Barclaycard reward confusion

Sncjw

So we are due to go away soon and we need Bulgarian Lev. 

I have just got a Barclaycard reward card. I looked the leaflet but was confused about the rate of interest as it states 26.18 percent per year if o do cash withdrawals and buying currency. But it says 0 percent fees on cash transaction and non sterling purchase so I'm confused..

Anyways we are wanting to take a small amount of cash in Lev just in case we need it. We are going all inclusive for 2 weeks and prpbabalt go to nessbar for the day so would need money then. 

How well are the card.paymenrs over there. First time taking a card. I will take my Halifax clairty card as a back up too.

Thank you 

eDicky

The non-sterling fees (zero) and the annual interest rate are two completely different things. No interest is payable on purchases or cash withdrawals with the Barclaycard Reward card as long as you pay in full by the due date. The Halifax Clarity differs with cash withdrawals, which incur daily interest until paid.

So you can just take your lev from an ATM on arrival. If you do want to buy some in advance in the UK there will be no advantage in using the Barclaycard, the rates will be set by the bureau and be considerably worse that the Visa rate with your card (on the same day).

cymruchris

As above - I recently went to Germany and didn't have enough Euros in cash - so I withdrew some at an ATM using my BC Rewards card. I also used it for all of my card purchases while there (restaurants, petrol, parking etc) - then once the cash transaction had registered on my account, I transferred funds from my current account to pay it off. There were no fees, there was no interest. The foreign exchange transactions also had no fees. You only pay interest if you carry a balance from month to month.

Sncjw

Thank you so much. My partner wants to take some Lev with him but there's a ATM in the hotel. So we will use that if we don't feel comfortable paying by card esp the small sellers on the sunny beach strip 

Sncjw

So its suas there's interest on cash withdrawal. Doesn't that mean the atm

cymruchris

No fees or interest on foreign cash withdrawals by BC as long as you pay the whole card balance in full by the payment date. (I imagine there's a chance the atm operator will charge - a bit like some uk atm's - so watch the screen carefully)

Grumpy_chap

This is good to know.  
Take cash out locally in destination.  Benefit from card exchange rate (usually favourable interbank rate).
No fees or interest.
Has to be the cheapest way to get cash.

cymruchris

Grumpy_chap said:

This is good to know.  
Take cash out locally in destination.  Benefit from card exchange rate (usually favourable interbank rate).
No fees or interest.
Has to be the cheapest way to get cash.

Totally yes!

john1488786

Sncjw said:

So its suas there's interest on cash withdrawal. Doesn't that mean the atm

Only for UK ATM cash withdrawls in GBP.

Grumpy_chap

cymruchris said:

Grumpy_chap said:

This is good to know.  
Take cash out locally in destination.  Benefit from card exchange rate (usually favourable interbank rate).
No fees or interest.
Has to be the cheapest way to get cash.

Totally yes!

So, I remember this thread and came back to check as I will be in EUROland next week.

The website seems to confirm what is said:
"No fees abroad
You’ll be able to withdraw cash from an ATM or buy your souvenirs without any charges and benefit from Visa’s competitive exchange rate."

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/barclaycard-rewards?WT.mc_id=C035L011N91_Ads&WT.srch=1&TC=GGL0870002&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2f7gyOjo_QIVTevtCh2ivQSyEAAYASABEgKJJfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Can anyone confirm that is definitely not treated as a cash advance, which would incur costs?

And I can use the card at any ATM abroad?  Are there free ATM's like we have here?

It seems too good to be true.

Gerry1

Yes, it really does work that way.  Free ATMs are very common (unlike the USA, where even a balance enquiry can be chargeable), just look for a popular bank branch.

The Visa rate is usually a whisker below MasterCard's but that's offset by the cashback on purchases and being able to let the whole-amount DD take care of it automatically in due course.

Remember to insist on paying in euros (some places may try to set the terminal to £ to get a kickback) and never withdraw £s in the UK.  Make sure you have another card for fallback, preferably MasterCard.

Enjoy your trip !

Addendum

I made a big fuss at Lunch Garden in Belgium when they insisted that it was impossible to pay in euros.  Called the manager but he still said that it had to be ££.

Eventually I experimented with the fixed terminal and found that one button offered the option to choose euros.  Great satisfaction in proving them all wrong!

Addendum 2

Withdrawing euos at an ATM in Europe IS a cash advance but there's no fee, no foreign loading and no interest provided that the statement is paid in full by the due date.