Regular international payment on Debit card ...

rdraheim

Hi All!

I live/work in the UK and have a US-based student loan. I'm trying to optimise fees for repayment.

I can't control the abysmal exchange rate right now but Santander has switched from fee-free VISA debit-card based international transactions to fee-paying MC-based international transactions.

I have a Santander 123 acct and would prefer not to change banks etc...

I just got burned for a roughly £50 fee on a 1000 USD payment recently and I'd prefer to avoid that in the future.

Has anyone tried this Currensea-type card listed on this website? Could I link this to my bank account and attempt a US-based payment from a UK-based Debit card like usual. From what I gather, payments to Nelnet (US-based student loan provider) cannot be made on CCs (that could be discharged through US-based bankruptcy laws).

Many thanks and have a nice afternoon!

Roger

Marchitiello

You do not need to change account but can open a new additional one with the feature you are looking for (provide you found it in advance) and can also use it maybe when you travel abroad.

as you may still have some connection in the US and therefore may travel back, my recommendation is for Chase UK account and use their Debit Card. They offer forex free transactions, 1% cashback (albeit I would assume the student loan repayment won’t qualify) and In the US also can use Chase ATM
there without paying usage fee.

alternatively, (edited: worth checking if UK issued CC would fall under that US law restriction) any UK travel Credit Card should do, like Halifax Clarity or Barclaycard Rewards (both won’t apply Forex fee for transactions in other currencies and use MasterCard - Visa official rates

rdraheim

Marchitiello said:

You do not need to change account but can open a new additional one with the feature you are looking for (provide you found it in advance) and can also use it maybe when you travel abroad.

as you may still have some connection in the US and therefore may travel back, my recommendation is for Chase UK account and use their Debit Card. They offer forex free transactions, 1% cashback (albeit I would assume the student loan repayment won’t qualify) and In the US also can use Chase ATM
there without paying usage fee.

alternatively, any UK travel Credit Card should do, like Halifax Clarity or Barclaycard Rewards (both won’t apply Forex fee for transactions in other currencies and use MasterCard - Visa official rates

Many thanks for your help.

I was hoping to avoid opening a new bank account, but it's fine if that's the way forward as these fees are crazy now.

Can I simply apply online (I'm on holiday now for a few weeks) and then simply transfer money in for the payment and then pay with the associated debit card?

we're making some major purchases now (house/etc...) and it's likely worth reorganising our entire UK-based financial 

Marchitiello

Chase is app based so you need to download the app and apply from there. Do you have a form of ID with you? Should be pretty straight forward as far as you do not have a 32-bit Android/google phone as I understand 
you need the UK app:

And yes, once you are approved and the account open, you immediately get a virtual card on the app, that can be added to your Apple Wallet (iOS devices) and used to shop online as well.

rdraheim

awesome and many thanks again! have a nice evening!

PRAISETHESUN

Keep in mind that there are two aspects to this - the exchange rate used and the transaction fee. Often "fee-free" options use terrible exchange rates which end up being worse than options which have fees.

As @Marchitiello says above, you're better off opening specific accounts for specific purposes rather than looking for one account that can do everything. An alternative to Chase that I would recommend is Wise. They offer very competitive rates on bank transfers and debit card spending.

penners324

Chase would be best for this type of spend. And it uses the Mastercard rate on the day.

Marchitiello

Exactly, Chase would be the best option, as it is no fee and apply MasterCard near perfect exchange rate, whilst wise always apply a minimal conversion fee 

rdraheim

I've used Transferwise quite a bit (as I have account in DE/DK/SE/US and UK), I guess this is now Wise? I was unaware they have a card option now.

I was considering using my old Monzo account as well, which I still have but don't know where the card is.

The only confounding issue is that we're taking some equity out of current house to buy a second house in Oxford (gf works there now) and I assume that I shouldn't open a new account until the re-mortgage and the new mortgage are through?

rdraheim

Many thanks for all of the assistance!

PRAISETHESUN

rdraheim said:

I've used Transferwise quite a bit (as I have account in DE/DK/SE/US and UK), I guess this is now Wise? I was unaware they have a card option now.

I was considering using my old Monzo account as well, which I still have but don't know where the card is.

The only confounding issue is that we're taking some equity out of current house to buy a second house in Oxford (gf works there now) and I assume that I shouldn't open a new account until the re-mortgage and the new mortgage are through?

Yes - Transferwise is now known as Wise. Details for the debit card offering are here: https://wise.com/gb/card/. Its costs money for a physical card but you can get a virtual card for free to use online.

As for the remortgage, I definitely would avoid any hard credit checks until everything has been finalised. Soft searches like the ones used for Chase, Wise, and Monzo will be okay, but anything that requires a full credit check should be avoided.