account.

Bob_the_Saver

Better and you'll get free dog biscuits when you open your account.

benjus

In general I like Metro Bank, although I've had a couple of niggles with them. E.g. I transferred £1000 into my Metro Bank account which never appeared. I was in Argentina at the time, so hardly the best time to have to make lots of calls to my bank. The bank I sent it from (First Direct) were quite helpful and gave me lots of transaction reference numbers etc, but Metro Bank just looked at the computer and shrugged, saying something like "nope, can't see it. Give it a couple more days and/or contact the bank that sent it". After several days First Direct offered to talk directly to Metro Bank, so I called MB to ask who they could call. After a while MB came back and said "oops... we did have your money all along. Sorry."

Having said that, for getting money abroad MB are great (although in a few countries it costs more to use a Mastercard card then a Visa card at an ATM).

7sefton

benjus wrote: »

Having said that, for getting money abroad MB are great (although in a few countries it costs more to use a Mastercard card then a Visa card at an ATM).

Thanks for the help.

Which countries charge more for using a Mastercard in an ATM compared to Visa?

benjus

7sefton wrote: »

Thanks for the help.

Which countries charge more for using a Mastercard in an ATM compared to Visa?

In my recent experience, ATMs I used in Argentina, Ukraine and possibly Uruguay were free for Visa (maybe just Visa Europe) cards but charged for Mastercards. In Argentina withdrawing money with my MB card cost roughly the same as using my Nationwide Visa debit card (the Nationwide card being free at the ATM but charged by Nationwide).

huw01

You could also go for the Norwich and Peterborough Gold Current account which has a totally fee free visa debit card. I've used it abroad many times with no problems or fees at all, you get the transaction converted at the daily visa rate with no charges. The ony condition is that you deposit £500 per month into the current account to avoid any account fees. Have to say that N and P have been excellent to deal with. Would highly recommend them, their customer service is as good as first direct.

Have to add that I opened my account through the post and operate it online as I live in North Wales and am not anywhere near a branch of either N and P or Metrobank.

nicholas123

For overseas use I have both the Halifax Clarity and Post Office credit cards recommended on MSE.

The benefit of having 2 cards is that I can seperate cash withdrawals (Clarity) from purchases (PO): as soon as I make a cash withdrawal I pay it off immediately online - thus no interest or just a day's worth. Paying off like this there isn't really a difference with the Metro Card, or it's possibly better, as I would have to have sufficient funds sitting in an extra current account for the whole time I am overseas.

Any purchases I make on the PO card I just pay as standard by DD at the end of the month, as these are purchases there is also no interest.

(I've also found the Halifax customer service to be good on the 1 occasion I had to contact them).

ferf1223

open a MetroBank account if nothing else for the experience of what banking should be like...walk in with ID, walk out with account, debit card, cheques (if you want them), online banking details.

my hubby had an issue with another bank, they cancelled his debit card for no apparent reason (they never did figure out what happened but acknowledged it was completely their error)...took nearly TWO MONTHS to get a new one due to a series of further screw-ups (got new card - for me, not him, further request for new card was lost, etc.)...had it been Metro, could have walked into a branch and they would have printed a new card...but no...no way to expedite new card issuing with this other bank...just wait 7-10 days and hope...only to find that something went wrong (again).

Plus, if you save change, you can take a big jar in and dump it in their money machine...take the receipt to the counter and pay into your account...no charge...no sorting coins...no 5-bags of coins limit...we normally do this and add it to our holiday fund - which is what our Metro account is used for.

And their hours are fabulous...again, shows what a bank can be...

And they have public loos...at least at the Holborn branch.

Also lollipops.

SaveTheEuro

Go for it. It's a good idea to have a back up card in case a block is ever put on your Clarity card.

niktheguru

I would say if you plan on spending directly in shops/restaurants then use your halifax clarity card. If you want to draw out money from a cash machine use the metrobank card.

No harm having both in your pocket.
Better to use a credit card abroad for spending as you are covered by its various guarantees for your products, then also factor in that its a credit card so it has a decent credit limit so you don't have to worry about "balance in your account"
Then you can use your debit card for cash machine withdrawals if required to minimise any excess charges.

Bingo.