Metro Bank Account for European Travelling only query

randomname1994

Hi all,

Forgive my naivety but i've been a one account one bank kind of customer for my whole education and am trying to branch out a bit and find good deals now i've just finished uni and have a bit more money about...

Basically today i went to my local Metro bank and opened a current account to make use of the free withdrawals and purchases on their card in europe, as i'm about to spend 2 weeks in Croatia and currently bank with barclays.

while chatting to the woman opening my account, she said that the bank is cautious to not open accounts with anyone who will just use it for overseas transactions, and in the process applied some pressure for me to transfer fully from barclays inc direct debits and the like, which i'm not keen to do at the moment, i just told her that i'm wanting to try out both banks side by side and probably transfer a few months down the line.
she did a credit check, all gone through, got a card, lovely (Y)

i just wondered if theres any way of them penalising me if i do only use the card when i'm out of the country, since besides the whole european usage thing theres not really any benefit to me migrating fully over, and my nearest branch is further away than my local barclays so its a bit more of a pain depositing money into it should i migrate fully.

As far as i can see there is no minimum balance requirement in the account, no usage fees, no mandatory monthly deposit, so what i'm asking is,
now that i have the account, is there anything they can do if I do just decide to keep it for the 2 or 3 occasions a year i venture into europe and want to dodge card charges ? In particular will having an account with low usage for most of the year affect my credit rating, which i'm most concerned about, I only have 1 barclays account, a barclaycard platinum and this metro account, so i wouldnt have thought that it would be excessive ?

I submit to the knowledge of the forums however

- A

agrinnall

They can penalise you by closing the account but there's not really anything else they can do. I opened my Metro account for the same reason, although in fact I haven't been in Europe much since then so it hasn't seen much use for withdrawals. However I also used it for one of my DDs and set up a SO to transfer the amount of the DD into it from my main account a few days before, so it's being operated more as a normal account than as purely a travel account.

colsten

Don't rely on just one card whilst abroad. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

When you get back, review your banking options. There are many banks that pay interest if your current account is in credit . Barclays isn't one of them (nor is Metro). You can also earn extra money from current account switching offers.

randomname1994

@Colsten, i wont be, i have pretty much what i think i'll need already in cash from the online source i found with the best rate, its purely to use if i run out of money at a bar one night and have left money in the appartment, or run out of money on one of the last days, that i can withdraw or spend without charges as a backup.

@agrinnall after what time do you think they would close it ? like i said i'm in Europe 2 or 3 times a year so it will receive some use, but just not month to month.
i guess i could follow your example and use it for a DD, but i kind of secretly hoped i could just leave it in the back of my wallet and the account empty for a few months, then whenever i head to Europe for a few days drop a few hundred into the account via my app or online and use the metro card as normal while i'm there... if that isn't too much of a !!!! take to metro

randomname1994

interest on my current account credit is pretty negligible at the moment for me.

i'm just about to start a one year masters course and will be living month to month after paying my course fees, so not much to earn interest on....
after i finish i'll be working for a few months to get a few grand in the bank and i'll close the barclays for a santander 123 or similar for interest's sake then, but at the moment it's not necessary

colsten

If you switched to Halifax, you'd probably be entitled to a £100 switching bonus straight away. And then cash a free fiver a month from thereon in.

randomname1994

good to know colsten but again its not something i'm that interested in until i've finished my masters, would appreciate being able to keep on topic re the metro account

thanks

YorkshireBoy

randomname1994 wrote: »

would appreciate being able to keep on topic re the metro account

1. No impact on credit rating in having a little used account.

2. I've had my account 2-3 years, using it just 4-5 times a year for Euro ATM withdrawals only. Like you was pressurised somewhat into switching. Because I declined in branch they called me twice over the next week or two...presumably to get me to switch, but unfortunately I couldn't take their calls.

scattersong

randomname1994 wrote: »

while chatting to the woman opening my account, she said that the bank is cautious to not open accounts with anyone who will just use it for overseas transactions, and in the process applied some pressure for me to transfer fully from barclays inc direct debits and the like, which i'm not keen to do at the moment, i just told her that i'm wanting to try out both banks side by side and probably transfer a few months down the line.
she did a credit check, all gone through, got a card, lovely (Y)
- A

To be honest, I think it'll depend on the advisor.
The guy who opened an account for me was totally fine, and just joked that it'd be nice to get my other account switched to Metro in the future.

In theory I'm sure they could close the account if it was reviewed....but unlikely I would have thought. Doesn't hurt to set up a standing order though to your old account

randomname1994

exactly what i needed to know guys thank you all :beer:

benjus

randomname1994 wrote: »

@Colsten, i wont be, i have pretty much what i think i'll need already in cash from the online source i found with the best rate, its purely to use if i run out of money at a bar one night and have left money in the appartment, or run out of money on one of the last days, that i can withdraw or spend without charges as a backup.

Next time don't bother getting cash before you go, just use the card. There are ATMs everywhere in Croatia (as in most countries). You can take your Barclays card as backup, but don't use it unless you really have to as the rate will be a lot worse.

I have several fee-free-overseas cards (Metro Bank debit, Halifax Clarity credit, Santander Zero credit). I like having plenty of options, and it can be useful when using credit cards to separate cash withdrawals from spending by putting them on different cards.

I've had the Metro Bank account since they first opened in 2011 (I think) and the account has seen very little use, almost all of that abroad. The only minor issue was that when the original card expired they didn't send me a new one. I called them and they said it was because the account was not being used so they didn't send out a new card automatically, but didn't have a problem sending out a new card when I asked for one.