Debit card for withdrawing ca$h (outside Europe)

DirkLewis

The £200 withdrawal limit per month then 3% on the non Starling cards is certainly a bit sneaky.


Though just in case the Starling failed I could use one as a short-term back-up. If they all fail I'll just have to hope that Morning Fresh is still acceptable.

EveryWhere

DirkLewis wrote: »

The £200 withdrawal limit per month then 3% on the non Starling cards is certainly a bit sneaky.


Though just in case the Starling failed I could use one as a short-term back-up. If they all fail I'll just have to hope that Morning Fresh is still acceptable.

Doesn't apply to Loot.io, just Revolut and Monzo.

colinw

Halifax Clarity for me with Nationwide Debit card as a backup

EveryWhere

colinw wrote: »

Halifax Clarity for me with Nationwide Debit card as a backup

Why would this be useful?

londoninvestor

EveryWhere wrote: »

Why would this be useful?

If you have the FlexPlus (not the FlexAccount or FlexDirect) then cash withdrawals are at Visa rate with no surcharge.

Purchases do have the surcharge with that card. Though if you have the Nationwide Select credit card, you could use that for your purchases, and the FlexPlus debit card for your cash withdrawals, and do everything at Visa rate.

I can't see that it would be worth paying the FlexPlus monthly fee just for this benefit though, when there are alternatives that have no monthly fee and are just as good value for cash withdrawals.

benjus

EveryWhere wrote: »

Why would this be useful?

Any card at all is useful as backup. Ok it's better if you have two or more fee-free cards, but even a bad card is far better than being stuck without any means of getting cash or paying for things.

EveryWhere

londoninvestor wrote: »

If you have the FlexPlus (not the FlexAccount or FlexDirect) then cash withdrawals are at Visa rate with no surcharge.

Purchases do have the surcharge with that card. Though if you have the Nationwide Select credit card, you could use that for your purchases, and the FlexPlus debit card for your cash withdrawals, and do everything at Visa rate.

I can't see that it would be worth paying the FlexPlus monthly fee just for this benefit though, when there are alternatives that have no monthly fee and are just as good value for cash withdrawals.

I know all about the FlexPlus, but I asked colinw.

EveryWhere

benjus wrote: »

Any card at all is useful as backup. Ok it's better if you have two or more fee-free cards, but even a bad card is far better than being stuck without any means of getting cash or paying for things.

But what's the point of mentioning a so so card? It is certainly not recommended for a card for withdrawing cash(outside Europe).
So I really don't see the point of the post at all....

Tim_tothepoints_

Another option could be a Curve Card linked to your exist debit card - Curve is a debit MasterCard and has no foreign exchange fees.

Although the free card has a 1% fee for any foreign currency spend over £500 in a rolling month.

benjus

Another thing to bear in mind is ATM charges. Last time I was in Argentina it was at least 4% to withdraw cash at an ATM, and I don't think it's changed. I'm not sure about the other countries you're going to as it's a long time since I visited any of them. You can do better by taking USD cash and changing it, but then you open yourself up to the risks of carrying lots of cash and potentially dodgy money changers.

It might be worth doing some research around this... e.g. if you're going from Chile to Argentina and if Chile allows you to withdraw USD cash without a fee (ATMs dispensing USD cash are moderately common in South America) then you could withdraw some before you cross the border.