Halifax Clarity Foreign Exchange Rates on MSE

Alexd52

edwal13 wrote: »

Yes Alexd52 is also talking about a Starling debit card but surely this is dependent on having an actual bank account with Starling?

I have a perfectly good current account arrangement with Barclays and a visa debit card plus I use that account for supporting Paypal transactions too.

And then the Halifax Clarity Mastercard is for TAKING ABROAD for best rate on the day for cash withdrawals and purchases. And here at MSE that very card is their current best buy.

A Starling debit card would be no good to me because it's not a acceptable guarantee for purchase of things like car hire or hotel accounts. Nobody accepts debit cards for such transactions. A debit card guarantees nothing. A credit card does.

Just to add to regarding bank accounts, I too have a perfectly good account with a traditional bank, I do, though, have the Starling bank account for use abroad to take advantage of the mastercard rate and zero loading on foreign transactions. I just transfer across what I need from my main bank account and use as required. Also, when travelling abroad, it is useful to have a backup in case one card doesn't work for example

edwal13

Yeah that Mastercard rate pops its head up again no matter how people obtain it in different ways! And what was said about Starling ...it was app based? That wouldn't work for me because I don't use a roaming 24/7 connection. We have found that because we draw so little actual cash from the ATM where we would be charged a little interest on that uncleared amount that the interest remains ''so little'' because it doesn't attach to goods and services bought using, in this case Clarity ...and remembering to pay the thing off very quickly before interests starts to attach.

edwal13

Nothing like subject matter to get your teeth into and progress some research and education!!!

So look here .... http://www.spain-car-rental.com/debit-card-car-rental-spain.php

This is car rental specifically in Spain using the debit ... not credit .... card!!!!! Seems to have been available since at least summer of 2016. I'm a frequent fly-driver to Spain ... (and France, Italy, Thailand and Portugal) and no-one ever pointed me towards this at any time I was booking car hire. The reviews are positive. I have no way of understanding how it would work in practice taking into consideration why in the past the credit card way forward was in the main the only route.

Small print and conditions pasted below. The debit card acceptance is based on one thing .....taking THEIR Super Relax cover ... and then it starts to get well expensive against us obtaining an excess cover policy before we go at around £50 a year for multiple trips ... on which to claim if needs be ... and not taking the hire company cover at the desk that often will double your actual hire of car fee.

Have no idea how they secure your excess deposit OR excess waiver insurance against a debit card that might have a zero amount in the account to which it attaches. That's why they usually take it from a credit card that guarantees that 1000 quid deposit!!! Again pros and cons and swings and roundabouts ...


Major debit cards are accepted as long as the Super Relax cover is contracted.
EXCESS DEPOSIT / EXCESS WAIVER INSURANCE / SECURITY DEPOSIT

Unless booked at Goldcar's Super Relax inclusive rate, an excess deposit OR excess waiver insurance will be required.

Excess deposit
Groups AA, BB, CC, S, X: 1100€ excess liability, 1100€ deposit held
Groups D, DD, E, F, FF, L, LL, R, T: 1400€ excess liability, 1400€ deposit held
Groups G, I, J, JJ, K, P, PP: 2000€ excess liability, 2000€ deposit held

Goldcar offer, on collection, additional cover to waive the excess deposit. As follows:

Excess waiver insurance
Super Relax cover ((waives excess deposit and includes tyres, glass, undercarriage, clutch, keys, etc.):

fifeken

You've mentioned Thailand twice now, and that you're a frequent and recent visitor. How do you deal with the ATM fees if you're making frequent Clarity Card withdrawals?

edwal13

I was specifically speaking about car hire in Thailand ... and Spain, France, Italy and Portugal... has always needed a credit card not debit card to cover the excess guarantee with hire companies we use. And when making supermarket etc. purchases in Thailand we always seem to need to tell the check-out we want the transaction in Bhatt and not GBP otherwise you'll get it at their rate and not the preferential Mastercard rate. Some countries are very aware that charging you in GBP is an advantage to them but you have to say no ... in local currency please .... otherwise you might find it's cost you more because you did what is effectively an exchange transaction at point of purchase. Europe is usually different though we did have one supermarket in Portugal this last time ask us ...euros or pounds ....And we never do ''frequent'' cash withdrawals from ATMs anywhere in the world but pay with the plastic everywhere we can so if we were inadvertently charged an ATM fee we'd have to take it on the chin but make sure we did it as infrequently as possible. In truth we need very little hard cash in our pockets anywhere we go. Just like here now, I do very little in the way of cash transactions and do use my debit card for weekly shopping, fuel, eating out, other occasional purchases, in fact every time I can, including a lot of on-line stuff using Paypal and credit card too. When I was self employed and paid in cash I used it all the time. I don't need cash very often any more like many have changed their habits and now use plastic more and more often Cheers!

