Student credit card with no fees overseas?

creasechris

Hi, first post here hope this question isn't too stupid!

I'm a 19 year old university student who's planning to go abroad later this year. I have a NatWest debit and credit card with my student account, and I'm sensible when it comes to money - I don't tend to buy stuff, so I don't spend a lot.

So it seemed sensible to look into a way to cut costs when abroad, or paying online in other currencies (which I do sometimes) - the extra charges and so on seemed to add about 5% to my costs when I went Interrailing last summer.

I've seen a few credit cards that have zero percent foreign transaction fees - especially Halifax's Clarity card, which seems lovely and simple - but I doubt I'd get accepted. As far as I know, I have a good (if small) credit history over the last year or two - no debt, very sparingly used credit card, pay my bills on time, mobile phone contract etc. A quick calculation for my income for the year - from my summer internship, student loan and parentals - puts it at £12,700.

Are there any accessible credit cards with no abroad / foreign currency fees, assuming I pay it off in full every month? Or should I be looking at foreign currency cashcards, etc?

Thanks

EDIT: Just realised, I'm not really willing to switch my main current account away from NatWest. They've been good to me and I get a free Railcard, worth about £30, each year. Not sure if that changes things..?

TheEffect

creasechris wrote: »

Hi, first post here hope this question isn't too stupid!

I'm a 19 year old university student who's planning to go abroad later this year. I have a NatWest debit and credit card with my student account, and I'm sensible when it comes to money - I don't tend to buy stuff, so I don't spend a lot.

So it seemed sensible to look into a way to cut costs when abroad, or paying online in other currencies (which I do sometimes) - the extra charges and so on seemed to add about 5% to my costs when I went Interrailing last summer.

I've seen a few credit cards that have zero percent foreign transaction fees - especially Halifax's Clarity card, which seems lovely and simple - but I doubt I'd get accepted. As far as I know, I have a good (if small) credit history over the last year or two - no debt, very sparingly used credit card, pay my bills on time, mobile phone contract etc. A quick calculation for my income for the year - from my summer internship, student loan and parentals - puts it at £12,700.

Are there any accessible credit cards with no abroad / foreign currency fees, assuming I pay it off in full every month? Or should I be looking at foreign currency cashcards, etc?

Thanks

I'm not aware of any student credit card that offer 0% on foreign spending, however there are cards that accept students. Off the top of my head, Aqua and Capital One Classic Extra both have 0% on foreign spend, and both accept students (I was accepted for the Classic Extra a few months ago as a student, and have an Aqua card with £2k limit).

grumbler

Does it have to be a credit card? For Europe only you can try getting a current account with Mertrobank.

For withdrawals only you can consider Nationwide FlexPlus if you can justify paying £10p.m. for the package of benefits it offers.

creasechris

TheEffect wrote: »

I'm not aware of any student credit card that offer 0% on foreign spending, however there are cards that accept students. Off the top of my head, Aqua and Capital One Classic Extra both have 0% on foreign spend, and both accept students (I was accepted for the Classic Extra a few months ago as a student, and have an Aqua card with £2k limit).

Thanks, this looks interesting! Thing is, looking at the application "quick check", I'm never sure what to put in as my current address or household status - I tend to split my time roughly 50/50 between uni (with housemates) and home-home (with family). These would have very very different levels of household income etc.

Should I just put £12,700 as my personal income and leave household blank?

Or should I put in my personal, non-family-related income (which is low), then my (much higher) parents' income in the "rest of household"..?

EDIT: Just tried both on their "quick check" tool, and it said I'm much more likely to be accepted if I admit I'm mooching off my parents. Well, that's fine with me - this looks very good! Thank you

grumbler wrote: »

Does it have to be a credit card? For Europe only you can try getting a current account with Mertrobank.

For withdrawals only you can consider Nationwide FlexPlus if you can justify paying £10p.m. for the package of benefits it offers.

This looks interesting, but there are some exclusions that would make it less desirable - for instance I may be in Russia this summer, which isn't listed, and my foreign transactions online are in USD, which isn't covered.

FlexPlus doesn't quite seem to be what I'm after - I like to pay for things by card, and I already have insurance so the £10pm wouldn't be justifiable.

It wouldn't have to be a credit card, though - that just seemed the most popular way of doing this...

Thanks a lot for your speedy responses

jonesMUFCforever

I don't think you can include student loans and parental help as income.

reclusive46

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I don't think you can include student loans and parental help as income.

Most lenders are fine with you including maintenance loans because its basically income at the time.

For the OP, I'd put your home address and for future reference try to keep all your accounts there. It doesn't look great to lenders if you have lots of addresses at one time.

creasechris

reclusive46 wrote: »

Most lenders are fine with you including maintenance loans because its basically income at the time.

For the OP, I'd put your home address and for future reference try to keep all your accounts there. It doesn't look great to lenders if you have lots of addresses at one time.

Thanks - I ended up applying for (and getting approved for) the CapitalOne Classic Extra card. I put my home address, said I was living with parents, and put my working income (i.e. just my summer internship) in my part, next to my parents' income in the "household" bit, and it was fine.

I was a bit worried because they asked for my rent and bills, which don't make sense if I'm living at home (which I am... 50% of the time). I just put them in and closed my eyes and it was fine.

Zero foreign transaction fees, here I come :T Thanks guys!

iAMaLONDONER

creasechris wrote: »

Thanks - I ended up applying for (and getting approved for) the CapitalOne Classic Extra card. I put my home address, said I was living with parents, and put my working income (i.e. just my summer internship) in my part, next to my parents' income in the "household" bit, and it was fine.

I was a bit worried because they asked for my rent and bills, which don't make sense if I'm living at home (which I am... 50% of the time). I just put them in and closed my eyes and it was fine.

Zero foreign transaction fees, here I come :T Thanks guys!

What limit did you get?

creasechris

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

What limit did you get?

Not sure yet - I put my 'minimum useful' as £400, so it should be between that and £1500, but I'll have to wait at least a week for the card and documents (including credit limit) to arrive. I'll update when it does

TheEffect

creasechris wrote: »

Not sure yet - I put my 'minimum useful' as £400, so it should be between that and £1500, but I'll have to wait at least a week for the card and documents (including credit limit) to arrive. I'll update when it does

If you wanted to know your APR and credit limit beforehand, they'll tell you over the phone.

iAMaLONDONER

creasechris wrote: »

Not sure yet - I put my 'minimum useful' as £400, so it should be between that and £1500, but I'll have to wait at least a week for the card and documents (including credit limit) to arrive. I'll update when it does

Also they should have emailed you your login details so that you can check online!