# Nationwide to start charging



## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

After several years of using my Nationwide card in Europe I'm disappointed that they will start charging to use it outside the UK for next year.

I've found a suitable alternative in the Halifax (I hope!) - anyone else got any solutions?

Ray


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

rayhook said:


> After several years of using my Nationwide card in Europe I'm disappointed that they will start charging to use it outside the UK for next year. I've found a suitable alternative in the Halifax (I hope!) - anyone else got any solutions?
> 
> Ray


There's a whole thread on this here

http://tinyurl.com/3548wdg

However, at 2% the NW debit card is a very good deal and it now includes free travel insurance, which is saving me £80.


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

HobbyFan,

Thanks for the link.

However, with the 2% of the cost of 6 months touring in Europe each year, plus £1 for every cash withdrawal, I'd need to save a whole lot more than their £80! Having read their travel cover leaflet there seem to be some awefully big holes in there too.

At the moment Halifax are doing it all for free with their Clarity credit card so that's where I shall head in the absence of any other offers.........

Ray


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

I think that you may need to read the small print. 

From what I can gather Halifax charges interest of 12.9% immediately from when you draw cash using its Clarity Credit card.

http://tinyurl.com/2vb3edx

If you pay it off five or six weeks later when you settle your credit card bill you'll have to pay quite a bit.

It's a good option if you want to use a credit card abroad, but for cash withdrawals there's this extra charge in the small print.

Finally, I can find no 'big holes' in the Nationwide travel policy apart from the fact that it's a 31 day policy, which is obviously no good for you, but for me it's fine.


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Halifax charges*

HobbyFan,

Absolutely correct. However, comparing like with like, keep it topped up as you would a Nationwide card and it's free........

Ray


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## nukeadmin (Oct 10, 2003)

If you go here: https://www.caxtonfxcard.com/motorhomefacts.asp you can apply for a Caxton card which is commission free with no overseas ATM Fees and according to our members offers a good solution and hence why I contact Caxton about it


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Caxton*

Nuke,

I'd read this and thought 'No':

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-94108-caxton.html

I do like the idea of the fixed exchange rate when you load the card however............

Ray


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## nukeadmin (Oct 10, 2003)

y but like someone in the thread said ray



> This procedure is not unique to Caxton FX cards or indeed any pre-paid card, all cards issued by any institution are treated in the same way whether they are debit, credit or prepaid cards.


as an alternative to Nationwide it seems to be one of the better options available


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Not quite so*

Nuke,

I don't agree with what is being said. It may not be unique to Caxton but I have Visa, MasterCard and Amex, all of which I use abroad and I have NEVER come against this problem. Being shut out from your means of paying for things seems like quite a downside!

Ray


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

For the average motor-homer, is it all that important though? OK, if you're abroad six months a year spending thousands, perhaps there's a point in all the buggering about with various methods and cards.

But my current account is with Nationwide, I go away more than most with perhaps 8 weeks in Europe every year, and if I were to get another type of debit card I might save a few quid, but is it worth the hassle?

And of course I get the travel insurance which is fine for my needs.

The other angle is that in their efforts to save as much as possible, people have lost lots of money in the Crown Currency debacle!

I'll be sticking with my Nationwide debit card! Life's too short for all this complication!


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## nukeadmin (Oct 10, 2003)

with your credit cards etc you wouldn't notice it happening though would you Ray unless you had a card with £1500 credit limit and were £1400 into it


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Another issue*

There's another issue which goes largely unnoticed and Nationwide may yet be the winner.

Card issuers get their income from a mix of commission per transaction and/or the exchange rate they apply. The latter is difficult to judge but consider the following: on 30 Sept Nationwide's rate was 1.16 for a transaction in Euros (from my statement); today Caxton are offering 1.12

XE.com, the exchange rate site, shows the £/€ rate on 30 Sept as 1.16; today 1.14

Caxton are making a charge in their sale of euros to load the card - roughly 2%.

Hmmmm

Ray


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Card limits*

Nuke,

Think you're correct there and I've mis-understood what was being said about the authorisations. Moral I guess, is not to sail close to the wind.

Ray


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## Linnet (Sep 17, 2009)

*Using credit card abroad*

Santander Zero credit card don't charge for foreign transactions nor cash withdrawl however with cash interest is charged immediately from withdrawl whereas purchases have interest free period.

Robert.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

I've just got my Tesco Credit Card bill, including fuel purchases in France. On approx the same day, I withdrew cash from ATMs using my Nationwide card. Comparing the Mastercard cost in GBP to the cash price using money from Nationwide Debit Card, even adding on a 1% charge, makes interesting reading!

