Travel Money: Debit Card beats TC's ?!

khblue

After reading about a bit I expected that travellers cheques from Marks and Spencer would beat Debit Card hands down for spending in the USA. But then I came across a page on Barclay's site from 2004 that compared a shop transaction in the USA to their own exchange rate for US Dollar cash/travellers cheques. The Debit Card won, which surprised with the 2.75% loading.
So I did a calculation for myself.

Today the interbank rate from hifx.co.uk/marketwatch.aspx is $2.05 per £.
Visa will deduct 1%, then Barclay's will subtract 2.75%; a total of 3.75% off the interbank rate.
This brings the exchange rate of the shop transaction down to $1.97 per £.
But this is still better than the M&S rate of 1.96.

Did I miss something or is spending on a Debit card in a shop actually cheaper than buying US Dollars or Travellers Cheques before going ?

hammy_the_hammer

by using the following formula 7a(x+12)(4x-3y)=£(x$-4y#)
you can deduce that for foreign transactions you are better getting a nationwide flex account for cash and a nationwide credit card for purchases

photome

What hammy is trying to tell you is tha if you had read http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/ you would not have had to do any calculations as the nationwide dont make any charges

khblue

Yes, I know, I've read it and have a brain.
However, I'm flying on Friday so that is not going to happen.....
So, rather than taking the easy option of being sarcastic, maybe you could tell me whether my calculation is correct or if, as per the original question asked "Did I miss something?"
Thanks

hammy_the_hammer

i'm not a barclays customer so will pass on that one . i'm pretty sure they have a deal with bank of america so you can withdraw money without being overloaded with too many additional charges

khblue

Yes, they do. It's called the 'Global Alliance' of banks and eliminates the 2% surcharge on cash withdrawals from ATMs. Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and a few others.
Still the 2.75% loading but this seems better than buying travellers cheques here, which I find amazing!
Maybe I've missed a trick with the way Visa calculate their exchange rates or something.

photome

khblue wrote: »

Yes, I know, I've read it and have a brain.
However, I'm flying on Friday so that is not going to happen.....
So, rather than taking the easy option of being sarcastic, maybe you could tell me whether my calculation is correct or if, as per the original question asked "Did I miss something?"
Thanks

You didnt say you were travelling on friday so I was pointing you in the right direction, I see you have been a member on here for a while, it is a shame you didnt read it sooner and apply for a nationwide account.

cant help you now tho sorry