Card for buying overseas..

steveh2001

Have been reading martins moneysaving article about buying in different currencies (which i do a lot of) and at present i have a Halifax Visa and a HSBC mastercard - which i guess charge a lot! Just tried applying for a nationwide card which i gather from the article is the best i.e. no extra charges, but got refused because im a student!

Anyone know of any other cards with commission free international transactions!?

Cheers

MrChips

Yes, I can recommend the Lombard Direct credit card. I got turned down by Nationwide too but not because I am a student, they got my address wrong and so I failed the credit check.

Lombard Direct is a very good substitute, although they were a bit stingy with my credit limit - £2000. Hopefully they will be better with you!

No fees on any foreign transactions, just like Nationwide. My personal tip is to open a Nationwide current account as well as applying for a Lombard card. Use the credit card for store purchases and use your Nationwide debit card for withdrawing cash from the hole in the wall. They are one of the only banks/building societies not to charge a fee for doing this abroad either. You obviously won't want to use the Lombard card for withdrawing cash as you will then pay through the nose for the cash advance.

The Nationwide current account isn't bad although it isn't the best. Personally I have the Alliance & Leicester as my proper current account, and then just transfer a small amount of cash to Nationwide before I go on holiday because the interest rate is better with A&L. Being a student, it may be that you don't earn enough money to qualify for the preferential A&L current account anyway.

grumbler

You can try to apply for Nationwide debit card. It is also not easy to get, but easier than a credit card.

kingwraith

I dont think its because your a student to be honest

I am a company director earning a decent wage and applied for the nationwide card for our upcoming US holiday. I too was turned down I have no debt, never had any debt and never will have any. I think the credit rating system can also work against people like me purely because they dont have enough history.

Also applied for lombard who also offered me £2000! Looks like I will have to take some cash on the holiday as well as the card. :beer: