New card - Abbey Zero

Kavanne

When I was 18 I got the nationwide classic with no problems. I was a non customer.

tiddler

exel1966 wrote: »

Withdrawing cash using a credit card is NOT a good idea. The fee may well be zero, but you'll still have to pay 25.9% from day 1 til repaid in full.

Before you go on holiday, could you not pre-load the card with your holiday spending money? This would then avoid the 25.9% interest as you are in credit on the card.

Yes? No?

YorkshireBoy

tiddler wrote: »

Yes? No?

Third option...possibly.

Some card providers (most notably Halifax) block a card if you place a positive balance on it.

Han_naH

Personally I use the lastminute.com travel cash card, which I preload and use anywhere with Maestro acceptance. It is excellent, only 20p for ANY fx transaction, not a percent. You can load from a credit card too, so free borrowed money there.

Problem is that Maestro is common in Europe and Turkey (recent visits) but I found in Hong Kong it was of no use at all. In this situation I would want MC or VISA so I expect to apply for this card for non-European trips.

martyn4764

leejp wrote: »

Personally I use the lastminute.com travel cash card, which I preload and use anywhere with Maestro acceptance. It is excellent, only 20p for ANY fx transaction, not a percent. You can load from a credit card too, so free borrowed money there.

Unfortunately (I was going to get one following a recent recommendation on here) the lastminute.com card is no longer available to new applicants.

Fairfx.com looks pretty good for similar use.

nightwatchman

leejp wrote: »

I use the lastminute.com travel cash card, which I preload and use anywhere with Maestro acceptance. It is excellent, only 20p for ANY fx transaction, not a percent. You can load from a credit card too, so free borrowed money there.

Hold on there!!!

If you can preload lastminute.com travel cash card (or Fairfx.com) from any other credit card then any balance transfer fee is eliminated.
If you have a purchase card with a long lasting offer you could use your maximum limit to preload your cash card and then you could take the cash out of any ATM and deposit them directly to the account of your choice.
Most likely you will not be able to take out more than £300 per day however it is worth the trouble especially if your purchase card limit is low.

Will this work?

What about if you try to do the same with a cash-back card?

Snooze

I feel sorry for everyone that gets accepted for this card. You will soon be experiencing no end of problems with Abbey's non-existant customer service. :rolleyes:

Rob

knightstyle

Let us be sure about cards. To get free cash abroad use Nationwide Flexaccount card, this is a bank account, you need to have money in to draw it out, or have an overdraft facility. Their Credit card charges a fee of 2.5%.
Abbey Zero is a Credit card with no fee. However all(?) credit cards charge interest on cash withdrawals immediately.

YorkshireBoy

knightstyle wrote: »

However all(?) credit cards charge interest on cash withdrawals immediately.

Two exceptions...

The Saga Platinum card offers up to 55 days interest free on cash withdrawals...but charges a 2% fee.

The M&S &more card offers up to 50+ days interest free on travel money (Sterling TC's which can be paid into your bank) for a 1% fee.


EDIT: Egg Money's typical APR of 7.9% probably works out cheaper than both the above for a 4-6 week 'loan'.

Cekim

knightstyle wrote: »

Abbey Zero is a Credit card with no fee. However all(?) credit cards charge interest on cash withdrawals immediately.

Received the application for one of these cards at the weekend and reading the details I'm puzzled as to whether they do or don't charge interest for cash advances??

The two confusing pieces of information from their web site are below:

Interest free period:
Maximum of 56 days for Purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time. There is no interest free period on Cash Transactions, Balance Transfers and Cheques.




Interest charging information:
Purchases: From Transaction Date Until Repaid in full*
Cash Advances: From Transaction Date Until Repaid in full*
Balance Transfers: From Date debited to your account Until Repaid in full*
*Interest is calculated daily. If you pay the balance in full, any interest charge for the period from the previous statement to the date of the full repayment will be debited the following month.



The second bit seems to work as per any other credit card for purchases, i.e. you make puchases, pay it off in full when it comes due and you pay no interest. This is the same for cash advances given what it says. ???