# Credit and debit cards in Europe



## Grum (Mar 8, 2018)

When we were in Europe last year we had a N & P debit card which worked great but as they are no longer available I was wondering if people use the Halifax clarity card or is the Santander Zero credit card a better option?


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## phillybarbour (Mar 8, 2018)

Halifax Clarity for me, great rate generally.


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## 5andy (Mar 8, 2018)

I know a lot about of people on the forum use Halifax Clarity and are happy with it. I use Santander Zero really because we bank with Santander. There is no charges and gives a decent exchange rate:


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## TeamRienza (Mar 8, 2018)

*Starling Bank*

If you are happy with internet banking, then look at Starling Bank

Starling Bank - The current account built for your mobile | Mobile banking

A debit card linked to your main bank account, so you can top it up like a prepay card except it is in £sterling. Use at home and abroad with a pure exchange rate and no commission.

Transactions show immediately, but another big plus for me is that the card can be switched off when not in use, or you can tailor it with the ‘flick’ of a switch on the app on a smartphone to only work at an ATM, or in a shop, or for internet purchases or any combination you choose. It is FSA protected.

It is incredibly easy to set up. Takes about 2 minutes. I am surprised more people are not raving about it. You can read about it on Martin Lewis’s mse site.

Davy


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## Wooie1958 (Mar 8, 2018)

Halifax Clarity for fuel then i can use the 24 hour / unmanned fuel stations and Caxton FX for everything else, ATM cash withdrawals, food, etc.etc.    :dance:


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## Deneb (Mar 8, 2018)

Halifax Clarity and Nationwide Select. Fee free purchases on both and free cash withdrawals on the Halifax card.


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## Roger Haworth (Mar 8, 2018)

I use Barclays Platinum Travel Credit Card: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-card/results2?q=4a&er=2

The advantage of this card is that you don't get charged interest on cash withdrawals abroad so long as you pay off the full balance each month


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## Wooie1958 (Mar 8, 2018)

Deneb said:


> Halifax Clarity and Nationwide Select. Fee free purchases on both and free cash withdrawals on the Halifax card.




I though cash withdrawals on the Halifax card was only free if you repay it within 48 hours       that`s why we use Caxton FX for cash withdrawals.


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## alcam (Mar 8, 2018)

Wooie1958 said:


> I though cash withdrawals on the Halifax card was only free if you repay it within 48 hours       that`s why we use Caxton FX for cash withdrawals.



Yes you have to repay on clarity but you don't have to pre-load


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## Clunegapyears (Mar 8, 2018)

When I asked Halifax about Paying after using it in an overseas cashpoint, I was told I need to repay the WHOLE balance to avoid any charges.We use the Metro Bank for our standard transactions and cash withdrawals which works the same way as the starling bank.


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## r4dent (Mar 8, 2018)

Santander Zero Credit card just in case they don't do debit card or I've not preloaded enough (not used so far) and Starling Debit card for eveyday ATM & shop use.

Word to the wise, always do the transaction in local currency NOT sterling.  
Yesterday I used an ATM in Spain to get 200 Euro .  
The ATM offered to "pre convert" to Sterling and had signs in English recommending this fixed to the ATM. The quoted the cost was £198 (1.01 E per £). 

Taking orders from SWMBO I declined this and was charged £178 by Starling (1.12 E per £).


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## Clunegapyears (Mar 8, 2018)

Metro banks rate 2 days ago was€1.13


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## Derekoak (Mar 8, 2018)

*Cards*

Santander 123 credit 3% cashback on fuel  both these up to 100 pounds per month 1% on supermarket food, no fee on euro transactions but cash out fee, halifax clarity no fee for foreign switzerland too, small interest on cash out,  asda euro preloaded in sterling changed to euro at that point spend as debit card , good if you can go back and transfer at 1.33 euro to the pound.
We use this for cash out.


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## John H (Mar 8, 2018)

I use the Halifax Clarity Card - you won't get a better rate (may get an equal one) and no charges/interest if paid off within 48 hours. Universally accepted and convenient.


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## Deneb (Mar 8, 2018)

Wooie1958 said:


> I though cash withdrawals on the Halifax card was only free if you repay it within 48 hours       that`s why we use Caxton FX for cash withdrawals.



No foreign currency transaction fee on the card, but it attracts interest on cash withdrawals from the date of withdrawal. I just do a rough currency conversion on my phone and transfer the cash from a bank account onto the card, job done - free


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## r4dent (Mar 9, 2018)

Clunegapyears said:


> Metro banks rate 2 days ago was €1.13



As I understand it, both Metro and Starling use the Mastercard rate.  So it must have changed during the day.


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## GeoffL (Mar 9, 2018)

Clunegapyears said:


> When I asked Halifax about Paying after using it in an overseas cashpoint, I was told I need to repay the WHOLE balance to avoid any charges.We use the Metro Bank for our standard transactions and cash withdrawals which works the same way as the starling bank.



