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Nationwide to charge for transactions outside of Europe on credit cards!

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
from May 6 customers with a Nationwide credit card will be charged 0.84 per cent for every transaction they make outside of continental Europe and a number of other countries including Israel.
The same fee will apply to debit card transactions from June 1, and both fees will be increased to 1 per cent from July in line with a rise being made by Visa.

So which card remains free?

full story


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 4-03-09 23:07; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
bug..still if it all goes to plan I should be home by then anyway...
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
will just see out the season.
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Boredsurfing, hadn't heard this, will tell hubby, he'll be steaming. They have just reduced our credit limit for no real reason, they sent out a fairly standard letter saying this, we wrote and queried it but were told decision was final. We had only recently got the card with one limit and then within a few weeks they had reduced it, nothing had changed, we checked our file and they hadn't checked it again looking for new info. Our credit rating/history is flawless. We were not pleased but then we heard that some people have had their cards cancelled. Anyone else had this?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Boredsurfing, Thanks for that info. A bit darn annoying.
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I used to be a loyal Nationwide member (customer). Seemingly week-by-week they are getting worse and worse. Sad They still haven't had the decency to re-arrange a meeting I had set up with them when the bad weather closed down most of the country over a month ago... They stopped taking payments (for bills etc) without informing us... They keep changing my overdraft limit (up and down) for no reason that I can tell... They continued making a Direct Debit payment after I cancelled it... They've dropped their interest rates to lower than most banks (now I know, theoretically, there's no 'problem' with this per se)...

Not a happy member at the moment, and for the first time ever I'm considering other options. Sad

I will, of course, keep my Flexaccount Debit Card for use abroad.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Saga Card remains free at the mo.
http://www.saga.co.uk/money-shop/credit-card/
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
skisimon wrote:
I used to be a loyal Nationwide member (customer). Seemingly week-by-week they are getting worse and worse. Sad They still haven't had the decency to re-arrange a meeting I had set up with them when the bad weather closed down most of the country over a month ago... They stopped taking payments (for bills etc) without informing us... They keep changing my overdraft limit (up and down) for no reason that I can tell... They continued making a Direct Debit payment after I cancelled it... They've dropped their interest rates to lower than most banks (now I know, theoretically, there's no 'problem' with this per se)...

Not a happy member at the moment, and for the first time ever I'm considering other options. Sad

I will, of course, keep my Flexaccount Debit Card for use abroad.


From what the article says, they ill also be charging for that from 11st June.

With both fees going up to 1% from 1st July.

BUT - the fees (both credit card and debit card) are ONLY for transactions outside Europe.
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alex_heney, I have edited the opening post to include that point.
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Boredsurfing wrote:
Saga Card remains free at the mo.
http://www.saga.co.uk/money-shop/credit-card/


Some of us dont qualify for one of those, yet rolling eyes Laughing
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What constitutes continental europe,Is it geographical?,or those countries that are in the EU.If so where does Switzerland stand?
The way i read it, was no change unless you are outside of europe.
Maybe they will provide customers with a definitive list?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
russia is in europe if song contest is anything to go by???? Puzzled
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Which countries are affected is detailed very precisely at http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm (yes, the URL is misleading).

Other cards which don't charge are mastercards: Post Office, and Abbey Zero (but that disappeared yesterday and their "new offer" hasn't yet appeared).

Note that Natiowide are not charging the 2.3-5% commission that most other companies charge.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Boredsurfing, alex_heney, RobW, thanks, very useful (and slightly annoying) information.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
The full list of countries where you will NOT be charged is:
Quote:

Andorra
Austria
Bear Islands
Belgium
Bulgaria
Channel Islands
Corsica
Cyprus
Czech Rephublic
Denmark
Estonia
Faroe Islands
Falkland Islands
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern & Antarctic lands
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Guadeloupe
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Isle of Man
Italy
Kerguelen
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Martinique
Mayotte
Monaco
Netherlands
New Caledonia
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Reunion
Romania
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
pain
St Barts (Barths or Barthelemy)
St Martin
St Pierre and Miquelon
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
Vatican City State
Wallis and Futuna Islands


The main missing ones I can see that are likely to affect skiers are USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Serbia, Japan
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Phew!!!
I was a bit worried that my upcoming trip to the Wallis and Futuna Islands might be affected Laughing
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Does anyone have any more experience of the Post Office Travel Money Card? There's only one thread about it on snowHead but it sounds pretty handy.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
andyph wrote:
Does anyone have any more experience of the Post Office Travel Money Card?


