Sainbury's Gold Credit Card

markythesparky1

I still have a Sainsbury's Gold credit card, however it is incredibly difficult to find out any information about fees when using the card abroad. There is nothing online anymore and even phoning the Sainsbury's Bank helpline usually imparts incorrect information. I have just made another call to them and was initially told about the various withdrawal and transaction fee charges associated with a Gold Card. However, after asking him to check again, he contacted his manager and confirmed there were no withdrawal or transaction fees but interest is charged from the minute a withdrawal from a foreign ATM is made. Again, I questioned this as initially no interest used to be payable as long as the CC was paid in full by the date specified on the next statement. Is there anyone on this forum that has used a Gold card abroad recently and knows if interest is payable immediately after an ATM transaction? Thanks, Mark.

JadedAngel88

http://web.archive.org/web/20120101153624/http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit_cards/cca_gold_card_abroad_tab.shtml?source=NETNAVICARDCLDATA0004

Found this, don't know if it's any help.

MalMonroe

There's also this information from 2017 - 

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-5082969/Nationwide-Sainsbury-s-bank-slash-credit-card-perks.html

It does seem as if Sainsbury's bank doesn't know, or even want to know, about the gold card any more.

Neil49

The sure way to find out is to make a small cash withdrawal in the UK and see if you incur any charges. 

When it was originally released the feature of interest free cash withdrawals (both in the UK and abroad) was a big deal but unless you can get hold of the current terms and conditions a trial withdrawal will be the easiest option. 

dcfc67

wy not load cash to a revolut or curve card for fee free transactions abroad

NoodleDoodleMan

I reckon most Gold Card holders ditched them when the bundled travel insurance was pulled several years ago.

It was a very good deal, along with the fee free currency withdrawal benefit for £5 monthly.

There can't be many holders still using the Gold card, I'm surprised Sainsburys haven't terminated it completely.

sausage_time

I have one, and confirm that there are still no fees for use abroad, and no interest if withdrawals paid off in full as part of statement balance (confirmed in July this year).  I have a PDF of the T&Cs I downloaded from the old web site (dated Jan 2014!).  Extract below:

3.5 We will not charge interest on purchases or cash advances shown on your current

statement, if you pay the total balance shown on that statement by the payment date

(and have also paid the total balance on the previous statement by the payment date).

On all transactions where we do charge interest, we charge it from the date we first

charge the amount to your account.

3.6 If you do not pay the total balance shown on your statement, at the date of the next

statement we will add the interest we have charged on the unpaid amount to the balance

we charge interest on. We will continue to charge interest, at our usual rates, on any

unpaid balance after this agreement has ended and both before and after we have got a

court judgment. If we allow you to miss or reduce one or more monthly payments, we will

continue to charge interest on the full amount you owe on your statement (including on

the interest for that month).

...

5.3 If you make transactions in a foreign currency, we will change the amount to sterling at

the exchange rate used by the payment system on the date the transaction is passed to

us by them. You can find out this exchange rate by calling us on the Customer Services

number shown on your monthly statement, however if you call before the transaction is

added to your account, the rate we provide will only be indicative.

And from my latest statement:

Foreign usage:

Indicative rates can be found at:

mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html

One or more of the following may apply:

Non-sterling transaction fee: No fee

Cash fee: No fee

Yes, I'm amazed they still support this card.   I do miss the travel insurance though.

NoodleDoodleMan

Do you still have a £5 monthly fee to pay ?

WillPS

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Do you still have a £5 monthly fee to pay ?

No, that was scrapped along with the travel insurance perk in 2017.

Chino

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Do you still have a £5 monthly fee to pay ?

From the article linked to by MalMonroe:

From December, the £5 fee will be removed.

NoodleDoodleMan

Well spotted.

I binned the card when the travel insurance was pulled, couldn't remember if the £5 fee was dropped or not - that was 5 years ago.

Can't recall what I did 5 minutes ago nowadays.

I do remember that you could withdraw Sterling at a UK ATM without a fee or interest - as long as the monthly statement was settled within its payment timescale.