MSE News: Metro Bank to charge for debit card use outside Europe 8 January 2014 at 5:49PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 47 replies 7.6K views

Former_MSE_Helen

"From 18 March Metro Bank current account customers will be charged when using their debit card outside Europe..."

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Metro Bank to charge for debit card use outside Europe




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KTF

Its almost like most of their customers signed up just to use this facility and they are now losing money because of it.

Money_Doctor

KTF wrote: »

Its almost like most of their customers signed up just to use this facility and they are now losing money because of it.

they probably did, a good perk, and plenty of money probably sitting on deposit as a result which now might move away.

Are the canaries included in their definition of Europe does anybody know?

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Just the debit card? Is Metrobank's Mastercard Credit card to remain FOREX commission free worldwide ?

danandjens_worldtravels

Such a shame, it was so simple and easy to use the account and keep it loaded up with money for travels. In fact I am one of those who does just that, just like I did with Nationwide.

How sad Metro Bank :-(

jinkssick

Very sad. Going south and north america february til 12 march. So looks like this will be the last trip to anywhere other than Europe.

h15t0r1an

Funnily enough 'no foreign exchange charges' was why I moved my account to Metro Bank 3 years ago and also put my business account there.

Keeping it free in Europe is a bit disingenous as it ensures spend in places like Thailand, Australia and the USA is now charged over 2%. For a £75 transaction in the USA actually the rate is even higher than 2% - £1.50 being 1.9% (h*** , let's just call it the 2% it really is) PLUS the £1 flat rate would mean they get £2.50 on £75. If they are taking both the approx 2% fee plus flat rate £1, then on a £60 transaction this means they would receive approx £2.20 - i.e. 3.67%.

Having had 2 mistakes made by Metro in one month recently that I had to report to them and got corrected, as well as having to complain to them because they were taking a high flat rate as well as an uncapped percentage fee on certain types of transaction unexpectedly, this move to charge on foreign transactions has sadly removed the vast lead they had over other banks for me.

I'm now open to moving my account away from them which I wasn't before.

Just to be clear, I've hardly used the facility at all. It was just the way that their promise of "no foreign exchange fees or loading" made me feel so positive about them . Now I don't feel particularly positive. I'll be open to other offers now.

realaledrinker

Not really suprised. There is no money to be made from personal banking at the moment until interest rates rise. Can't see how a branch based retail bank can make money unless they look for add ons like this.

System

It was quite clearly a loss leader and they tend not to work if profit is not being made elsewhere like with travel only users.

MasterCard and the foreign bank obviously charge Metro for 'free' ATM withdrawals.

realaledrinker wrote: »

Not really surprised. There is no money to be made from personal banking at the moment until interest rates rise. Can't see how a branch based retail bank can make money unless they look for add ons like this.

Former_MSE_Helen

Hi TurnUpForTheBooks,

The exact same change also applies to the Metro Bank credit card. We've updated the news story to reflect this.

MSE Helen

apcd2

Heng_Leng wrote: »

It was quite clearly a loss leader and they tend not to work if profit is not being made elsewhere like with travel only users.

MasterCard and the foreign bank obviously charge Metro for 'free' ATM withdrawals.

This should have been relatively revenue neutral. While Metro will have been paying for their customers withdrawing money abroad they will also have been collecting the fees for foreign users of their cash machines. As a London centric bank they may even have come out ahead due to the large number of tourists in London. Now it seems they want to make money from both ends of the scale.

I shifted all of my banking over to Metro Bank shortly after they opened because of the foreign fee-free withdrawals. Without it their current account looks distinctly mediocre. I will be closing my account and taking my business elsewhere. I urge everyone else to do the same and let Metro know exactly why.