No experience, but if I read the T&Cs correctly, it costs 1.5% to put sterling onto the card, and 2.75% commission when you make an overseas purchase using it. So that's about 4.25% which is almost as bad as buying your currency in a high-street exchange bureaux!

And, since it's a pre-loaded card, you don't even had the protection of the consumer credit act.

I'm sure some people might find it useful, but for many, Touch, bargepole, and don't are three words which spring to mind.
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skisimon wrote:

I will, of course, keep my Flexaccount Debit Card for use abroad.


That's funny.

Obviously you haven't seen davidof's thread on debit card fraud (which also has a summary of OHrex's woes).
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comprex wrote:
skisimon wrote:

I will, of course, keep my Flexaccount Debit Card for use abroad.


That's funny.


Why?

Quote:


Obviously you haven't seen davidof's thread on debit card fraud (which also has a summary of OHrex's woes).


If you want to be panicked into not using your cards, that is fine. But it doesn't make somebody else not panicking"funny".
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[quote="alex_heney"][quote="comprex"]
skisimon wrote:

If you want to be panicked into not using your cards, that is fine. But it doesn't make somebody else not panicking"funny".


Quite right. It's absolutely hilarious.

Forsaking the umbrella protection provided by credit card companies on fraudulent purchases and relying on -voluntary- protection and -voluntary- restitution by the issuing bank just to save 0.84% is truly high comedy territory.
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RobW wrote:
andyph wrote:
Does anyone have any more experience of the Post Office Travel Money Card?

No experience, but if I read the T&Cs correctly, it costs 1.5% to put sterling onto the card, and 2.75% commission when you make an overseas purchase using it. So that's about 4.25% which is almost as bad as buying your currency in a high-street exchange bureaux!

And, since it's a pre-loaded card, you don't even had the protection of the consumer credit act.

I'm sure some people might find it useful, but for many, Touch, bargepole, and don't are three words which spring to mind.

You're right, with those rates using it for sterling would be dumb (and I have plenty of plastic for that already). But for euros, you get the PO exchange rate (which is usually quite competitive) and no further charges except for ATM cash withdrawal and that's only £2, which is good compared to credit card foreign currency charges.

So it appears to offer the convenience of a foreign credit card and reasonable rates and charges - which is why I think I must be missing something!!! Where's the catch Puzzled
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comprex wrote:
..........Obviously you haven't seen davidof's thread on debit card fraud (which also has a summary of OHrex's woes).


I haven't - nor have I found it on a search. Can you point me at it?
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comprex wrote:
alex_heney wrote:

If you want to be panicked into not using your cards, that is fine. But it doesn't make somebody else not panicking"funny".


Quite right. It's absolutely hilarious.

Forsaking the umbrella protection provided by credit card companies on fraudulent purchases and relying on -voluntary- protection and -voluntary- restitution by the issuing bank just to save 0.84% is truly high comedy territory.


It might be, if that were what was happening.

But it isn't, so I'm not sure what you think "funny".

You may consider the banking code to be "voluntary", but it is what all the banks work do, at least as much as the credit card companies work to the non voluntary protection they offer under the CCA.