When we got our Clarity cards, we asked and were told that we could make ad-hoc repayments by transferring to sort code 77-29-00, account No: 00 00 00 00 and giving our sixteen-digit card number as a reference. Any repayment made this way would pay off whichever transactions would incur the most interest charges. i.e pay off any transactions outstanding after the last payment, then cash withdrawals in the current billing period, then card transactions in the current billing period.


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## Tonybvi (Mar 9, 2018)

Halifax Clarity (credit card) for most purchases (eg fuel, large supermarket shops, etc)
Starling Bank (debit card) for getting cash from ATM’s


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## Minisorella (Mar 9, 2018)

Clunegapyears said:


> When I asked Halifax about Paying after using it in an overseas cashpoint, I was told I need to repay the WHOLE balance to avoid any charges.We use the Metro Bank for our standard transactions and cash withdrawals which works the same way as the starling bank.



I've had a Clarity card for a few years and was once told that they credited cash withdrawals first and goods and services after... so if you pay quickly in full for any cash you've drawn, the rest can wait for the bill date. However, your post spooked me a bit, so I called them to clarify. I'll say straight off that I'm little the wiser though! He said that if you start the month with a zero balance, and spend a bit in the first few days then make a cash withdrawal, in theory a quick repayment should be credited against the cash withdrawal because that will be the first item on the current list to attract interest charges... but it's not a 100% foolproof. The rules are that repayments will first go towards any outstanding balance from a previous bill. Then it'll go towards the items that attract the higher rate of interest. Since everything on Clarity - cash and goods/services - attracts the same amount of interest, that doesn't apply here. The difference is that cash will start to attract interest immediately, whereas goods/services will only do so if you don't pay the monthly bill in full. In other words, as he said, in theory a repayment should offset cash withdrawals first but it's not written that way in the rules. 

Clear as mud really. I can honestly say that I've always paid for cash withdrawals online that same day but left the rest until the end of the month and never paid interest yet. He said none of their rules or terms have changed at all, so if it's worked in the past, there's no reason to suppose it won't work now... but it's probably safer to repay the whole balance, just in case. In short, thanks for your post because I could have fallen foul of this at some point and not known why!


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## Minisorella (Mar 9, 2018)

Curiouser and curiouser!  I've just found this in the Halifax Clarity Terms and Conditions online...

[h=4]*B7.4 How we apply your payments*[/h] We use your payments to clear any overdue amounts before we apply them to your latest minimum payment.

 We will reduce the amount you owe in the following order:


any overdue amounts from previous statements; then
the remaining balance on your statement; then
any recent transactions not yet shown on your statement.
 We use your payments to pay off balances charged at the highest  interest rate first and so on down to balances with the lowest interest  rates. This means the more expensive balances are always paid off first.
_*If there is more than one type of balance at the same interest rate,  they are paid off in the following order: cash transactions*_, purchases,  balance transfers and money transfers, and then default charges (plus  any interest or charges incurred as a result of those balances). For  each type of balance, your payments will pay off the oldest balance (and  related fees, charges or insurance) first.

Now I feel happier... I think!


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## jann (Mar 9, 2018)

Nationwide credit card for purchases.Caxton FX prepaid card for cash.


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## BGT180 (Mar 9, 2018)

Nationwide credit card & Nationwide bank card for cash


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## Deleted member 9849 (Mar 9, 2018)

Roger Haworth said:


> I use Barclays Platinum Travel Credit Card: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-card/results2?q=4a&er=2
> 
> The advantage of this card is that you don't get charged interest on cash withdrawals abroad so long as you pay off the full balance each month



That's the one I use too,I've just had 2 weeks in the canaries and used it extensively without incurring any interest charges.As you say there are no charges if the balance is paid off each month.I have set up a direct debit to pay off the balance in full every month from my Barclays current account.


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## jann (Mar 11, 2018)

BGT180 said:


> Nationwide credit card & Nationwide bank card for cash


There's a charge for withdrawing cash


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## Hughendon (Mar 11, 2018)

Halifax Clarity


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## Roger Haworth (Mar 12, 2018)

jann said:


> There's a charge for withdrawing cash



Not if you have a Nationwide Flex Plus Account.


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## winks (Mar 12, 2018)

Minisorella said:


> Curiouser and curiouser!  I've just found this in the Halifax Clarity Terms and Conditions online...
> 
> [h=4]*B7.4 How we apply your payments*[/h] We use your payments to clear any overdue amounts before we apply them to your latest minimum payment.
> 
> ...



I too am a bit flummoxed by the terms of most credit cards but I've come to the conclusion that with the Halifax card I clear the total when I see the cash withdrawals in the Pending section. Not seen any interest charges ever by using this system. The card is there for convenience in my view.

