Online payments Europe

emnorthy

First post, any help appreciated….
I used Wise to transfer money from my credit card to pay deposit to a villa in Spain notcrealiaing barckaycard would charge me 2.99% and processed it as a money transfer.
What is the best way to pay for items abroad online? I have a chase debit card that does not charge when you are abroad is this the same when you are spending online abroad?
would I be better off getting a credit card for bigger transactions and if so which card is best for using online?

eskbanker

It's generally best to use a credit card or debit card that is geared towards travel, i.e. with no non-sterling transaction fees:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

Using your Chase debit card should have been optimal, but if you needed to pay someone who'd only accept bank transfers, then using the likes of Wise (other currency brokers are available) is cost-effective, albeit reliant on having the ready cash available to start with - if you need to access it from a credit card then it will be charged as a cash transaction, as you've found.

Note that the issue is more about paying in a non-sterling currency rather than using the card online as such....