using atms abroad

money_saving_mummy_2

We are going to Majorca on 25th October and have got our Nationwide flex account card and credit card at the ready. My question is do the banks abroad charge for using their cash machines? Are there ones that don't so you can avoid the charge if the others do and do they charge a percentage or flat rate? Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you.

ManAtHome

Pretty sure at least most if not all banks ATMs don't charge for Nationwide cards. I go to Greece a lot more than Spain, but haven't been charged for any ATM so far (non-bank ones will be a different matter).

Get your euros with the Flex card, buy stuff with the CC and you should be Ok (although most places in euroland charge an extra couple of percent if you bu ciggies with either card).

Donnie

Watch out for any cash machine and shop transactions(esp. in Spain) where they try to charge you in £s instead of Euros. Always select Euros as the transaction currency.

bagand96

You shouldn't get charged by the bank abroad. As long as you use machines that belong to the big Spanish banks, its usually obvious when they belong to the big banks, as it is in the UK.

I echo what Donnie said. I was in Barcelona in September, and a few of the machines (especially bank Santander ones) did ask "would you like to be billed in £ Sterling". ALWAYS select no, be billed in Euro's. If you select £, the bank will do its own conversion rate, including some comission for themselves. If its Euro's, Nationwide do the conversion, and as we know, they don't charge or add comission.

Barter

I've got Nationwide Credit & Debit Cards, & use them in Europe a lot. My main tip is to double-check which you are using where & when: because they look fairly similar I have, 2 or 3 times over the years, used my CC at the ATM, & that's 2 or 3 cash advance fees too many!

I did ask if they had any designs that were different but no, they only come in shades of watery-patterned blue.

luci

I've used my N/W cards all over the world and the only place I've been where the ATM imposes its own fee is in Las Vegas, usually $4.00 - $4.99.

I'm lucky that my N/W credit card is a gold card so no chance of getting them mixed up!

Party_Animal

I've never been charged yet all over the world. I am wary of not converting to pounds as mentioned above. Did I read somewher that NW, themselves, were going to start charging for drawing money abroad?

ManAtHome

Barter wrote: »

I did ask if they had any designs that were different but no, they only come in shades of watery-patterned blue.

The Comic Relief credit card is a nice metallic red.

dzug

Party_Animal wrote: »

I've never been charged yet all over the world. I am wary of not converting to pounds as mentioned above. Did I read somewher that NW, themselves, were going to start charging for drawing money abroad?

You did - but in a different context. They are introducing (well increasing actually) a cash advance fee on their credit cards. Debit cards are not affected, and credit cards still benefit from the same exchange rate.

zenmaster

Donnie wrote: »

Watch out for any cash machine and shop transactions(esp. in Spain) where they try to charge you in £s instead of Euros. Always select Euros as the transaction currency.

bagand96 wrote: »

I echo what Donnie said. I was in Barcelona in September, and a few of the machines (especially bank Santander ones) did ask "would you like to be billed in £ Sterling". ALWAYS select no, be billed in Euro's. If you select £, the bank will do its own conversion rate, including some comission for themselves. If its Euro's, Nationwide do the conversion, and as we know, they don't charge or add comission.

When I was in Spain in the summer ALL the ATMs I used offered the Euro/Sterling option but always showed the conversion rate and what the charge would be in £. In many cases this was a very favourable rate.

Donnie

:rolleyes: Favourable? Is this your first time on this forum?