# Credit / Debit cards abroard



## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

I've been using Nationwide Flexi account card for the last 6 or 7 years going over to France,Germany etc, but this year having just returned from Italy & checking my Flexi card statements I find that I've been charged for using it [  I admit I DID know they had changed their rules but amongst everything else - I just plum forgot  ] - Not wanting to waste money in future can you experienced lot suggest an alternative card to take & use in the Eurozone . . ? [What to you think of the Caxton card ?


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Hi Vic; you got back then!!


Yes, Caxton card; dead easy :!:


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Cards*

Hi

1) Halifax Clarity Credit Card - fee free overseas.

2) Current account with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society -- one of the accounts has a fee free debit card - www.npbs.co.uk

3) Caxton is a pre loaded card - rates slightly worse from my experience that Clarity - about 2% difference.

Russell


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## Chascass (May 10, 2007)

Nationwide Credit card is still free of any charges, I used it on my last trip to France/Spain and paid off the balance when I returned home, it worked very well, only carrying a small amount of cash.

Charlie


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi Vic.
The PO CC does not levy any extra at the moment on purchases. But even they charge for cash withdrawals.

Ray.


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

The one drawback of the N&P Gold account is that you have to pay in a minimum of £500/month or you get a £5 underfunding charge for every month you "underfund".


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

Caxton for me in €, i can use as a credit card in shops also draw cash from machines, there are no charges, or conversion fees.

I find it excellent


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

I use Santander Zero or PostOffice Credit card.Both have no charges applied to continental use other than cash withdrawals.For cash I use Santander Current account cash card.In Spain if you use Santnader ATM's there are no charges applied.


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

BrianJP said:


> I use Santander Zero or PostOffice Credit card.Both have no charges applied to continental use other than cash withdrawals.For cash I use Santander Current account cash card.In Spain if you use Santnader ATM's there are no charges applied.


Beware of Santander's new policy of only allowing a maximum of three countries to be added to your account at any one time and for a maximum period of three months so if you are intending to use the card in more than three countries you need to phone them and ask for one to be taken off and replaced (good look at getting through!).

This is something new for 2011 apparently and is a real issue for us, we've had nothing but problems with our card where previously in 2009 it was excellent for us.

The Halifax gave us a better rate (12.9%, so effectively 1% charged on cash withdrawls so £1 on £100) which can often be less if you withdraw the cash towards the end of the billing cycle.

Furthermore if you have a Halifax Current Account you are paid a £5 'reward' if you spending exceeds £300 each month, more then covering any fees.

There are no restrictions (after informing them back at home, I've used this card in 8 countries including Russia) and the card offers much better protection then the Caxton - although we also have one of these for back up.

Direct debit clears the card in full every month - no 'topping up' required.


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## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

Chascass said:


> Nationwide Credit card is still free of any charges, I used it on my last trip to France/Spain and paid off the balance when I returned home, it worked very well, only carrying a small amount of cash.
> 
> Charlie


As of the 31st July 2011 commission will apply on Nationwide Visa Credit Cards.

But what really annoys me with Nationwide, is that after paying £50 in comission on the Debit Card ATM tranactions, they charge a further £15 just for making withdrawals. Now if you factor in the commission and withdrawal fee into the exchange rate it drops it by about €0.03 to the pound.

Are we to expect it to drop by €0.06 to the pound when you factor in additional commission after the 31-07-2011.

I'd change to Santander, but you need to deposit £1000 a month to get ZERO charges.


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## Phil42 (Apr 4, 2006)

Sorry Zozzer, can you explain the £50 and the £15 on debit card transactions? 

Phil


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I still think the nationwide flex account is as good as anything and i've kept mine. Ok so you now pay for cash withdrawls and a commission on using it but it's not much and the exchange rate on the card is about the best I beleive.

I think many of the "free" credit cards may appear free if you pay them off but the rate isn't quite as good so it probably works out the same

plus I know it's accepted pretty much everywhere.

So it's no longer free, well it was good while it lasted but Im not convinced I will save much or anything by changing


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## seanoo (Mar 31, 2007)

hi all, i must be missing something with this caxton account! the rate i get this morning with nationwide is 1.1190 and the load rate with caxton is 1.0880 a differance of 3.1 cents. so if draw £300 pounds while abroad from nationwide it will cost me £7 (2% + £1) so i will get £293 or €327.86 . if i load £300 on my caxton card at their rate, i get €326.40 a loss of £1.40 . if my maths are right? if i use caxton as a debit card for purchases its even worse because with nationwide i only pay the 2% and not the extra pound. i dont see the point in the caxton card at all . i dislike the charges levied by nationwide as much as anyone else but they are still more competitive than caxton (if my sums are right of course) all the best sean


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## Chascass (May 10, 2007)

The only advantage with the Caxton card is you can load it in advance if/when you think the euro is at it's cheapest, but it dose have disadvantages, no protection if they go bust, you cannot use it every where, not to mention the euro rate could get better after the card has been loaded.
I will be sticking with Nationwide (free travel insurance) until something better comes along.

