Spending Overseas: The cheapest way to pay Article Discussion Area

stoneman

luci wrote: »

You will definitely get a better rate from the N/W by using an ATM abroad.

Not so. NW no longer give you the Visa rate for dollar transactions. I used my card 6 times this last couple of weeks in the U.S. and by checking my bank account daily I would have received a better rate using http://www.thomasexchangeglobal.co.uk/ and would not have had to stump up $15 in fees. Next time I will take as much cash as I can and only use my NW card when I have to.

GlennTheBaker

stoneman wrote: »

Not so. NW no longer give you the Visa rate for dollar transactions. I used my card 6 times this last couple of weeks in the U.S. and by checking my bank account daily I would have received a better rate using http://www.thomasexchangeglobal.co.uk/ and would not have had to stump up $15 in fees. Next time I will take as much cash as I can and only use my NW card when I have to.

Nationwide say they don't charge for foreign transactions. They use the VISA exchange rate and do not 'load' it in their favour as other card issuers do. Nothing has changed as far as I know.

ash333

Does a Nationwide Cashcard have the same benefits as the Visa Debit card?

stoneman

GlennTheBaker wrote: »

Nationwide say they don't charge for foreign transactions. They use the VISA exchange rate and do not 'load' it in their favour as other card issuers do. Nothing has changed as far as I know.

You are correct, they don't load, but they are no longer using the Visa exchange rate.
Read my previous post on how I would have been able to get a better rate from a "tourist" service.

dzug

stoneman wrote: »

You are correct, they don't load, but they are no longer using the Visa exchange rate.
Read my previous post on how I would have been able to get a better rate from a "tourist" service.

Sorry I don't believe you. To do this they would have to alter their T&C, They haven't done so, either on line or by sending a notice to customers.

What I suspect happened is that the visa rate responded to the falling ££ more quickly than Thomas' rate so that for a few days the latter was better.

Copied from website a few seconds ago:

(d) You can use your credit card to carry out transactions abroad. When we put a transaction in a foreign currency onto your account we will convert it into sterling at the exchange rate set by VISA on the day they process the transaction.

stoneman

dzug wrote: »

Sorry I don't believe you. To do this they would have to alter their T&C, They haven't done so, either on line or by sending a notice to customers.

What I suspect happened is that the visa rate responded to the falling ££ more quickly than Thomas' rate so that for a few days the latter was better.

Copied from website a few seconds ago:

(d) You can use your credit card to carry out transactions abroad. When we put a transaction in a foreign currency onto your account we will convert it into sterling at the exchange rate set by VISA on the day they process the transaction.

OK have it your way, all I know is that ON THE SAME DAY as the transaction appeared on my on-line banking,(which was the same day as the transaction) I would have gotten 2 cents better rate elsewhere, the rate did not fluctuate more than 2 cents during the entire 12 days of my trip. When I questioned NW about this they said that they were unable to retrospectivley tell me what a visa rate on a past given day was. So whether you beleive me or not makes no difference to me, just putting the info out there, and will not be using my NW card in future unless I have to. Still the best option after cash.

Tarquinius

dzug wrote: »

Yes you would pay the 2.75% loading (it's 'commission' on the foreign exchange) as well as the 1.5%.

It's probably your best bet - you will pay about 5% to get cash here to take with you (yes there are cheaper places but they require you to visit a certain place to pay in cash or to pay with your debit card - which will incur the charges you are trying to avoid in the first place)

Sorry don't know about loading your NW CC in advance

Thanks for the reply.

From my calculations, I would think I am better off using my N'wide credit card for cash withdrawals abroad, not my FD debit card.

If I use my N'wide CC, then I incur a 2% cash withdrawal fee, no loading, plus an interest charge (which I can keep very small if I pay off the charge within a few days).

If I use my FD debit card for cash withdrawals I pay a 2.75% loading fee plus 1.5% cash withdrawal fee. So surely the credit card is a better way to withdraw cash abroad - As long as it is paid off very quickly to avoid interest charges? Am I right?

Thanks

AlanR

Hi all, I am off on a trip to Hong Kong, Oz and NZ in five weeks' time and pondering all the same questions as everyone else on this thread. Will almost certainly try to get a Nationwide Debit card if they can do this within the 5 weeks, but I've also been studying the fine print of various other cards as a fall-back.

Re the use of credit cards for ATM withdrawals (if one is forced to!), it looks to me as though Saga may have a benefit which isn't widely recognised. Although they do make a withdrawal charge, albeit lower than most (see Martin's table), they do NOT appear to charge interest from the date of withdrawal as virtually all other card providers do, provided that you pay off the statement in full.

Here's the quote from their Key Product Features one-pager: "Cash Advances - No interest is charged if the Account is settled in full by the payment due date. If the Account is not settled in full, interest is charged from the date of the cash advance until that cash advance balance is settled in full."

Has anyone else spotted anything similar for other cards? Clearly the Nationwide Debit card looks like a "must-have" but I'm now seriously considering the Saga as a useful all-round back-up card.

Alan

jamescredmond

posted this on an inappropriate forum.

yesterday's D.telegraph featured a piece recommending early purchase of forex for travel. the financial 'suits' predict a weakening of the £ this year, so the advice is: get in early. the £ is down 10% since last summer against the euro and may fall further.

the caxton fx card is a load card. min initial load E750. cash w/drawal fee E2, other transactions free. exch.rate slightly above n/wide rate atE1.30 and well above the p.o at E1.26 (yester's rate).

I carry the n'wide card and normally use it but I'm tempted to load this card.

my question is: does anyone have this card and, if so, have they encountered any difficulties?

any advice appreciated.

ernie-money

I read somewhere that if you pre-load your credit card, so that it is in credit, it can result in your account being closed down. A positive balance on your account would be seen as unusual activity, which could trigger a fraud investigation. Apparently it's all to do with money laundering regulations, as this would be an easy way to transfer money abroad without it being noticed.
Hence I don't really want to risk preloading my post office credit card and am wondering if it would be better to get the prepay caxtonfx card for cash withdrawals instead, or alternatively apply for a Nationwide account?
If I go for the Nationwide option, do you have to maintain a balance in that account, or have regular payments going in, in order to qualify for a debit card - I couldn't find this information anywhere!
Thanks a lot to anyone that can help!