Halifax Clarity Euro ATM withdrawal in UK.

ineedclarity

This is what is on Halifax`s website,

How much will I be charged for withdrawing cash abroad?

You will not be charged a fee by us for withdrawing cash from an ATM (cashpoint) anywhere in the world.

Does anywhere in the world include the UK?

What I am trying to figure out is this. There are cash machines in Glasgow that will dispense Euros as well as sterling. Can I withdraw Euros before I go to Greece to take advantage of the better rate from Mastercard and pay it off without any penalty?

dj1471

Per the website there are no fees for cash withdrawals.

If the ATM will allow you to withdraw Euros and will bill your card in Euros, rather than forcing you to use their exchange rate, then that will work.

But why not just withdraw in Greece?

ineedclarity

I need to pay for car hire on arrival in Greece and there is a 2% CC charge.

eDicky

ineedclarity wrote: »

You will not be charged a fee by us for withdrawing cash from an ATM (cashpoint) anywhere in the world.

Does anywhere in the world include the UK?

Yes, you can withdraw the local currency without fees also in UK.

Most multi-currency ATMs in the UK will do their own conversion from pounds to euros or whatever, at terrible exchange rates.

The only exception is MoneyCorp ATMs, which give the option of 'Without Conversion' to allow your card to do the conversion.

Who owns the cash machines that you refer to?

eDicky

ineedclarity wrote: »

I need to pay for car hire on arrival in Greece and there is a 2% CC charge.

There's almost certainly an ATM in the airport arrivals hall. Does the hire firm accept cash?

PeacefulWaters

To be honest, I'd take the 2% hit and pay by credit card anyway.

Chargeback and S75 rights v a somewhat consumer unfriendly car hire industry sounds good.

benjus

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Chargeback and S75 rights v a somewhat consumer unfriendly car hire industry sounds good.

Not giving them a credit card to charge from at some point in the future sounds even better.

zagfles

benjus wrote: »

Not giving them a credit card to charge from at some point in the future sounds even better.

Exactly - I always pay cash for car hire whereever possible.

zagfles

ineedclarity wrote: »

This is what is on Halifax`s website,

How much will I be charged for withdrawing cash abroad?

You will not be charged a fee by us for withdrawing cash from an ATM (cashpoint) anywhere in the world.

Does anywhere in the world include the UK?

What I am trying to figure out is this. There are cash machines in Glasgow that will dispense Euros as well as sterling. Can I withdraw Euros before I go to Greece to take advantage of the better rate from Mastercard and pay it off without any penalty?

The problem isn't Halifax. The problem is that when you use a Euro cash machine in the UK they will usually force you accept their exchange rate and charge your card in GBP. The rate they use is almost always a complete rip-off, like a 10%+ markup in the rate. As eDicky says MoneyCorp are a rare exception.

When using your card abroad, the ATM may offer you the option of converting the currency and charging your card in GBP, but you will always get the choice of declining their rate and getting charged in EUR, which you should do so you get the MasterCard rate.

Just use an ATM at the arrival airport. Though watch out for low'ish ATM limits in some countries - not sure about Greece but some countries tend to limit ATM withdrawals to around EUR200 or so.

Biggles

Why would you withdraw Euros in Glasgow (even if you did get the MasterCard exchange rate, though you're more likely to get the bank's own poor exchange rate, as pointed out above), when you can withdraw in Greece and get the MasterCard exchange rate?