123 Charge for foreign currency

Pepsic

Santander 123 credit card will charge you to buy Euros from UK - they call it Quasi Cash and not only that they will also charge you interest even though you pay your card in full by auto direct debit, so be aware.

WillPS

Pepsic said:

Santander 123 credit card will charge you to buy Euros from UK - they call it Quasi Cash and not only that they will also charge you interest even though you pay your card in full by auto direct debit, so be aware.

"Buying currency" is almost the definition of a cash advance. It's perfectly reasonable that products designed for purchases charge fees to discourage being used in this fashion. Other examples include gambling and purchases of cryptocurrency.

CliveOfIndia

You'll find this is true of every credit card in the UK.  It's clearly stated in the T&Cs which you read and agreed to when you first took out the card.

NoodleDoodleMan

Pepsic said:

Santander 123 credit card will charge you to buy Euros from UK - they call it Quasi Cash and not only that they will also charge you interest even though you pay your card in full by auto direct debit, so be aware.

There are now several countries where Santander debit cards can be used to withdraw fee free at a Santander branded ATM.

"We won't charge you when you use your personal debit card to make withdrawals at Santander cash machines abroad. You'll find our cash machines in Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and the USA."

Until relatively recently this benefit was only in Spain (including Balearics) and the Canaries.

If you are in Spain avoid Euro Automatic Cash machines - they have an agreement with Banco Santander, however that only  applies to Spanish card holders. Their ATMs carry a small Santander logo, however they are not directly owned by Santander.

They may be fee free - but I doubt it.

I'm over there soon, will check one out.

WillPS

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Pepsic said:

Santander 123 credit card will charge you to buy Euros from UK - they call it Quasi Cash and not only that they will also charge you interest even though you pay your card in full by auto direct debit, so be aware.

There are now several countries where Santander debit cards can be used to withdraw fee free at a Santander branded ATM.

"We won't charge you when you use your personal debit card to make withdrawals at Santander cash machines abroad. You'll find our cash machines in Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and the USA."

Until relatively recently this benefit was only in Spain (including Balearics) and the Canaries.

If you are in Spain avoid Euro Automatic Cash machines - they have an agreement with Banco Santander, however that only  applies to Spanish card holders. Their ATMs carry a small Santander logo, however they are not directly owned by Santander.

They may be fee free - but I doubt it.

I'm over there soon, will check one out.

This relates to Santander debit cards, not credit cards.

NoodleDoodleMan

WillPS said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Pepsic said:

Santander 123 credit card will charge you to buy Euros from UK - they call it Quasi Cash and not only that they will also charge you interest even though you pay your card in full by auto direct debit, so be aware.

There are now several countries where Santander debit cards can be used to withdraw fee free at a Santander branded ATM.

"We won't charge you when you use your personal debit card to make withdrawals at Santander cash machines abroad. You'll find our cash machines in Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and the USA."

Until relatively recently this benefit was only in Spain (including Balearics) and the Canaries.

If you are in Spain avoid Euro Automatic Cash machines - they have an agreement with Banco Santander, however that only  applies to Spanish card holders. Their ATMs carry a small Santander logo, however they are not directly owned by Santander.

They may be fee free - but I doubt it.

I'm over there soon, will check one out.

This relates to Santander debit cards, not credit cards.

I should have read the detail more closely.

That apart, not all Santander credit cards incur a fee at Santander ATMs

Brie

M&S did in the past not charge interest on foreign currency purchases as they classed them as a purchase rather than cash advance.

NoodleDoodleMan

Years ago I had a Sainsbury's Gold credit card - no fees on withdrawing currency, including the UK, which I suspect would be unique ?

It charged £5 monthly to maintain - but it had good travel insurance for £60 annually, the main reason to open it.

No longer available to new applicants, although I understand legacy holders can still enjoy the benefits - somebody posted to that effect.

WillPS

Brie said:

M&S did in the past not charge interest on foreign currency purchases as they classed them as a purchase rather than cash advance.

From M&S Bank Bureaus only, right?

Tesco Bank and Sainsburys Bank similarly offer to treat purchases of currency for as a purchase on _some_ of their own products. There is some potential for arbitrage with it - I know some people made thousands by maxing out their credit cards with preorders of Euros on the Brexit night - that said I tend to think if you're using bureaus nowadays you're probably doing it wrong.

grumbler

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Years ago I had a Sainsbury's Gold credit card - no fees on withdrawing currency, including the UK, which I suspect would be unique ?

HX Clarity doesn't charge fees for cash. It does charge interest.

Barclaycard Rewards doesn't charge fees. Not sure about the interest. I remember there was some Barclaycard that didn't charge interest on cash abroad.

Gerry1

grumbler said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Years ago I had a Sainsbury's Gold credit card - no fees on withdrawing currency, including the UK, which I suspect would be unique ?

HX Clarity doesn't charge fees for cash. It does charge interest.

Barclaycard Rewards doesn't charge fees. Not sure about the interest. I remember there was some Barclaycard that didn't charge interest on cash abroad.

Yup, Barclaycard Rewards is the one to have.  No fee and no interest on overseas cash withdrawals so you can use it for everything and just let the DD take care of it all.