21st Sep Rate: Nationwide 1.19; Tesco Mastercard 1.136
Fuel: €67. Tesco: £58.97 (NWide = £56.30; NW + 1% = 56.87)

27th Sep Rate: Nationwide 1.17; Tesco Mastercard 1.117
Fuel: €60. Tesco: £53.70 (NWide = £51.28; NW + 1% = 51.79)

30th Sep Rate: Nationwide 1.15; Tesco Mastercard 1.108
Fuel: €42. Tesco: £37.91 (NWide = £36.52; NW + 1% = 36.89)

TOTAL: Tesco £150.58. (NW = £144.11; NW+1% = £145.55) 

Having said all of that, only 1 of the 3 fuel dispensers would have allowed me to use cash, and in that one the cashier locked up just as I pulled off the pump. In the overall scheme of things, it's probably not worth losing sleep over!

Gordon


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Clarity*

Hi

I have a Clarity Card and have TRIED to use it overseas, but on each occasion, declined.

I have logged on to the HBOS website and I have a message to contact them asap.

Will report back.

Russell


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

*Re: Using credit card abroad*



Linnet said:


> Santander Zero credit card don't charge for foreign transactions nor cash withdrawl however with cash interest is charged immediately from withdrawl whereas purchases have interest free period.
> 
> Robert.


But I don't think (according to the Santander Website) you can get a Zero card with having either a Santander mortgage or other investment with them.


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## Linnet (Sep 17, 2009)

*Using credit card abroad*

In order to get a Zer Credit Card you need to have current account with Santander, having said that I believe they do offer an incentive to switch bank accounts, when I changed they gave 12% interest for 12 months on up to £2500 but I think they now simply give cash ie. £100

Robert.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

I switched to Santander 2 months ago and got £100 + 5% on current balances upto £2500 for 12 months.

However, the Zero debit card required a Santander mortgage (our fixed rate bond & ISAs were not enough).

I did get a Zero credit card, which allows cash withdrawals followed by a top-up to maintain zero charges. Unfortunately (and I cannot see how it works, but the manager insisted this was the way of things) if you put a credit balance and then withdraw cash, you get charged until you have topped back up by the amount withdrawn.

Gordon


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Halifax Clarity Card*

Russell,

When you do get a response I would be very interested - I would also like to know the exchange rate they apply to euro transcations when compared to the £/€ rate on xe.com for the day in question.

For the moment, I'm keeping my Nationwide account & card and will try out the Clarity card on our next tour in Spring 2011.

Ray


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## skratt (May 1, 2005)

I am off touring again for a year or two in Europe next week.
I usually use a nationwide flex account debit card for all transactions while abroad. 
Im annoyed that nationwide are starting to charge as thats the only reason I bank with them. So im voting with my feet and leaving them.

Is there another zero % debit card I can use instead. I dont want the complication of a claxton card though.


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

skratt said:


> Is there another zero % debit card I can use instead. I dont want the complication of a claxton card though.


Be very careful, do your sums and read the small print. The Nationwide debit card is still one of the best. It's no good having commission-free withdrawals if the exchange rate isn't good.

Nationwide's exchange rate is top notch and I'm sticking with it. It's my current account as well and I see no point in moving it.


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## skratt (May 1, 2005)

yes, Ive just been looking and thats true. But why, after all this time have they started charging ? Im just not prepared to quietly start paying without a fight. Its just in my nature to ask questions of authorities.
Maybe Im not really british


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

skratt said:


> yes, Ive just been looking and thats true. But why, after all this time have they started charging ? Im just not prepared to quietly start paying without a fight. Its just in my nature to ask questions of authorities. Maybe Im not really british


The answer is very simple. When Nationwide introduced this deal they naively assumed that people would switch their current accounts to them and use them as proper current accounts.

What actually happened is that thousands of people opened a NW account and simply put some money in just before they went on holiday and, on their return, drew it out again leaving just a small sum in.

In the new deal, which gives free travel insurance, which I accept may not be much use to you as you imply that you're away for months on end, NW has stated that people must use it as their main account. If people don't, NW can close the account.

It's a shame because the freeloaders ruined it for those of us with genuine current accounts being used as they should. But it was ever so!


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## skratt (May 1, 2005)

thanks for the explo .... Is that really the only reason ??

maybe free overseas withdrawals for people with yearly balances over a certain limit would of been less drastic.