In my opinion, folk do tend to get bamboozled when reading the terms and conditions so I've settled on this system and it seems to work. I'm not a person who chases the last copper in any case, life's too short for all that cobblers. For us it's Halifax for the whole spend when away from home and just clear the outstanding balance within a couple of days of withdrawing cash. We have a Caxton card and will only top it up if there's an advantageous rate. Remember them?

Cheers

H


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## John H (Mar 12, 2018)

Roger Haworth said:


> Not if you have a Nationwide Flex Plus Account.



But there are other costs. NW Flex Plus gives you 3% interest on balances up to £2,500, which means the maximum you can earn in interest is £75 per year. To get this, you have to pay £13 per month - or £156 per year. Admitedly, there are other benefits such as travel insurance but NW give me that on my ordinary Flex account without having to pay anything anyway. They keep bombarding me with offers to take up Flex Plus but every time I look at the figures it doesn't work for me. Maybe it works for others but I can't see it.


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## shortcircuit (Mar 12, 2018)

I use Halifax Clarity Card and preload it before going abroad and have never had any troubles paying fuel, tolls or cash withdrawal. Not all cards will allow you to preload.


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## bazzybabes (Mar 12, 2018)

shortcircuit said:


> I use Halifax Clarity Card and preload it before going abroad and have never had any troubles paying fuel, tolls or cash withdrawal. Not all cards will allow you to preload.


Is it not against Halifax's t&c to preload?

I use Halifax Clarity and Revolut, which I preload. Revolut limits you to £200 cash withdrawal per month with no interest, 2% thereafter.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## Wooie1958 (Mar 13, 2018)

bazzybabes said:


> Is it not against Halifax's t&c to preload?
> 
> I use Halifax Clarity and Revolut, which I preload. *Revolut limits you to £200 cash withdrawal per month with no interest*, 2% thereafter.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk





I didn`t know that   :rolleyes2:    think i`ll stick with Caxton FX     :idea:


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## Clunegapyears (Mar 13, 2018)

John H said:


> But there are other costs. NW Flex Plus gives you 3% interest on balances up to £2,500, which means the maximum you can earn in interest is £75 per year. To get this, you have to pay £13 per month - or £156 per year. Admitedly, there are other benefits such as travel insurance but NW give me that on my ordinary Flex account without having to pay anything anyway. They keep bombarding me with offers to take up Flex Plus but every time I look at the figures it doesn't work for me. Maybe it works for others but I can't see it.



Same ... the insurance is limited to ? Days which is no good for us.


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## shortcircuit (Mar 13, 2018)

bazzybabes said:


> Is it not against Halifax's t&c to preload?
> 
> I use Halifax Clarity and Revolut, which I preload. Revolut limits you to £200 cash withdrawal per month with no interest, 2% thereafter.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk



Not that I am aware of and have used it for a good few years with no questions.  Account was recommended by my bank for this specific use.  If it was a problem I would simply set up automatic payment to pay off monthly. Card has sat for a few months with about £100 in credit and will soon preload as going abroad for two months so will report if any problems.


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## John H (Mar 13, 2018)

Clunegapyears said:


> Same ... the insurance is limited to ? Days which is no good for us.



30 days. I agree - no good for us either


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## winks (Mar 13, 2018)

shortcircuit said:


> Not that I am aware of and have used it for a good few years with no questions.  Account was recommended by my bank for this specific use.  If it was a problem I would simply set up automatic payment to pay off monthly. Card has sat for a few months with about £100 in credit and will soon preload as going abroad for two months so will report if any problems.



I have read in the past day or so that it is indeed against the T's+C's of the Clarity card. It can apparently be seen by the bank systems as being a bit dodgy and has, also apparently, led to the blocking of the card. Now why that should be is beyond me because they have your dosh and you are getting nowt for it ...

I never preload as such but frequently pay off the full balance immediately after a cash withdrawal and tip into a positive balance by a wee bit.

Cheers

H


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## shortcircuit (Mar 13, 2018)

Thanks very much for that information.  Contacted Halifax who "advised"  that I should not preload as it can be blocked.  I can simply pay off what I withdraw on the same day and avoid any charges so will look to see if I can do that automatically or find another bank.  Thanks again


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## Wooie1958 (Mar 13, 2018)

Caxton FX Fees, Charges and Limits here          Prepaid Currency Card - How they work

Works really well on the App so i periodically check the balance and top up if necessary, money added is available immediately    :dance:


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## John H (Mar 13, 2018)

shortcircuit said:


> Thanks very much for that information.  Contacted Halifax who "advised"  that I should not preload as it can be blocked.  I can simply pay off what I withdraw on the same day and avoid any charges so will look to see if I can do that automatically or find another bank.  Thanks again



I agree - I can't see the point of pre-loading when it is a matter of seconds to pay off what you withdraw within 48 hours. It has worked for me for several years.


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