Debit card use abroad

flaneurs_lobster

TwiceNightly said:

Is Chase generally still a favoured option? Even after all the recent changes, Trump, etc?

Or are people mostly moving back to older banks who are now starting to offer fee free use abroad?

Leaving aside "political" considerations, from a purely practical and Moneysaving perspective it's likely that you would want to carry more than one card. My current choices are:

Chase card gives no fees for overseas purchases and allows £500/day ATM withdrawal.

Santander Edge CC has no overseas purchase fee + 2% cashback (year 1).

Plus Amex Platinum in case I suddenly want to buy a house.

Plasticman

I've got a Chase debit card and Halifax Clarity credit card. I usually carry a bit of local cash then (unless it's Euro's) panic that I haven't spent it all before I come home because I've been using my card all the time! 

Olenna

TheWoodler said:

Olenna said: 

Lloyds 'ordinary' account is a Classic Account and charges for overseas usage.

Club Lloyds is a fee based account (£3/£5 per calendar month) with a fee wavier.

I used ‘ordinary Club Lloyd’s’ to mark the distinction from Club Lloyd’s Silver, Platinum etc alluded to upthread. 

I didn’t say ‘ordinary Lloyd’s account’. 

My actual point was that their ordinary account (i.e. Lloyds Classic) isn't fee free abroad.
Club Lloyds is a fee based account by default unless you meet the 100% fee wavier criteria each month.
Those other value added versions are fee based added value accounts with no/limited fees waiver. 

TwiceNightly

Just to add a further note to the fee waiver thing!

If you pay in £4300 or more then you get a further discount on the value added Club Lloyds accounts.
Silver goes from £11.50 to £6.50 (£3 fee refund + £2 fee discount)
Platinum goes from £22.50 to £14.50 (£3 fee refund + £5 fee discount)

Ballard

On a different thread, I found @bagand96’s suggestion to use the ATM FEE SAVER app very useful on a recent trip. I’m not tech savvy enough to post links, but the app is on iOS and I dare say android, so it’s worth searching. 

Open the app and it’ll show a map with the nearest ATMs, together with fees. I can’t vouch for its accuracy other than Banco de la Nation in Peru was correct at 0%. You can click on the ATM in the app and ask it for directions (can’t remember whether it used Google maps or Apple Maps). 

sausage_time

Interesting.  It is on Android too, so I installed it.  Sadly it failed to identify the three ATMs closest to me - two free and one fee based.

Ballard

sausage_time said:

Interesting.  It is on Android too, so I installed it.  Sadly it failed to identify the three ATMs closest to me - two free and one fee based.

It doesn’t have my local ATM either, so it’s not perfect but I found it great in Peru. It’s not something to completely rely upon, but from my experience it’s worth having.

The original post mentioned that this app is updated by users so it could well just be that no one has felt the need to bother updating the UK. 

gt94sss2

TwiceNightly said:

Just to add a further note to the fee waiver thing!

If you pay in £4300 or more then you get a further discount on the value added Club Lloyds accounts.
Silver goes from £11.50 to £6.50 (£3 fee refund + £2 fee discount)
Platinum goes from £22.50 to £14.50 (£3 fee refund + £5 fee discount)

Not sure if your maths works as you have forgotten the £3 fee for Club Lloyds 

For instance, the the Club Lloyds Silver monthly fee is actually £14.50 made up from a Silver Account monthly fee of £11.50 per month; plus a Club Lloyds monthly fee of £3 per month. 

So qualifying for the £3 fee refund + £2 fee discount takes it down to £9.50 not £6.50.

TwiceNightly

Ah yes you're right about that, got mixed up with the £3 fee being on top of the other fee.

£5 off the Platinum monthly is still fairly decent though

WillPS

TwiceNightly said:

Ah yes you're right about that, got mixed up with the £3 fee being on top of the other fee.

£5 off the Platinum monthly is still fairly decent though

It works out as £17.50/month. Halifax Ultimate Reward works out as £14/month after the £5 reward (which can be had on top of the 3 'normal' £5 rewards), and has home emergency cover.

Sadly neither include onward travel with the AA breakdown cover.