Visa or Mastercard?

wombleon

I am about to apply for a zero % card for use abroad - I have a choice between cards (both offering nil charges on money abroad, etc.) one of which is the Post Office (Mastercard) the other, Nationwide, is Visa.

Question is - who would give me the best foreign exchange rates, Mastercard or Visa? I can find visa calculater on line but not one for MC.

Thanks for any advice.

L

missile

Neither Post Office or Nationwide charge for use overseas. The difference in rates is not going to make much difference. Both are universally accepted (in EU)

I guess you are aware that you pay ~ 2.5% if you use a CC for cash, better to use a debit card.

PBA

You can't make the decision on exchange rates, they will fluctuate from day to day so one might be best today, but doesn't mean it's the best tomorrow or the day after. Mastercard and Visa are both much the same, but I always suggest going for the one you don't already have in your wallet, just so that if one network goes down you've still got a card you can use. If that's not relevant to you then I guess just personal preference between Nationwide and Bank of Ireland.

MasterMiser

We have recently come back from France and used both Nationwide Visa and Post Office Mastercard on the same day three times. It seems that the Mastercard exchange rate is 0.5% worse than the Visa rate. This is fairly marginal but suggests that it is best to use Nationwide and to keep Post Office as a back up in case something goes wrong with the Nationwide card.

Does anyone else have comparative exchange rate data to validate our findings?

BrunoM

I think the interchange rate is set by the issuing bank partner (the bank/building society) not the network (mastercard/visa/amex). I'm probably wrong.

NickX

No the rate is determined by Visa or Mastercard.

Another option is Abbey Zero which is a Mastercard, but offers 0% interest on Balance Transfers and Purchases for the first 6 months, and there is NO fee for the Balance Transfer. A nice deal IMO.

MasterMiser

I have just come back from another foreign trip - this time to Austria. The exchange rate was 4% worse on Post Office than Nationwide on the same day (1.073 € per pound vs 1.1161). I have complained to Post Office and it will be interesting to see if they come back to me.

exel1966

MasterMiser wrote: »

I have just come back from another foreign trip - this time to Austria. The exchange rate was 4% worse on Post Office than Nationwide on the same day (1.073 € per pound vs 1.1161). I have complained to Post Office and it will be interesting to see if they come back to me.

Unless the transactions were processed concurrently you won't get an equal conversion rate as the exchange rate is dynamic and will depend on when request for payment by the retailer is made.

The best cards for European in order of merit and cheapest to run are:-

1. Abbbey Zero
2. Post Office
3. Nationwide

gt94sss2

exel1966 wrote: »

The best cards for European in order of merit and cheapest to run are:-

1. Abbbey Zero
2. Post Office
3. Nationwide

Can you explain why you rank them in that order please?

Regards
Sunil

Inactive

I would also be interested to know that as well.;)

rogeiro

For me visa and mastercard is same sht. I would take both.