NatWest Debit Cards

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BartC 15 years ago

Just been abroad where I've been using my debit card in preference to a credit card (which has the nuisance of having to remember to pay it off otherwise I get stung with charges).

Now I've just found out that every debit card transaction has cost me a £1.25 point-of-sale fee (on top of a 2.75% 'ERTF' fee).

I can't find anywhere on-line their charges for using credit cards abroad.

Do credit cards (specifically NW ones) also have a point-of-sale fee?

If not, it seems extraordinary that someone would be penalised for using a debit card instead of a credit card. (And many transactions were very small such as motorway tolls where the £1.25 would be a big chunk of the cost. I'm sure that the merchant fee for using a credit card wouldn't not be as much as that; can it?)

I think I'll stick to cash in the future; at least I know, even before I leave the country, exactly what rate I will be getting (some transactions with the debit card were coming out at about 0.90 euros to the pound! While cash was giving me about 1.10 euros)

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Chris Blunt 15 years ago

It's a good idea to read the Travel Money section of Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert.com to get up-to-date information about these things before you travel.

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Chris

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BartC 15 years ago

OK, thanks. Took a while to find the correct bit on this very busy site, but it starts here:

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But it appears (confirmed by my own research this morning) that debit cards

*do* attract a flat per-transaction fee (£1.25 for my Natwest card), making them more expensive than credit cards (ignoring penalty charges) or even cash.

(Not a huge amount (it may have cost me only £10 to £15 in total) but vastly annoying!)

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Jake 15 years ago

I'm with Nationwide - they used to have fee free withdrawals abroad, but now they have recently gone to 1 per withdrawal and a certain % of the transaction - it's still much lower than any other card I have seen.

I think it may still be free to withdraw Euros - but I haven't been to any Eurozone countries in the last two years...

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BartC 15 years ago

I got turned down by Nationwide.

I've now applied for a Halifax Clarity card, but they will let me know in ten days whether I've been successful (better than the instant on-screen refusal by Nationwide, which was a complete slap in the face; perhaps they don't realise that people who don't need to work and happen to be renting can still have plenty of money and need a card to help spend it. Or maybe they knew I wasn't going to be too profitable for them...)

And in any case the link shown earlier suggests that new Nationwide customers only get the overseas benefits if they spend a certain amount in the UK first.

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Roger Mills 15 years ago

Nationwide used to be good - with no transaction fees for debit card cash withdrawals or credit card purchases - but that's all changed now!

I now use a Halifax Clarity card when abroad - *both* for purchases

*and* cash withdrawals. There is no transaction fee for either - although you *do* have to pay interest on cash withdrawals - which is very little if you pay it off straight away. Their debit card *does* have transaction fees for both types of transaction, so the credit card is the better option, even for cash.

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tim.... 15 years ago

I got turned down by "the system" as well.

And it wasn't because I wasn't working. I think that it was because I didn't tick the box to do an automatic transfer of my standing orders from my previous current account.

Anyhow, as I was in the branch at the time and the assistant could see that I had a large amount on deposit with them she overrode the system and got me a card.

tim

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Gunslinger 15 years ago

NatWest Debit cards have become something of a rip off since they switched from Maestro to Visa.

If you use your debit card to buy currency at Thomas Cook or wherever, the bank will now charge you a minimum of £1.50 on top of any commission charged by the bureau.

Moral: if changing relatively small amounts, get cash from an ATM first and then take into the bureau....

I got turned down by "the system" as well.

And it wasn't because I wasn't working. I think that it was because I didn't tick the box to do an automatic transfer of my standing orders from my previous current account.

Anyhow, as I was in the branch at the time and the assistant could see that I had a large amount on deposit with them she overrode the system and got me a card.

tim

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NatWest Debit Cards

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