Foreign Transaction Fee for Euros bought in UK with a Debit card?

Daliah

jackieblack said:

Daliah said:

Neil49 said:

My wife recently bought some Norwegian Kroner from a Tesco bureau de change online using her Lloyds debit card and there was no foreign transaction fee. 

On a personal note I never buy foreign currency in the UK. I wait until I arrive abroad and use my Monzo or Halifax Clarity card to withdraw cash from an atm. 

You realise that you will be charged interest from the day of withdrawal for ATM withdrawals with your Halifax Clarity?

Covered about a million times on these boards over the years - short version is that the improved exchange rate received mitigates the small cost of interest, especially if a transfer is made (simple using online banking) as soon as the transaction hits the account.

There is absolutely no advantage in withdrawing cash with the Clarity card as opposed to using the Starling or Chase debit card. 

Nebulous2

Daliah said:

jackieblack said:

Daliah said:

Neil49 said:

My wife recently bought some Norwegian Kroner from a Tesco bureau de change online using her Lloyds debit card and there was no foreign transaction fee. 

On a personal note I never buy foreign currency in the UK. I wait until I arrive abroad and use my Monzo or Halifax Clarity card to withdraw cash from an atm. 

You realise that you will be charged interest from the day of withdrawal for ATM withdrawals with your Halifax Clarity?

Covered about a million times on these boards over the years - short version is that the improved exchange rate received mitigates the small cost of interest, especially if a transfer is made (simple using online banking) as soon as the transaction hits the account.

There is absolutely no advantage in withdrawing cash with the Clarity card as opposed to using the Starling or Chase debit card. 

There may be no advantage compared with these two cards, but there is by comparison with any other method. I have a Clarity and don't have the other two. It has served me well over the years, and most of my spend abroad is with the card, rather than in cash, so any cash withdrawal interest has always been a very modest amount, pence rather than pounds. 

Having said that, I helped my father open a Chase account recently, at his request, and was impressed with how straightforward it was. I think I'll crack and get one myself! 

penners324

Daliah said:

jackieblack said:

Daliah said:

Neil49 said:

My wife recently bought some Norwegian Kroner from a Tesco bureau de change online using her Lloyds debit card and there was no foreign transaction fee. 

On a personal note I never buy foreign currency in the UK. I wait until I arrive abroad and use my Monzo or Halifax Clarity card to withdraw cash from an atm. 

You realise that you will be charged interest from the day of withdrawal for ATM withdrawals with your Halifax Clarity?

Covered about a million times on these boards over the years - short version is that the improved exchange rate received mitigates the small cost of interest, especially if a transfer is made (simple using online banking) as soon as the transaction hits the account.

There is absolutely no advantage in withdrawing cash with the Clarity card as opposed to using the Starling or Chase debit card. 

It's arguably there are advantages the other way. When withdrawing cash abroad on Clarity it flags up on your credit report.

Ebe_Scrooge

penners324 said:

Daliah said:

jackieblack said:

Daliah said:

Neil49 said:

My wife recently bought some Norwegian Kroner from a Tesco bureau de change online using her Lloyds debit card and there was no foreign transaction fee. 

On a personal note I never buy foreign currency in the UK. I wait until I arrive abroad and use my Monzo or Halifax Clarity card to withdraw cash from an atm. 

You realise that you will be charged interest from the day of withdrawal for ATM withdrawals with your Halifax Clarity?

Covered about a million times on these boards over the years - short version is that the improved exchange rate received mitigates the small cost of interest, especially if a transfer is made (simple using online banking) as soon as the transaction hits the account.

There is absolutely no advantage in withdrawing cash with the Clarity card as opposed to using the Starling or Chase debit card. 

It's arguably there are advantages the other way. When withdrawing cash abroad on Clarity it flags up on your credit report.

You're correct in that cash withdrawals on a credit card are generally seen as a negative on your credit history.  However, occasional withdrawals whilst abroad are nothing to worry about - regular withdrawals whilst at home would be a far larger cause for concern in the eyes of a lender.  And the benefits (no fees and a better exchange rate) far outweigh any slight disadvantage.

Daliah

penners324 said:

Daliah said:

jackieblack said:

Daliah said:

Neil49 said:

My wife recently bought some Norwegian Kroner from a Tesco bureau de change online using her Lloyds debit card and there was no foreign transaction fee. 

On a personal note I never buy foreign currency in the UK. I wait until I arrive abroad and use my Monzo or Halifax Clarity card to withdraw cash from an atm. 

You realise that you will be charged interest from the day of withdrawal for ATM withdrawals with your Halifax Clarity?

Covered about a million times on these boards over the years - short version is that the improved exchange rate received mitigates the small cost of interest, especially if a transfer is made (simple using online banking) as soon as the transaction hits the account.

There is absolutely no advantage in withdrawing cash with the Clarity card as opposed to using the Starling or Chase debit card. 

It's arguably there are advantages the other way. When withdrawing cash abroad on Clarity it flags up on your credit report.

This would have no impact (positive or negative) for me 

Migster

Daliah said: 

Are you saying Natwest have failed to update their website since 2012?

I've no idea what the Nat West website says, but I'm confident it won't detail a fee for buying Euros in the UK with a debit card (which was the OP's question). Feel free to provide a link.

Doshwaster

Daliah said:

jackieblack said:

Daliah said:

Neil49 said:

My wife recently bought some Norwegian Kroner from a Tesco bureau de change online using her Lloyds debit card and there was no foreign transaction fee. 

On a personal note I never buy foreign currency in the UK. I wait until I arrive abroad and use my Monzo or Halifax Clarity card to withdraw cash from an atm. 

You realise that you will be charged interest from the day of withdrawal for ATM withdrawals with your Halifax Clarity?

Covered about a million times on these boards over the years - short version is that the improved exchange rate received mitigates the small cost of interest, especially if a transfer is made (simple using online banking) as soon as the transaction hits the account.

There is absolutely no advantage in withdrawing cash with the Clarity card as opposed to using the Starling or Chase debit card. 

I use Starling as my preferred card for getting cash while travelling but it's still useful to have Clarity as an emergency backup. On the other hand Clarity is better than Starling for holding deposits and booking flights/hotels.

miller

Way back when I got burned by this with Alliance & Leicester (remember them) and Travelex (remember them) ordering currency for collection at the airport. Visa used to impose a fee on these sorts of GBP transactions for cash foreign currency, 3 ways to avoid it was to use Maestro/Mastercard Debit which didn't charge e.g. NatWest had at the time (since moved to Visa), Nationwide which used to absorb the fee or withdraw the cash first before exchange.

I'd probably try and pay for everything by card now with one of the more favourable ones mentioned in this thread to avoid collecting any foreign currency (especially coinage).

[Deleted User]

Visa used to categorise UK foreign currency debit card purchases as a Visa cash advance and therefore pass on a fee. 

The Switch scheme used to treat it as a purchase; this was carried across to UK Maestro cards. 

Visa (after pressure from UK Regulators) agreed to change it for UK Visa Debit/Electron cards in UK Bureaux de Change to a purchase. Hence, no fees. 

grumbler

Deleted_User said:

Visa used to categorise UK foreign currency debit card purchases as a Visa cash advance and therefore pass on a fee.

So, the fee was for a debit card cash advance, not for 'foreign transaction'?