an old santander zero acc visa debit card, for free cash atm withdrawals abroad

moneysavinggirl40

To my delight i had forgotten i still had a valid Santander Zero visa debit card. Secure messaging with Santander have confirmed that i can have free cash withdrawals abroad as long as i check merchants do not charge. I had £3 in it and an esaver with a few pounds. This is even better than my clarity card that i recently sorted out for my travels.

moneysavinggirl40

For those who are interest in the reply from santander secure messaging.

Thank you for your email.
The interest rate on the Zero Current Account is 1.00% AER/gross (variable).
We do not pay interest if you pay in less than £1,000 each month. The £1,000 does not include interest or refunded amounts from using your Visa debit card. Interest and transfers into the account from another Santander account in your name (whether in just your name or in joint names with another account holder) do not count towards your monthly amount.
All our debit cards have Santander on them and do not have the type of current account they are attached to on them.
There is no fee for using the Zero Current Account debit card for buying goods and services and withdrawing from a cash machine or abroad.

Gizmo247

I keep my Clarity card as my "back at the hotel" backup card. So if I get my wallet stolen I can still buy stuff and get cash cheaply. For everyday use abroad that still leaves me with 2 current account and 3 other credit cards all commission and fee free :-)

moneysavinggirl40

Funny, i spent last week applying for a clarity card thinking that it was the best around for what i needed it to do when i travel, so now i have it, i was pleased. i thought it best to take a back up card, went on to mse from a useful link posted on forum. Surprised to find that my old santander zero acc visa debit would do just fine as main card and the clarity as back up card. Just need to transfer funds into it, which i'll do closer to the time of travel. I suppose clarity is good for internet fraud protection but doesn't seem to have free purchase protection. does the zero santander visa debit card have any protection?

Gizmo247

True, a Zero debit card does not have the purchase protection of the Clarity card but then I would recommend you only use the Zero card for ATM withdrawals and the Clarity card for purchases.

You can always fall back onto the Clarity card for ATM withdrawals if you have no other choice (e.g blocked Zero card or run out of Zero account funds).

Using a credit card in an ATM should be your last resort if there are cheaper avenues available and taking a cash advance from a credit card can only be looked on as a negative thing.

moneysavinggirl40

so true. Great to see that you would do what I would do. ATM with Zero debit for euro withdrawals and purchases with Clarity credit card; to be paid off in full when statement comes to avoid charges.