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

skratt said:


> thanks for the explo .... Is that really the only reason ??maybe free overseas withdrawals for people with yearly balances over a certain limit would of been less drastic.


I genuinely think that it is the real reason. Your suggestion of yearly balances is good, but a nightmare to implement and police. I'd rather that they just booted out those not using their accounts properly and kept it as it was.

For most people the free travel insurance is a good deal, saving up to £80 a year.

I promise you, this has been discussed ad nauseum and many of us have already written to Nationwide. As I said, I'm sticking with mine as it's a damn good exchange rate.


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## Chascass (May 10, 2007)

If you do the maths Its a no brainer for those that use the flex account as their main account and don't travel for long periods abroad.

You would have to withdraw approximately 4000 euros at ATM's before the charges exceeded the £80 free travel insurance.
(at 400 euro per withdrawal)
Charlie


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

The other point that all seem to miss is the NW Gold Credit Card.
There are NO CHARGES for using this credit card abroad, with the exception of cash withdrawals, and a very good exchange rate.
Provided you pay off the CC in full each time, it can't be bettered, in my opinion.

I use the credit card for card transactions and the debit card for cash withdrawals, and as has already been said, even with the same exchange rate, there would have to be a lot of "cash withdrawals" to exceed the holiday insurance cost.


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

*Really?*



Hobbyfan said:


> The answer is very simple. When Nationwide introduced this deal they naively assumed that people would switch their current accounts to them and use them as proper current accounts.


When Nationwide introduced this deal interest rates were much higher so any money deposited with them "in advance" of foreign spending and withdraws was worth much more to them than at present. Naivety - I think not :!:

I did consider moving my main account to them but I am now very pleased I did not. 40 years with my present bank seems to help me if I need financial help. I would have lost that if I had switched.

Paul


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I agree baldlygo. 

The CEO of Group Four or whatever their latest name is was on the radio last night. He said business was down for his company all over Europe and North America, due to interest rates being so low cash is not being banked as often as it was. It seems the cost of moving it is currently greater than the interest it can gain in a few days. I realise that applies to cash only, but equally there is no incentive for banks to seek to have relatively small sums of money passing in and out of accounts as the cost of handling it may exceed the rewards gained by investing it, Alan.


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

*Re: Really?*



baldlygo said:


> When Nationwide introduced this deal interest rates were much higher so any money deposited with them "in advance" of foreign spending and withdraws was worth much more to them than at present. Naivety - I think not :!:Il


You ought to do some sums. If someone put in a thousand pounds and kept the balance in for a month, it's safe to say that interest may be paid on an average of £500. It would be £1000 at the beginning but very low at the end of the month.

If NW could get interest of say 6% on the £500 for a month it would earn them the princely sum of £2.50!

Now, if the motor-homer in question goes away for two months' holiday a year, which is much more than average, NW would scoop the magnificent sum of £5.00 interest on the money deposited.

Let's assume that you can double my calculations, that would be ten pounds. However many people would probably go abroad once a year and it would be much less.

Now, then, I can now see why Nationwide would want to encourage people to open an account but not actually use it properly. It's because they're going to earn these huge sums of between £2.50 and £10.00!

That must be a huge profit for them after deducting the running costs of setting up a current account and maintaining it!

I would calculate that this huge profit would be at least a hundred pounds a year, but in the red!

No wonder they pulled the plug!


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

TR5 said:


> The other point that all seem to miss is the NW Gold Credit Card. There are NO CHARGES for using this credit card abroad, with the exception of cash withdrawals, and a very good exchange rate. Provided you pay off the CC in full each time, it can't be bettered, in my opinion.


You're right of course but you'll still need a card for cash withdrawals and as you know, NW charges interest from day one if you use a credit card and there's a 2.5% cash-handling fee, minimum charge £3.00.

I have a very simple solution. I just use the NW debit card for everything. I draw 300 Euro at a time and pay cash for all smallish purchases and use the card for larger ones.

There's no need to keep a fortune in the current account as it can be topped up on-line from other interest-bearing accounts that you may have, almost immediately.


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

New N&P account may be of interest?

Paul


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Rosbotham said:


> New N&P account may be of interest?
> 
> Paul


Here N&P and N/Wide are almost next to each other so I think I'll go into N&P and see if I can transfer my personal N/Wide account to them and keep the joint N/Wide account running - that way I'll get free travel insurance from N/Wide and free overseas withdrawals from N&P.

I'll then write to N/Wide (again) and tell, them what I've done and why it's their loss.


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## skratt (May 1, 2005)

yep .... was thinking of doing the same. cheers paul


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