Cash withdrawal aborad - ATM charges

That looks as cheap as they get. Generally, foreign cards are exempt from domestic ATM/cashpoint fees (e.g., $1.50 at most machines in the USA). Theoretically you could save on US withdrawals by wiring funds into an account at a bank such as USAA Federal Savings Bank that offers free ATM withdrawals as well as refunding the $1.50 fee for a certain number of withdrawals every month. But you'd have to wire a lot of money at once to make it pay.

Another problem is that VISA's loading charge has crept upwards as well as the additional load charged by the issuing banks. But given the crookedness (blatant profiteering with secret charges in print so small you can't read it, and lies by the bureau de change attendants (especially in Spain, as documented in the travel press), using a Nationwide card is probably as cheap an option as you will find. Until Britain joins the euro zone.

Many smaller financial institutions have no idea what they charge because they contract out the whole operation (issuing credit cards, managing debit cards) to independent firms. The only way to know what it costs is to use several different cards at the same time, and then check the rate applied against OANDA. But there is rampant cheating: the banks hold the charges if the rate is moving against you. I once had a debit and a return credit within an hour of each other -- at quite different rates. When I protested, Amex made good the difference.

I have notice that the visa exchange rate is now less favorable than the rate quoted on OANDA (compared to what it was a year or two ago). In fact on a recent trip to greece you got a better rate in the local shop for exchange (1.48 no commission) than withdrawing from the ATM (1.47 plus 1.25% withdrawal fee on nationwide)

The only way to know what it costs is to use several different cards at the same time, and then check the rate applied against OANDA. But there is rampant cheating: the banks hold the charges if the rate is moving against you. I once had a debit and a return credit within an hour of each other -- at quite different rates. When I protested, Amex made good the difference.

I have contacted Nationwide about this - but that dont seem to want to reply. On my last visit to France I made three transactions with the same company within an hour, but all are charged at significantly different exchange rates (2%+ difference) with the middle transaction being 2.5% lower. Checking OandA there was little movment in the exchange rate on this date - which does not explain the difference.

using a Nationwide card is probably as

Best option I can find is to open a Nationwide current account - then there is (as far as I can see) no cash withdrawal fee for ATM withdrawals

"Tam" wrote

Would you have protested if, instead of going against you - it had been in your favour? ;-)

Not likely. It seems they applied a load in one direction but not the other. I have never, ever seen "profit" of the kind you posit, whereas in the dozen or more cases where I have had a credit (typically for a tax refund or a partial return of goods) the rate has gone against me. Since the two transactions would be on different days I would have no grounds to complain, however -- since I can't prove (or more correctly, don't have the time and wherewithal to prove) the divergence from actual rates.

The VISA and MasterCard systems make ALL foreign exchange transactions via the US dollar. Presumably they only apply one loading charge. But they don't necessarily compute the conversion at instantaneous rates. I imagine they use whatever rate works out best for them. Sort of like the crookedness we saw with those after-hours transactions by hedge- and pension-funds in dealing with US mutual funds. The ones that were censured last year. It's like being able to bet at the track after the race is under way. Or finished.

Transfer the money into a Nationwide Current account and withdraw it from there.