Barclaycard Rewards Card - ATM Cash Advances

BlueDingo

Just looking for confirmation that I’m correct in believing that the Barclaycard Rewards Credit Card does not make a charge for Cash Withdrawals from ATM machines AND doesn’t charge interest until the end of the month, (ie they treat it as a normal transaction), so you can pay it off without interest.

If that’s correct I’m surprised more isn’t being made about it (I can’t find any other Cards offering this). Not having to carry my Debit Card around on the off chance I may need access to Cash would be a nice convenience.

CliveOfIndia

That's correct - and this particular card is unusual in that respect. As you say, pretty much every other card will charge a cash advance fee, and you'll pay interest on the cash withdrawal, even if you pay off the statement in full.

HOWEVER - my understanding is that the zero interest applies to overseas withdrawals only - you'll need to check your particular T&Cs very carefully. It may be that UK withdrawals will attract interest.

Some of the "travel" cards don't charge a cash withdrawal fee, but will still charge interest.

zagfles

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82023246#Comment_82023246

It applies to UK withdrawals as well. At least it does on mine, not sure if there is a version of the Rewards card which is different. Check the summary box/interest free period on the statement.

One thing to watch out for is the cash withdrawal limit, which (in my case at least) is 30% of the credit limit.

CliveOfIndia

@zagfles thanks for the confirmation on that point. I only mentioned it as I'd hate to give the OP a bum steer due to my ignorance !

BlueDingo

Thanks peoples….

Barclaycard are pretty poor at promoting this feature - their ‘upfront’ advertising emphasise that it’s available overseas to the extent that it looks as if it’s not available in the UK.

Their summary of fees  however says - Cash Transaction Fee: 0.00% fee on sterling and non-sterling cash.

So that applies to the initial withdrawal fee - but now can’t find a reference to charging interest.

zagfles

If you've got a statement look at the summary box at the end, first section is "interest free period", it says "Maximum 56 days from date of new transaction - (including new purchases and cash withdrawals)….." on mine

BlueDingo

Thanks @zagfles - that’s good to know…

Havn’t got / applied for the card yet but that confirms what I understood to be the case.

zagfles

The other thing worth bearing in mind is that withdrawing cash on a credit card can apparently affect your credit score, I've not sure of that myself and not noticed any negative effect but people have mentioned it.

WiserMiser

Yes, Barclaycard Rewards is a handy credit card for use abroad because you can use it to buy goods and services with no foreign loading, but also great for getting cash from ATMs with no foreign loading, no cash advance fees and no interest provided that everything is paid on time. That's unique AFAIK.

Set up a Whole Bill DD and it's the only card you'll need abroad. Of course, you should have at least one other payment method, preferably several, because cards can be mislaid, lost or stolen, or the network can go down. Best to have some MasterCards, some Visa cards and to keep them separately, e.g. in your luggage, on your person and in your hotel room. (Forget Amex abroad, always a surcharge.)

Beware of ATM fees in the USA, most charge, some even for just a balance enquiry ! The rules are always clear as mud, you find out the hard way. You can sometimes get a cash advance when making purchases in stores, but it's becoming automated and not always offered to UK cards, e.g in WalMart. Even before the Orange One, the USA was still very parochial / insular. Try getting an SMS verification when they think that dialling only 10 digits will reach every number...

I had quite a ding dong in Lunch Garden in Belgium because the assistant insisted that payment in €€ was impossible, it could only be in ££, but I knew that wasn't the case. On principle, I wasn't going to be bamboozled (not a tiddly amount because I was treating some friends), and I wanted to prove the assistant wrong in the unlikely event that he genuinely believed it.

Eventually I managed to select the €€ option, but it was well hidden in the menu options. I remain convinced that they were getting a kickback from the hefty surcharge on the exchange rate and had told the staff to insist that card payments had to be in ££.

Your credit reference score will go down, but that's apparently of little consequence because no-one else ever sees the figure. However, maybe think twice if you're applying for a mortgage.

Maegi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82023345#Comment_82023345

It will get noticed if a credit application gets pulled for manual review by an actual underwriter.

Maegi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82023850#Comment_82023850

Chase debit is the clear winner for the USA as you can use their large ATM network free of charge plus any ATMs that have zero/low surcharge e.g. Wawa. Second would probably be Santander but they only have ATMs in the US East Coast.

Everything else can pretty much apply to any forex free card .