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MSE News: First Direct scraps overseas spending and cash withdrawal fees on its debit card

MSE_Petar
MSE_Petar Posts: 358 MSE Staff
Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
edited 30 June 2023 at 5:52PM in Budgeting & bank accounts

First Direct has scrapped all fees for overseas spending and cash withdrawals on its debit card for both new and existing customers, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal. The move is a boost to First Direct's already cracking all-rounder bank account – especially for switchers who can get its £175 bonus – though specialist overseas cards still win for those happy to open separate accounts. 


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'First Direct scraps overseas spending and cash withdrawal fees on its debit card'

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Comments

  • lr1277
    lr1277 Posts: 1,973 Forumite
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    Do you know when FD are announcing this?
    Nothing on the website. The charges document still shows the % cost.
  • ForumUser7
    ForumUser7 Posts: 2,344 Forumite
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    lr1277 said:
    Do you know when FD are announcing this?
    Nothing on the website. The charges document still shows the % cost.
    https://www.firstdirect.com/travel-and-international/travel-help-and-advice/using-your-cards-outside-the-uk/
    If you want me to definitely see your reply, please tag me @forumuser7 Thank you.

    N.B. (Amended from Forum Rules): You must investigate, and check several times, before you make any decisions or take any action based on any information you glean from any of my content, as nothing I post is advice, rather it is personal opinion and is solely for discussion purposes. I research before my posts, and I never intend to share anything that is misleading, misinforming, or out of date, but don't rely on everything you read. Some of the information changes quickly, is my own opinion or may be incorrect. Verify anything you read before acting on it to protect yourself because you are responsible for any action you consequently make... DYOR, YMMV etc.
  • lr1277
    lr1277 Posts: 1,973 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 1 July 2023 at 6:30PM
    lr1277 said:
    Do you know when FD are announcing this?
    Nothing on the website. The charges document still shows the % cost.
    https://www.firstdirect.com/travel-and-international/travel-help-and-advice/using-your-cards-outside-the-uk/

    Thanks @ForumUser7 . I looked under the Bank Account tab and not the Travel and international tab.
  • PegasusPJ
    PegasusPJ Posts: 53 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 4 July 2023 at 9:51PM
    I signed up for a new account on 30/06 and received the paperwork today and it lists charges for overseas transactions and withdrawals.. So definitely not implemented yet
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    100 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 4 July 2023 at 10:08PM
    PegasusPJ said:
    I signed up for a new account on 30/06 and received the paperwork today and it lists charges for overseas transactions and withdrawals.. So definitely not implemented yet
    It's far more likely that you've got paperwork printed well before the change rather than it's not been implemented...
  • pridehappy
    pridehappy Posts: 340 Forumite
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    Great to see other banks getting on the bandwagon and removing fees. Sadly, this still isn’t an icebreaker feature as there’s plenty of other current accounts and cards out there with fee-free transactions abroad, but still a nice perk for those wishing to stay with first direct.
  • northwalesd
    northwalesd Posts: 1,269 Forumite
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    Email I got from FD says fees removed from 28 Jun onwards.
  • jimroy
    jimroy Posts: 151 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Great to see other banks getting on the bandwagon and removing fees. Sadly, this still isn’t an icebreaker feature as there’s plenty of other current accounts and cards out there with fee-free transactions abroad, but still a nice perk for those wishing to stay with first direct.
    Yes. It would be good if they could do it with their credit cards too, but I'm not holding my breath. A fee free Visa card to use abroad would be great. I have a Barclaycard Avios and you can only have one or the other not both.
  • Rich1976
    Rich1976 Posts: 617 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    jimroy said:
    Great to see other banks getting on the bandwagon and removing fees. Sadly, this still isn’t an icebreaker feature as there’s plenty of other current accounts and cards out there with fee-free transactions abroad, but still a nice perk for those wishing to stay with first direct.
    Yes. It would be good if they could do it with their credit cards too, but I'm not holding my breath. A fee free Visa card to use abroad would be great. I have a Barclaycard Avios and you can only have one or the other not both.
    Agreed. The FD credit card is very much overlooked by them in terms of features and not really sure why they still offer one ( although I have one purely for convenience). 
  • username
    username Posts: 724 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    I've kept my FD credit card open as it one of the oldest I have, but rarely use it as there's not much benefit in doing so. No cashback/points/airmiles.

    If you really have your eyes set on a Visa credit card to use whilst abroad with no fees, the Nationwide one is good. I used this recently when I went abroad - you do have to have an account with them, however.

    It is good to see FD try and offer some sort of perk with this rushed-in Mastercard.

    If they'd taken their time and thought about the offering, and HSBC integration and got it working from the off, then it would have looked much better and coherent.
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