Cheapest Way To Pay Online In Foreign Currency.

strawberries1

Hello all,
Apologies if this is the wrong thread; please feel free to move it.

I need to make a payment on a website but the figure is in US Dollars. My question is what is the best way to make this payment? I called first direct and HSBC to find out what the £ figure in my statement will be and discovered that apart from the exchange rate there's a charge on top. Their exchange rates differ widely. First Direct 1.64 and HSBC is 1.82. Halifax have a £9.50 charge on top.
I had a look at the travel money page and found a Halifax credit card with might be worthwhile.
So pls, is it general cheaper to make the online payment using a debit or credit card or how else? Thank you.

dzug1

I really doubt that differential in exchange rates - HSBC may have misunderstood you. Though maybe that's inclusive of their charge which I'm sure they will make.


Debit or credit card is the best way - but from a bank with no or low charges.

Herbalus

The best way is to use the right debit or credit card. There are more credit cards than debit cards that don't charge extra on top or change the exchange rate.

You want a card that doesn't charge a load or fee for non-sterling transactions. Whether you can wait the 1-2 weeks it might take to get one of these cards is another matter.

If you can't wait, look up the costs of all of your current cards to see which is cheaper for non sterling transactions.

noh

As you have discovered the best way would be to use a Halifax Clarity credit card.

eskbanker

Not sure if it's the page you were looking at but http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges has an extensive summary of card charges for spending in non-sterling currencies. It's difficult (and arguably pretty pointless) to generalise about credit v debit cards, since there is significant variance between the charges within each, according to whose it is!

grumbler

strawberries1 wrote: »

I need to make a payment on a website but the figure is in US Dollars. My question is what is the best way to make this payment?

• Cheap Travel Cards

I called first direct and HSBC to find out what the £ figure in my statement will be and discovered that apart from the exchange rate there's a charge on top.

Nothing on the top actually. Just 2.75% for conversion.

Their exchange rates differ widely. First Direct 1.64 and HSBC is 1.82. Halifax have a £9.50 charge on top.

This is some misunderstanding or confusion.
The exchange rate is always Visa or Mastercard rate that are very close to the interbank rate. Typical charge for the conversion is 2.75-3%. Extra flat fee on purchases is uncommon, but, if charged, is unlikely to be more than £1.

I had a look at the travel money page and found a Halifax credit card with might be worthwhile.

Yes. It's Halifax Clarity, not any Halifax CC.

So pls, is it general cheaper to make the online payment using a debit or credit card or how else? Thank you.

Any debit or credit card that doesn't charge for conversion. Halifax Clarity is not the only one. All the information you need is in the above article.

strawberries1

Thank you everyone! I appreciate your contributions and I hope someone else will find this post useful.
I checked all my debit cards (I have no credit cards) and I've decided to go for the Halifax Clarity for my $ purchase and it will be useful for travelling too.