fifeken

edwal13 wrote: »

There is no fee for drawing money out of the wall anywhere I've been in recent years ..... France, Spain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Italy, Portugal, Austria ....on Halifax Clarity. To suggest otherwise is incorrect.....your own debit card might well work the same but until you actually show me evidence that there is a better rate with no charges at all attaching then the Clarity rate is always the best for me and most others ....for whatever reason.

edwal13 wrote: »

I was specifically speaking about car hire in Thailand ... and Spain, France, Italy and Portugal... has always needed a credit card not debit card to cover the excess guarantee with hire companies we use.

You specifically mentioned "drawing money out of the wall" and with the amount of street vendors and markets in Thailand it's difficult to not use cash. Also the ATM fee would not be "inadvertently charged" as you have to confirm you accept it. That's why I mentioned it as your posts seem quite confused.

The DCC stuff is common in many places but irrelevant to my question.

edwal13

What do you know about what I spend using cash anywhere? You make the mistake of presuming I do what you do in street markets and with street vendors! Discussion over!

fifeken

edwal13 wrote: »

Discussion over!

Fortunately until such time as the thread is closed the discussion may continue.

It appears you missed the essence of my post which was not about what you spend your hard cash on, and it could be drugs and hookers for all I know or care. Street vendors and markets were just arbitrary examples of some possibilities.

You had posted upthread that you made recent cash withdrawals in Thailand and my question was "how do you deal with the ATM fees if you're making frequent Clarity Card withdrawals?" Even if they're not so frequent they still cost over £5 each time, the ATMs insist you acknowledge the charge each time and I was curious how you managed these given your propensity for money saving?

fewcloudy

fifeken wrote: »

Fortunately until such time as the thread is closed the discussion may continue.

It appears you missed the essence of my post which was not about what you spend your hard cash on, and it could be drugs and hookers for all I know or care. Street vendors and markets were just arbitrary examples of some possibilities.

You had posted upthread that you made recent cash withdrawals in Thailand and my question was "how do you deal with the ATM fees if you're making frequent Clarity Card withdrawals?" Even if they're not so frequent they still cost over £5 each time, the ATMs insist you acknowledge the charge each time and I was curious how you managed these given your propensity for money saving?

I was in Thailand last year and found the fees charged by ATM's over there were unavoidable, regardless of the bank/issuer/debit/credit etc.

It was 220 baht every withdrawal, regardless of the amount I withdrew.
My rather feeble strategy to deal with this was to make a larger withdrawal (20000 baht) that I would normally do, to ensure less withdrawals, and therefore less 220 baht fees.

fifeken

fewcloudy wrote: »

I was in Thailand last year and found the fees charged by ATM's over there were unavoidable, regardless of the bank/issuer/debit/credit etc.

It was 220 baht every withdrawal, regardless of the amount I withdrew.
My rather feeble strategy to deal with this was to make a larger withdrawal (20000 baht) that I would normally do, to ensure less withdrawals, and therefore less 220 baht fees.

Apologies for the delay in replying, its been a busy time of year and I was so hoping edwal13 would come back with one of his pearls of wisdom. He's been on line but hasn't graced us with an update here, which is disappointing given his wealth of knowledge, or maybe he was just bludging.

Anyway, if you do return to Thailand and want to avoid the ATM fee, try going into a branch and asking for a cash advance over the counter. Some will direct you to the ATM but some will take your card and process a cash advance with no 220 baht fee.

Slightly less beneficial is to withdraw at an Aeon Bank ATM which has a slightly lower fee. Unfortunately they're not as widespread as the major Thai banks.