But regardless of whether the banking code is voluntary or not, the banks are obliged to refund any debits made to your account which are not authorised by you (i.e. are fraudulent). If they don;t, and you sue, then you will win (always assuming of course you can show to the satisfaction of teh court that the transactiones were fraudulent - which applies equally to CC transactions).
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achilles, http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1152376&highlight=#1152376

I take both a N'wide credit card and a N'wide debit card abroad and use the former for purchases and the latter only for taking out cash. That said, I feel fairly confident that, if I were to buy goods on the debit card, and the seller defaulted, Nationwide would honour their obligations under the banking code. Fraudulent use of a card by a third party ie via identity theft or similar, is a separate matter from the protection offered by the Sale of Goods Act/the equivalent banking code: the only foolproof way around that is, I guess, never to use any form of plastic for anything, which doesn't seem practical.

Or maybe I'm missing something in comprex' argument. It has been known. wink
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Hurtle, thanks.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
andyph wrote:

You're right, with those rates using it for sterling would be dumb (and I have plenty of plastic for that already). But for euros, you get the PO exchange rate (which is usually quite competitive)


Just tried online and PO offered me a rate of 1.0857. Interbank rate (according to O&A) is currently 1.12339. That works out at about 3.3%. Better than some I suppose.
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comprex, thus far, in my experience, it's Debit Cards 1 - 0 Credit Cards.

Somehow had someone clone my card or something (I'm usually very careful, but it has to be said that card security is not America's strong point - that is where it happened). I got the money back, only after telling them that it was being used by someone else (good job I regularly check my account).

My debit card, on the same trip, got the same treatment, but the issuer (Nationwide) cancelled the card on the first attempt to use it - they must have figured that it would have been difficult for me to withdraw money from an ATM in Denver about twenty minutes after making a purchase at Reading train station on my way home from the airport. They also called me when they did it so that I was aware, didn't stop me missing out on a sandwich at the station though.

Small sample, I know, and it has as much to do with the institutions as the type of card, but I'm happy to continue using my debit card; leaving the credit card at home so that I'm not tempted to use more than I can afford to pay back at the end of the month.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
RobW wrote:
andyph wrote:

You're right, with those rates using it for sterling would be dumb (and I have plenty of plastic for that already). But for euros, you get the PO exchange rate (which is usually quite competitive)


Just tried online and PO offered me a rate of 1.0857. Interbank rate (according to O&A) is currently 1.12339. That works out at about 3.3%. Better than some I suppose.

cf. Natwest curently offering 1.06 something, so PO looks generous.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Anybody ever tried this? It's a pre-loaded debit card. So you know the exchange rate you are getting for your money up front, and there are no further charges.

http://www.caxtonfxcard.com/feesncharges.asp?dist=CAXTGENL
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James the Last wrote:
Anybody ever tried this? It's a pre-loaded debit card. So you know the exchange rate you are getting for your money up front, and there are no further charges.

http://www.caxtonfxcard.com/feesncharges.asp?dist=CAXTGENL

Same idea as the PO one but with much better rates, from the look of it. I'd be interested in any snowHead experience.
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James the Last - My husband has a Caxton card. It has worked very well for our trips. I don't know all the ins and outs of the terms and conditions but knowing him, he researched it well and he wouldn't have opted for it unless it was a good deal!

Last trip we went on in March he pre-loaded it while avidly watching the exchange rates and then topped it up on line a couple of times while we were away - no problems at all. wink
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Boredsurfing wrote:

So which card remains free?

Post Office Credit Card
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money
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sarah, as Nationwide are still a building society, they have to abide by the appropriate rules, which means they can only offer balance sheet lending - they cannot securitise in any way, shape or form.

Crudely put, if they don't have sufficient money on their books from peoples deposit accounts, they have to trim their liability on lending, which is why people may find their credit limit being cut for no apparant reason.

I don't know how much you use your credit card, however this can have an impact also. There was a Daily Mail field-day when Egg decided to withdraw millions of customers credit cards from them purely because the usage of those customers was not making them enough money. Unfortunately, it is something they are entitled to do.

There can be a number of comercial reasons behind it, but the likelihood is it's one of these.
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Boredsurfing wrote:
Saga Card remains free at the mo.
http://www.saga.co.uk/money-shop/credit-card/


No its not - charges 1% fee on transactions outside of Europe - same as Nationwide's full rate Madeye-Smiley
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