Using Aqua Reward abroad

ludemon

I will shortly be travelling to Antigua for a few weeks and would prefer to pay for my accommodation there using my Aqua Reward card instead of cash or Travellers Cheques. The apartment owner has an account with a local bank that accepts Mastercard so I have asked Aqua if this transaction will be free of charges and interest and this is the reply below:

Thank you for your recent email.

I can confirm your account does not receive a foreign conversion fee.

However, you may be subject to cash interest and charges depending on how the merchant processes your transaction.

Should you require any further assistance, please log into your account online and send your enquiry/request using our secure server.

Stacey Wood, General Mail Team| Card Operations | Retail & Wealth Operations | Lloyds Banking Group
Pitreavie Business Park, Queensferry Road, Dunfermline, KY99 4BS

Any comments?

dazza.mk

They're syaing that they won't charge you anything extra for making a foreign payment, they have no control of what a retailer in the country may charge

ie. In some places in this country you might be charged 2% by the retailer by paying by card, your bank has no control of this, so usual indemnification.

lisyloo

I read it that they are saying they would treat transactions recorded as "purchases" in that way i.e. they are interest free if paid off in full by the payment date but if it goes through as a "cash advance" then that is subject to cash advances fees and interest from day 1.

Now I would fully expect acommodation to be treated as a purchase but the author is covering themselves.

Purchases on the Aqua card in local currency should be converted with 0% commission by Aqua and if you pay off in full there should be no interest or charges.

However if you let the property owner do conversion for you to GBP they will likely charge you commission. Make sure you are charged in local currency.

I have never heard of accomodation going through as a cash advance so I think the author is just covering themselves as they don't have control as to how the transaction is categorised by the retailer, but it's definitely not a cash adavnce which applies to - getting cash from an ATM, buying foreign currency and crediting gambling sites.

Be very careful about dynamic currency conversion where the retailer converts to GBP for you. They usually charge about 4% for the service.
Sometimes this is not obvious at all i.e. local currency in big letter, GBP in small print, so make sure you check any card terminals and paper receipts. Many shop or restaurant workers won't say anything especially if they don't speak good English or might not even be aware how the card terminal works. I've been caught out before by small print.

ludemon

Many thanks for the responses with help and advice so far.
I will certainly be paying in local currency or US$ which is more than welcome there.
I have emailed the bank concerned for clarification on Mastercard usage and any possible charges, and also sent a message to Aqua card operations for more info on the bit about how the merchant processes your transaction.
Hoping for a favourable reply from both of them.

ludemon

Well I've received replies. Aqua have confirmed virtually what dazza.mk and lisyloo have said.
Scotiabank Antigua say that they cannot accept direct payments by Mastercard on behalf of customers. How naive of me to expect a bank to provide a useful service!
So it looks as though Travellers Cheques is the answer unless prepared to pay the excessive charges for interbank transfers or use of a Debit Card.