Charlie


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

And I'm sticking with my Santander Zero Credit Card - better rate than NW and zero charges. Suits me for cash withdrawals and purchases, and of course serves as a normal credit card anywhere in the world.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

seanoo said:


> hi all, i must be missing something with this caxton account! the rate i get this morning with nationwide is 1.1190 and the load rate with caxton is 1.0880 a differance of 3.1 cents. so if draw £300 pounds while abroad from nationwide it will cost me £7 (2% + £1) so i will get £293 or €327.86 . if i load £300 on my caxton card at their rate, i get €326.40 a loss of £1.40 . if my maths are right? if i use caxton as a debit card for purchases its even worse because with nationwide i only pay the 2% and not the extra pound. i dont see the point in the caxton card at all . i dislike the charges levied by nationwide as much as anyone else but they are still more competitive than caxton (if my sums are right of course) all the best sean


Sean

if you haven't got a natiowide account, the caxton card is dead easy to use. We load it up before we go away and draw cash from bank machines in the euro zone - we know how much we have on the card and there's no charges at all. We can draw smallish amounts rather than having to think about a flat transaction charge - why carry more cash than you need? The card is kept in the safe when we don't need it.
In your example, if the cash was drawn on 3 separate tranactions, by using the nationwide card it would cost you more. All the hassle of setting up a nationwide account, and using it as a main account, for the sake of a couple of quid / euros? No thanks. If you already use the nationwide to qualify - no problem.
We don't use the Caxton card for payments that can be made by credit card like tolls & supermarket shopping / meals - we have the Halifax clarity card that doesn't charge for foreign transaction.


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## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

Phil42 said:


> Sorry Zozzer, can you explain the £50 and the £15 on debit card transactions?
> 
> Phil


The above figures are the combined total of fee's of both my wifes and my NON-UK ATM withdrawals

Everytime you use a Nationwide Debit Card to withdraw cash from an ATM outside the UK you are charged a NON-UK withdrawal fee of £1 irrespective of the ammount you withdraw.

Each withdrawal will be charged a commission rate of 2% of the amount you withdraw.

From the 31 July 2011, Nationwide Visa will be adding 2% commission to all NON-UK transactions.

Hope that explains it.


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Well I am still in France right now. Have been in Germany for almost 2 months and I have used the Nationwide Credit Card when buying fuel mostly though I did use the debit card once by mistake, that cost me 0.88 cents in commision, not bad really.

I think if the commision fee is coming in at the end of July then I will go back to using the debit card for purchases as on this trip I have used the credit card.

I did get the Halifax Clarity card but was appaled they took money out of my current account even though I had paid the amount in full well before the due date!! So I cancelled the Clarity card and had such a hasle with Halifax in doing so. It took months to get my money back!

So at the moment I will stick with Nationwide and factor in the commision and withdrawal fees.


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## provencal (Nov 5, 2008)

We've just returned from Greece and have been charged £43 in fees and commission on cash for seven withdrawals using our Nationwide debit card. I was expecting Nationwide's new policy to hurt but not that much. The situation was aggravated by most campsites and fuel stations refusal to accept cards, due to the current political chaos.

I had vowed to get a Caxton Card on our return but having just looked at Caxton's Euro rate of 1.09 compared with the 1.12 exchange rate quoted on BBC finance pages, I had come to the same conclusion as Seanoo. Nationwide still seem to be the better option, as we normally find that their rate is very close to the what has been on the BBC.

Missing the Greek weather,

Brian


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## b2tus (Sep 7, 2009)

Be careful when comparing rates against BBC finance pages. That rate will be the commercial interbank exchange rate. Tourist rates for us mere mortals will always be less.

CaxtonFX works fine for us. Rates are quite good, rarely gets refused (even in Italy where we have just been) but the thing that clinches it for us is the ease of loading the card and checking your balance by text from anywhere in the world 24/7. The replies are received within seconds of receiving your text enquiry.

Highly recommended by us. Just load enough each day on your card and take the cash out or spend it daily. This minimises any losses if in the remote event of Caxton/Paterborough Building Society going bust.


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## Chascass (May 10, 2007)

Nationwide base their rate on the Visa rate, which is 1.117587 today.

Charlie


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## provencal (Nov 5, 2008)

Caxton rate is 1.0920, so that is 2.34% worse, which is about the same as Nationwide's 2% commission and £1 fee on a €300 withdrawal.
Anyone know what rates N&P give?

Brian


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I use FairFX, similar to Caxton.

Its a pre-paid card and free if you load £300 or more.

Very easy to manage by phone, text or internet.

Current rate is 1.0985 to the quidlies.


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## Ainsel (Apr 5, 2008)

The Post Office do a credit card that does not charge for purchases abroad. Just back from France and confirmed by our bill.

Good luck, Ian


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## GRUMPYOB (Feb 20, 2011)

If you go onto Money Saving expert site there is a link to the Fairfx card which gives you an introductory discount too, making it better value.


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