# Money in France



## Westkirby01 (Jan 25, 2009)

Information please!

When travelling in France what is the best way to get your money.

We are going for a number of months therefore to change some £,s to euro's before hand is only part of the option.

If you have travelled for some time can you advise on what you do please. Which banks, cards, cost, charges etc. 

PM if you wish to converse privately

Thank you

Westkirby01


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

I, and many others here, use and trust the Nationwide Flex Account Debit Card.

Accepted most places, good exchange rate and no bank charges.

I usually draw out little and often at ATMs that are everywhere.

It's not a problem.

Enjoy


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## colian (May 11, 2005)

Hi,

For France we use our Nationwide debit card to get money out, as they give a good exchange rate, We have a Nationwide credit card set up to be paid in full from our other everyday current account .

This way we do not pick up any charges, this is ok if you keep an eye on what you spend.

Ian


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

Westkirby01 said:


> Information please!
> 
> When travelling in France what is the best way to get your money.
> 
> ...


We use Nationwide.
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm


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## OwnedbyCollies (Dec 7, 2009)

Caxton FX card.

Prepaid mastercard. Load by phone, text or online from current account and use as a mastercard in Europe. Free withdrawl of cash at ATMs in Europe.

Santander Zero credit card. Fees free for europe. Pay balance in full each month to avoid interest.

Check out Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert website for advice on how to avoid fees and get the best rates.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Another one voting for Nationwide

Trouble is I now understand it is difficult to get a Nationwide account. I THINK the Post Office card is the same but dont quote me on that.

Perhaps a google search might throw up a few more answers for you.


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## JockandRita (Jun 1, 2005)

Mrplodd said:


> Another one voting for Nationwide
> 
> Trouble is I now understand it is difficult to get a Nationwide account. I THINK the Post Office card is the same but dont quote me on that.
> 
> Perhaps a google search might throw up a few more answers for you.


Oi, that's two votes you've had. :lol:

Here's another for the Nationwide accounts, debit and credit. :thumbleft:

Jock.


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## Chascass (May 10, 2007)

Mrplodd said:


> Another one voting for Nationwide
> 
> Trouble is I now understand it is difficult to get a Nationwide account. I THINK the Post Office card is the same but dont quote me on that.
> 
> Perhaps a google search might throw up a few more answers for you.


You can still easily open a Nationwide flex account with debit card, the change is it now has to be your Main account with you salary pensions etc paid into it.

Charlie


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

And yet another vote for Nationwide cards. No charges and very good exchange rates.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I use the Post Office money card. You don't have to open yet another account and it is very easy to apply.
You can top up over the phone and if you lose the card they will send you a new one.
Only bugbear is that the PO exchange rates might not be as good as some others.

BTW the PO card is a Visa Electron so usually in France it just needs a signature and not a pin.


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## gibb (Dec 25, 2007)

Nationwide for me i have allways got good exchange rate


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## 04HBG (Dec 9, 2007)

Definitely the Nationwide, on a recent trip to Holland we found the supermarkets and garages didn't like either of our cards, Nationwide or TSB, so we decided to draw some cash out of the bank.

My wife took out 250 euros from the nationwide acount and i decided to top the safe up with another 250 euros from my TSB acount, when we got home i checked the difference in cost between the two !!!!
*The LLoyds/TSB statement showed that they had charged £9.88 **more* than the Nationwide for the same amount drawn out just 20 seconds later than the Nationwide withdrawal.

If you are going for any length of time that adds up to one hell of a lot of money in your pocket if you go Nationwide.

The reason being they don't charge you commision on withdrawals and they give you the commercial rate and not the tourist rate that TSB and other banks give you.

RD


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