Buying Euros from Sainsbury's - Question re Santander charges

I bought £250 in Euros from Sainsbury's Travel exchange as the exchange rate looked good and there were no extra charges.
I used my Santander credit card to pay for this but have noticed a £7.60 charge was applied.
Is this correct? And do I need to pay this off quickly to prevent interest charges. 
Thanks 

Comments

  • la531983
    la531983 Posts: 2,865 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 23 August 2023 at 4:34PM
    You used a credit card?!?!

    It's a cash transaction. Avoid doing this ever again.  And yes it's correct. Use a debit card or cash next time, or even better use a card whilst abroad with no fees given the world is slowly going cashless and you won't lose a percentage in a bureau de change. 
  • p00hsticks
    p00hsticks Posts: 14,341 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yes, it's treated as a cash transaction and so you'll be paying interest on it from day one, so pay it off ASAP.. 
  • la531983 said:
    You used a credit card?!?!

    It's a cash transaction. Avoid doing this ever again.  And yes it's correct. Use a debit card or cash next time, or even better use a card whilst abroad with no fees given the world is slowly going cashless and you won't lose a percentage in a bureau de change. 
    Point noted for next time. I'm so used to paying for everything online using my Santander credit card I just used that as usual. I'll use a debit card next time.
    When abroad I use a Halifax clarity card but I wanted some Euros for markets etc. 

  • Yes, it's treated as a cash transaction and so you'll be paying interest on it from day one, so pay it off ASAP.. 
    I've paid it now. I don't think it will be a lot but good to clear it now. Thanks 
  • martindow
    martindow Posts: 10,549 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Have you cleared the entire balance from the card?  They take payments in to clear items in order - payments for goods first and cash last.  If you've made a partial payment charges may still be totting up.
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