Cash machine charges abroad

SamTheGreenCat

Hi been travelling around Europe now for sevens months ,living off savings and money from my rented out apartment . I have a visa debit and a visa credit card ( never used before ) .Had been using the visa DEBIT card now in France for five months .No problems ! ( Except for an extortianate charge of 15 pounds for each transaction ! ) Yes FIFTEEN pounds for getting hold of my own money ! Even where the cash machine had a Link Plus sign on it or was a HSBC cash machine. Some rubbish on my account statement about a non standard transaction fee ! ) Anyhow I thought I can get by .Take as much out as possible each time ( generally restricted to £480 ,but managed £600 on one occassion) .Vowed not waste money on stupid things . Most of the time I was working and was not paying for my food (weekends / days off excepted ) I will make a withdrawl every two months .Anyhow back to the present ! I arrived in Italy about four-five weeks ago ,did not needed to make a withdrawl as I had plenty of cash ! getting low now so I go to the cash machine yesterday .Comes up every cash machine I try " You are restricted to 250 Euros ". Finally I give up I need the cash now I .will have to have the 250 Euros .Click to confirm.It comes up " This card is not cleared for international transaction "! What the hell ! I have been using this card now for FIVE months in France ,Now I am desperate .So my only option is to try the Visa CREDIT card ,never used before ! It clears but I only get 250 euros ! Will I be charged heavily on this Credit card for this withdrawl ? Does it come straight out of my account or is it a charge on the Card .Do any charges have to be paid by off the end of the month? Cash machine charges abroad leave me fuming .they are just a way of ripping people off! What independent body can I complain to ?

grumbler

£15 for a transaction?! This had to be a really big transaction...
HSBC charge 2.75% for purchases and extra 2%, max. £5 for ATMs.
Can you not pay by a card for most things?

MSE articles:

• Your Card: Overseas Charges, What does your card charge?
• Top Travel Spending Cards

With regard to "not cleared", ask HSBC.

colsten

You won't like this but cash withdrawals with credit cards are usually very costly as they charge a cash advance fee. If you don't pay it off as soon as you get your statement (or earlier, preferably), you get hit with further charges. Refer to the charges published by your provider.

It's a shame you didn't do your homework before you left, and got yourself better cards. A bit late now.

You cannot complain to anyone if your card provider charges the published charges.

pinkdalek

Colsten is right, you should have researched before you travelled.

Looked into getting a preloaded travel card and a credit card that has no charges abroad e.g. Halifax Clarity (and is reasonable for cash withdrawals).

For complaints, you need to complain to your bank first, if they are unable to resolve your complaint in the set deadlines then you would take it to the Financial Ombudsman.

agrinnall

You haven't actually told us who your card issuer is, although you've mentioned HSBC ATMs it's not clear whether your cards are from HSBC.

There's almost no chance that an ATM withdrawal of the amounts you mention will cost £15 so I think you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick somewhere.

Your only real complaint is with your debit card issuer for the failure of the card to work in Italy when it has already worked in France (and to avoid this situation you should always take at least 2 debit cards and 2 credits cards, preferably a mix of VISA/Mastercard/other providers). Everything else is down to your lack of research before setting off.

Westie983

You are using a UK bank account in a non UK cash point, I can only assume you didnt tell your bank that you were going abroad especially as it sounds like you are working abroad now. Due to this your bank has restricted your access as a procausion as they may think that your card has been skimmed or stolen, especially as you were using french cash machines then moved onto italian ones. That would raise suspicions.

in relation to your question about the cost of using your credit card in the ATM, this will cost you a cash withdrawal fee, the cost of this varies from credit card providers and as you haven't said who the provider is its hard to tell you the cost, but it could be as high as 35%. You wil be charged this amount from the date of the withdrawal till it is paid in full, (luckily credit cards now apply any payments to the highest paying interest fee first so this would go to the cash advance, then any other payment will go towards paying of any money that was already billed)

you will need to contact your bank to inform them that you are working abroad or indeed if you are living abroad you will need to update your living circumstances.

As others have said I would also ask them about the cost of the withdrawals as £15 per transactions sounds very high as many bank accounts charge a non sterling transaction fee of 1.50 ish and the exchange rate which can vary but around 2.25%...

meer53

I don't know any bank that charges £15 for an ATM withdrawal, you need to check that with your bank. You also need to let your bank know you are living/working abroad or you may find your card doesn't work at all. Anywhere.

grumbler

meer53 wrote: »

I don't know any bank that charges £15 for an ATM withdrawal

£350*2.99%+£4.50=£14.96
Lloyds/TSB

grumbler

Westie983 wrote: »

...this will cost you a cash withdrawal fee, ...it could be as high as 35%.

35% fee?!....
If you mean withdrawing a fiver, then for a CC it can be more than 100% theoretically.

You wil be charged this amount from the date of the withdrawal till it is paid in full,

This sounds like interest, not fee. The interest can be even higher than 35%.

the exchange rate which can vary but around 2.25%...

2.75% is far more typical with very few exceptions.

System

If you have access to internet (or telephone) banking

It's probably worth transferring the value of your ATM withdrawal (and any fees charged) over to your credit card ASAP.

This should minimise any interest charged.

SamTheGreenCat

Yes with LLoyds Bank .Stupidy didn,t think it was necessary to tell them I was travelling abroad for a long time!