FairFX

Guss

I was thinking of getting a FairFX card 'Anywhere Card' and on initial look here it seemed pretty straightforward.

When I read this page it all seemed pretty straightforward to me. This is how I interpreted this extract from the page above regarding what charges I would face....

• The standard card fee is £9.95 for initial loads under £500
• A 1.4% charge is made on international or UK point of sale transactions.
• International ATM withdrawals also incur a £1 charge. UK ATM withdrawals incur a flat £1.50 charge (no additional 1.4%).***

Okay from this they seem to be saying that if you buy something in a shop using your card you will be charged a fee of 1.4%.

International ATM withdrawals will incur a £1 fee no matter the amount unless you are at home and it will cost £1.50.


When I emailed them for clarification this is what they said....

Thank you for your email.

We would recommend our anywhere card.

The Anywhere Card is loaded with Pound-Sterling and will work at almost any ATM or POS in the world that accepts MasterCard. If using outside the UK, exchange rate is determined at the time you spend from the card and the funds are converted from pounds into the local currency of the country in which you are spending. The exchange rate is the MasterCard wholesale exchange rate. This card has a 1.4% transaction fee for all overseas usage, in addition there is a £1.00 fee for overseas ATM withdrawals.

Then I asked for further clarification....

You said << This card has a 1.4% transaction fee for all overseas usage, in addition there is a £1.00 fee for overseas ATM withdrawals.>>

In the description of the Anywhere Card on your website it does not say this....see here it says....

A 1.4% charge is made on international or UK point of sale transactions.
International ATM withdrawals also incur a £1 charge. UK ATM withdrawals incur a flat £1.50 charge (no additional 1.4%).***

If I withdraw from an ATM why am I being charged 1.4% plus £1.00, this is not a POS transaction. Please clarify. Above description clearly states the only charge when using an ATM abroad in the £1 charge.

Regards

and they replied....

Thank you for your email.

When you use our Anywhere card abroad there is a 1.4% out of currency fee when you withdraw plus a £1 withdrawal fee.

When the card is used at a POS there is only a 1.4% out of currency fee.

Please contact us if you need any further assistance or information.

Am I obtuse here or are they being purposely unclear in their rush to sell this card? I'm quite annoyed about this as I was ready to pull the trigger on this card and nearly did. AFAIC they are not being fortright about their charges.

I'm off to Thailand for nearly 5 months so have decided to bring a wedge of sterling with me and just open an account there where I will get a very good rate. If anyone had any better ideas that would be appreciated. Unfortunately my credit rating isn't great so any great credit cards for use abroad are out.

ferf1223

Guss wrote: »

• A 1.4% charge is made on international or UK point of sale transactions.
• International ATM withdrawals also incur a £1 charge .

I read the 'also' as 'in addition to the 1.4%'.

NiftyDigits

You also missed;

FX Fee (when card used out of card currency) 1.40% for Euro, US Dollar and £ Anywhere Cards

This card has a 1.4% transaction fee for all overseas usage, in addition there is a £1.00 fee for overseas ATM withdrawals.

I think they try to be as clear as possible. More likely the OP's wishful thinking.

Perhaps they should consider the Kalixa Pay instead, using a Promo Code to waive the initial £6.95 card fee or just going through via MoneySuperMarket.
With no fees on purchases at all and a flat fee for ATM withdrawals, it's a good backup card.
Withdrawing the max (around 15000 baht) from an AEON ATM will result in charges of around 0.8%.

So a good option, together with a local bank account.

If sticking with FairFx, ThisIsMoney and Opodo have link that waive the FairFx card fee, as does MoneySuperMarket

Guss

ferf1223 wrote: »

I read the 'also' as 'in addition to the 1.4%'.

• A 1.4% charge is made on international or UK point of sale transactions.
• International ATM withdrawals also incur a £1 charge .

I disagree, the first bullet relates to POS txns only.

The second bullet relates to ATM txns and throws in an also to confuse the issue??? Baffled by their wording.

They don't make as easy as they could. The above bulleted points are open to interpretation and they seem to have left it hanging.


What was wrong with saying....??????????????

• A 1.4% charge is made on international or UK point of sale and ATM transactions.
• International ATM withdrawals also incur a £1 charge .

Guss

NiftyDigits wrote: »

You also missed;





I think they try to be as clear as possible. More likely the OP's wishful thinking.

Perhaps they should consider the Kalixa Pay instead, using a Promo Code to waive the initial £6.95 card fee or just going through via MoneySuperMarket.
With no fees on purchases at all and a flat fee for ATM withdrawals, it's a good backup card.
Withdrawing the max (around 15000 baht) from an AEON ATM will result in charges of around 0.8%.

So a good option, together with a local bank account.

If sticking with FairFx, ThisIsMoney and Opodo have link that waive the FairFx card fee, as does MoneySuperMarket

Completely disagree with you. I'm interpreting it exactly as its written. Please see my previous post on how they could have cleared that up very easily

NiftyDigits

No one else appears to be confused and I've given you a better option anyway.
So how about you stop wasting yours and everyone else's time?

[URL="Vhttp://www.fairfx.com/whatitcosts"]Have a look here[/URL]


But just to humour you....

A 1.4% charge is made on international or UK point of sale transactions.
International ATM withdrawals also incur a £1 charge. UK ATM withdrawals incur a flat £1.50 charge (no additional 1.4%)

Note that it is written that there is no additional 1.4% charge for UK ATM withdrawal.
That should have given you a clue.

To make it absolutely clear, they can just add the word usage after International.
But in the end, you saw what you wanted to see.

Guss

NiftyDigits wrote: »

No one else appears to be confused and I've given you a better option anyway.
So how about you stop wasting yours and everyone else's time?

[URL="Vhttp://www.fairfx.com/whatitcosts"]Have a look here[/URL]


But just to humour you....



Note that it is written that there is no additional 1.4% charge for UK ATM withdrawal.
That should have given you a clue.

To make it absolutely clear, they can just add the word usage after International.
But in the end, you saw what you wanted to see.

Clicked on your link which led me to a blank page. Very useful. Plank!

I am simply going by the wording provided. If I've been misled or misinterpreted do you not think others will be as well or are you too narrow minded.

Do me a favour don't contribute to any further queries I may have on such topics. Now unsubscribing from this thread :eek: