Nationwide Flex Plus any good for overseas spending?

anxiousnow

In the past I have used my Halifax Clarity Mastercard for overseas spending including ATM withdrawals, but having just looked on the Travel Cards section on MSE, I have seen the charge is around 28% until it's paid off! (we would plan to pay off in full at the next Direct Debit, but still, that'll be a certain number of days at a very high percentage).

It's not included in the Travel Cards section as it's not a credit card, but Nationwide FlexPlus seems to have zero fees. Is there a catch?

Thanks in advance! 

NoodleDoodleMan

It's a debit card you get, there are no fees for use at ATMs, unless the owner bank takes a commission.

Catch - it's £13 to maintain per month, being a packaged bank account........and funds from card use are taken off your balance immediately.

You can avoid Halifax Clarity card fees by settling your balance in full by bank transfer, rather than a Direct Debit.

anxiousnow

NoodleDoodleMan said:

It's a debit card you get, there are no fees for use at ATMs, unless the owner bank takes a commission.

Catch - it's £13 to maintain per month, being a packaged bank account........and funds from card use are taken off your balance immediately.

You can avoid Halifax Clarity card fees by settling your balance in full by bank transfer, rather than a Direct Debit.

Thank you. I already pay the N'Wide fee because I use it for my insurances etc. 

But on the Clarity card, say I am on holiday and withdraw cash today, presumably until I pay it off I am charged interest every day, if my DD isn't until several weeks later? 

zagfles

anxiousnow said:

In the past I have used my Halifax Clarity Mastercard for overseas spending including ATM withdrawals, but having just looked on the Travel Cards section on MSE, I have seen the charge is around 28% until it's paid off! (we would plan to pay off in full at the next Direct Debit, but still, that'll be a certain number of days at a very high percentage).

It's not included in the Travel Cards section as it's not a credit card, but Nationwide FlexPlus seems to have zero fees. Is there a catch?

Thanks in advance! 

If you pay in full the interest is only on cash withdrawals, not spending. And you can avoid paying more than a trivial amount of interest by paying off cash withdrawals earlier. You can do this as long as you've cleared your previous statement balance and wait until the cash withdrawal is on the account (not pending), usually takes 2-3 days. Even at 28% APR the interest on a £100 ATM withdrawal would be a bit under 7p per day.

The NW FlexPlus charges £13 a month so only worth it if you need the extras it gives you eg insurances, it's not worth it just for the fee free foreign use, loads of other better options. Barclycard Rewards give fee free foreign use inc cash and no interest on cash if statement paid in full, plus 0.25% cashback on spending.

NoodleDoodleMan

"But on the Clarity card, say I am on holiday and withdraw cash today, presumably until I pay it off I am charged interest every day, if my DD isn't until several weeks later?"

Do you have online banking using a tablet or mobile 'phone to manage the account(s) you have ?

I've only once taken cash at an ATM on holiday with a Halifax Clarity card - the amount debited in GBP was flagged up very quickly and I transferred the amount indicated from our Bank of Scotland current account using an iPad without delay - if memory serves there was no interest - or only a couple of pence at most.

I don't use DDs for credit card payments - by choice much prefer to check on the internet and settle up as required.

Spaceace

We do exactly what you're proposing:  we have the Halifax Clarity card which is used for all overseas spending and the Nationwide Flexplus card for withdrawing cash if required.  

There are no Nationwide charges for cash withdrawal but most ATMs will charge.  I usually use Tripadvisor forums for whichever country we're heading to to find which ATMs are free/cheapest (avoiding Euronet whenever possible).

I use the Nationwide App to keep the Flexplus debit card frozen until ready to make an ATM withdrawal, unlock it immediately before use and then freeze it again afterwards. This takes away the worry of having it pinched or losing it.

Other than having a small stash of local currency for emergencies, we've not found much need for ATM withdrawals on recent trips as credit card payments have become so easy and ubiquitous, especially since covid.