pre-paying credit card for foreign use

goalhanger

Thanks for all the info. I went into the Abbey and asked about loading the card up and the assistant said it wasn't neccessary as all transactions were free. Sounds perfect to me. So its Abbey Zero for my holiday.

Thanks again.

lisyloo

I honestly think you've been mis-informed.

Go to their site, and click interest rates

Cash advances: Introductory/Promotional rate N/A. Monthly rate 1.9137%. Annual rate 25.9%.

So you will pay nearly 26% (annually) for interest on cash advances.

Perhaps there was a misunderstanding but I've checked this thoroughly, suggest you do the same.

Did you specifically mention cash or did the person think you were talking about purchases?

If you said cash and are sufficiently motivated and know who it was who gave you think information then you may wish to consider making a complaint.

lisyloo

Note that interest is in addition to the cash adavnce fee (which is zero).

agsnu

goalhanger wrote: »

Thanks for all the info. I went into the Abbey and asked about loading the card up and the assistant said it wasn't neccessary as all transactions were free. Sounds perfect to me. So its Abbey Zero for my holiday.

Thanks again.

All transactions are free, yes, but if you withdraw cash from an ATM you will be charged interest on the balance from the date of the transaction. So while the transaction will be free, borrowing the money is not.

Purchases get up to 56 (or whatever it is) days interest free credit, as normal.

lisyloo

This is exactly the kind of mis-understanding that I feared.
Sometimes the answer you get depends on exactly which questions you ask.

So the staff member was right baout the transaction being free, but borrowing the money is not.

I had a similar experience a while ago when I asked BT about the "charge" for paying by cheque.
They were adamant that there was NO charge.
What I actually wanted to know was - the DIFFERENCE between paying by cheque and direct debit.
But because they considered it a discount I got absolutely nowhere by referring to it as a charge.

So be very careful exactly what you ask.
It's better to ask a question like "Are there any costs associated with this?" rather than refer to specific terms like charge or transaction, because a staff member will only answer in the specifi terms the question you ask.

HamiltonL

Hi goalhanger.

Don't forget you're 0% for 6 months on purhases as well. Ideal if using the card in Crete.

goalhanger

Thanks for all your help. Am still waiting for a reply on the Zero card from Abbey.