Spending Overseas: The cheapest way to pay Article Discussion Area

dzug1

jmw20 wrote: »

Can someone please confirm if I have this correct or not. The Egg money card charges no fees for cash withdrawals abroad and then interest at 7.9%. Is this not far better than any other credit card?

Possibly no 'fees' but there will be an exchange rate loading of (if I've read the right document) 2.65%. So not that much different to the others.

dzug1

5starslfc wrote: »

Has anybody used ''international currency exchange'' before and if so are they reliable? On their website it says if you order before 3pm then next day delivery is guaranteed. I don't know whether to use international currency exchange or use Travelex and pick up my Euros up at the Airport.

The next day delivery guarantee is effectively the Royal Mail special delivery by 1pm service, so it's as effective as that. (Good IME - in most parts of the country it's rare for it to go wrong). Remember you will have to be in to sign for it or it will get taken back to the sorting office. If you'll be out at work definitely use the airport pickup one.

MercilessKiller

Hey guys. I'm going to Vegas with £3000 and need to work out how to do this. I have a Halifax Debit Card (worst I know) and was rejected from Nationwide with NO reason (great!). Though I've never been in debt or missed payments etc...

How should I do it? Advice needed

dzug1

MercilessKiller wrote: »

Hey guys. I'm going to Vegas with £3000 and need to work out how to do this. I have a Halifax Debit Card (worst I know) and was rejected from Nationwide with NO reason (great!). Though I've never been in debt or missed payments etc...

How should I do it? Advice needed

I'd still use the debit card (but remember to get enough cash out at a time to justify any fixed/minimum charges).

Yes there will be charges - but they will be little different to changing your cash here so you might as well go for convenience.

Given it's the US travellers cheques will also work out at about the same in fees - you might want to take some for security. Use them up - buy back rates are terrible.

MercilessKiller

My girlfriend works at the post office so doesn't get stung on buy back rates.. heh

VCoops

Has anyone had a problem using Italian ATMs, particularly with a Nationwide Visa card? We went this year and could not use the cards in the ATMs, although could make purchases. Does anyone know why this is and has it happened anywhere else? No problem with account balance etc.

lexmark136

To quote from the article:

"The only slight downer is that the interest rate when you use an ATM is the highest out of all my picks, at 25.9% APR; yet the lack of a one off charge balances this out, especially if you use the hole-in-the-wall a lot.

European Load Fee: 0%. Worldwide Load Fee: 0%. ATM Fee: £0. Interest for withdrawing cash: 25.9%. "

what i dont understand is do you begin to pay interest from the moment you withdraw? or do you only pay interest if you dont pay the full balance at the end of the month like a normal card?
if im going away for 3 weeks and i begin withdrawing from the start wont i pay 25.9% apr until the balance is paid? surely one of the other cards that just charge £2.50 per withdrawal would be better?

my plan was to take some cash to last a week or so and then just withdraw larger ammounts to get me by for the remainder, wouldnt i just be better using my hsbc debit card?

i only got the abbey zero card for petrol (its a road trip) and hotels/camp sites, it would be nice to withdraw on it also but that apr is scary!

hope you can help :beer:

Born2Save_3

VCoops wrote: »

Has anyone had a problem using Italian ATMs, particularly with a Nationwide Visa card? We went this year and could not use the cards in the ATMs, although could make purchases. Does anyone know why this is and has it happened anywhere else? No problem with account balance etc.

Best talk to Nationwide and ask why - and post response back here.

My own experience has seen the use of Nationwide debit and credit cards a lot more trickier in the last 2 years. You have to be particularly careful with their credit card and how Visa regard the country you are doing the purchase in. If it is regarded as a chip and pin country and they swipe the card first your card may well get blocked.

When doing ATM withdrawals it is best to do inside of a bank and during banking hours, so you may have a chance at retrieving your card if it is witheld, and then you can contact Nationwide to ask why.

I recently had a card witheld in Germany and the local bank just said that there was an ATM problem. Some of the new issue debit cards have a different style Chip, which there the first issues to work with the card readers. However, the most recently issued debit cards have the same style chip as the old debit cards, of 2/3 years ago.

Three years ago in Italy I used a Nationwide debit card to get Euros from local ATMs without any problems at all, and made some quite large withdrawals. I don't recall the banks ATM's used.

Also, FYI, if you have a Nat West card reader, it will work with Nationwide cards and vice versa. (last time I tested anyway)

ran1gers2001

Hi Guys

I'm off to Florida for 2 weeks at the end of the month and was wondering what's the best option for spending. I'll probably be spending about £1000 all in. Tempted to try for a Nationwide debit card so there are no fees but not sure for security of purchases in stores. Does the Abbey zero card charge the 29.5% interest straight away or is there a way of bypassing it if you pay it before the month is up?

Cheers in advance.

hjh

Hi,

I'm going backpacking for 7 months and can't work out whether a Abbey Zero credit card or Nationwide debit card would be best - or both! I will be using the card for both ATM withdrawals and also for purchases.
My concern with getting the debit card is that although it will be good for ATM withdrawals, it might not be as useful for purchases where say only visa/mastercard are accepted. However, the Abbey Zero credit card does have a high interest rate for ATM withdrawals (or is this just if you don't pay the balance off in full each month?) and hence that might swing it in the favour of the debit card.
Does anyone have any advice if they have travelled for this length of time before?

I'd really welcome any advice/help!