Halifax Clarity Card still best for abroad?

virgo17

marko4ever25 wrote: »

i have card and have a special tip -pay in money into your account so your in credit then you can withdraw anywhere in world without fees! only use the money you use and much safer!

I really wouldn't do this!

I have a friend who did this and his card was suspended/frozen because it breached the T&C's. He ended up abroad with a non working card and was unable to sort out things with Halifax until his return three weeks later.

IMO, it's not worth the risk to save pennies in interest.

chattychappy

virgo17 wrote: »

I really wouldn't do this!

I have a friend who did this and his card was suspended/frozen because it breached the T&C's. He ended up abroad with a non working card and was unable to sort out things with Halifax until his return three weeks later.

IMO, it's not worth the risk to save pennies in interest.

Agree, it's a stupid idea. If often works, but the hassle when it doesn't is serious. People here have reported the same experience as your friend.

All for a few pennies.

MrMrMr

Great, did an online application and was accepted, albeit with a massive credit limit, I'll have to reduce it!

I think I'll try a few purchases here to make sure all ok, when you say inform Halifax, do you just phone them or something and say your going away?

I wont preload then thanks

When you say "safe" internet, is it not ok to use the free WiFi at the hotel? Thats what I'd want to do to keep an eye on transactions and pay it off straight away?

cheers

wwfc_2

MrMrMr wrote: »

Great, did an online application and was accepted, albeit with a massive credit limit, I'll have to reduce it!

Some times a large credit limit can be useful as long as you can be disciplined, I wouldn't reduce it

MrMrMr wrote: »

I think I'll try a few purchases here to make sure all ok, when you say inform Halifax, do you just phone them or something and say your going away?

I ring them, tell them your going away and what dates, it just helps if they monitor where the card is being used, I always tend to make a purchase on the card at the uk airport aswell but im probably just paranoid!

MrMrMr wrote: »

I wont preload then thanks

Good to hear, not worth the risk

MrMrMr wrote: »

When you say "safe" internet, is it not ok to use the free WiFi at the hotel? Thats what I'd want to do to keep an eye on transactions and pay it off straight away?

I was always wary of this, however I used the free wifi at the hotel in Orlando on my phone to log in to my Halifax account and I was ok, I just wanted to see what id spent so far, I couldn't be bothered to transfer money over as you are talking literally pence

reclusive46

From personal experience I gave up with the Clarity, they seemed to have a overzealous fraud system. I went to the USA a few weeks ago. It got blocked twice (On a 7 day trip in the first 2 days. I called up, used it for a few more transactions and it got blocked again). I just gave up and used my AmEx (I would have had to use it anyway as two restaurants I went to only accepted American Express) which charges a fee but I had no problem with that.

I also had problems on several occasions in Spain earlier this year with the card as well. Terminals kept saying "Unable to contact issuer" in Spanish but my Amex and other card (Also a MasterCard) worked fine.

I will be switching to another card for foreign travel.

virgo17

reclusive46 wrote: »

From personal experience I gave up with the Clarity, they seemed to have a overzealous fraud system.

Strange! Did you notify them before you travelled?

I use my Clarity card at least six times a year in Europe (including Spain) and have never had a problem over several years.

reclusive46

virgo17 wrote: »

Strange! Did you notify them before you travelled?

I use my Clarity card at least six times a year in Europe (including Spain) and have never had a problem over several years.

Yes on both occasions. I don't know what was going on Spain, Halifax themselves seemed to have an issue with a certain acquirer and in the USA they just seemed to be extremely trigger happy.

Doshwaster

I recently switched from using pre-paid debit cards to Halifax Clarity and I'm very happy with it. On a weekend in Spain, I withdrew €200 at the airport on arrival, paid the Sterling balance as soon as it appeared on my account the following week and when the statement was issued there was a grand total of 17p in interest to pay.

One of the problems with the pre-paid cards is that there is always some money left over on the card which can be expensive to get refunded. Using Clarity also means that you don't have to guesstimate in advance how much to load onto the card.

chattychappy

virgo17 wrote: »

Strange! Did you notify them before you travelled?

reclusive46 wrote: »

Yes on both occasions. I don't know what was going on Spain, Halifax themselves seemed to have an issue with a certain acquirer and in the USA they just seemed to be extremely trigger happy.

I don't have Clarity, but use a number of other cards and most of my spend is foreign.

I've found that phoning in advance makes little difference as to whether a card gets blocked. The most I can say is that you have a better a chance of them self-unblocking if you've told them in advance. (Ie the card gets blocked - you can't use it for a a day or so, and then magically it works again.) Card/country combinations seem to go through phases and frankly I never bother phoning in advance these days.

reclusive46

chattychappy wrote: »

I don't have Clarity, but use a number of other cards and most of my spend is foreign.

I've found that phoning in advance makes little difference as to whether a card gets blocked. The most I can say is that you have a better a chance of them self-unblocking if you've told them in advance. (Ie the card gets blocked - you can't use it for a a day or so, and then magically it works again.) Card/country combinations seem to go through phases and frankly I never bother phoning in advance these days.

Indeed a lot of issuers tell you not to bother now as well. American Express even says on the site that there is no point in telling them.

EMV countries I imagine get less blocks though. On a side note though, when I recently withdrew money from a Chase ATM in NYC I noticed on the receipt it said CHIP READ and had AID as well. Looks like the US EMV roll out is starting in full force now.