Getting Cash Abroad

[symbolrate]

Does the Post Office allow you to pre-load the card? I asked the Halifax about this as we had done it years ago with other credit cards & they said it wasn't possible, they also said even if our account was in credit we would still have to pay interest until the payment date.

I am still trying to find out some of the information about the Halifax card & maybe get it confirmed in writing, it does give you £5 cash back if you spend over £300 in a month. I asked does this apply to getting cash out, the person I spoke to said yes then she wasn't sure so she checked with her supervisor & confirmed that it still counted as a purchase
The interest rate is currently 12.9% APR & from what I understand works out slightly over 1% per month. I don't know what date my cut off for the card is yet or the payment date but if I draw cash out ideally I want it as near as possible before the cut off so I will only have to pay about 2 weeks interest. The way it would then work if the information I have been given is correct I could draw out £300 just before the end of the months cut off, for this Halifax would credit me with £5 & I would have to pay about £1.50 in interest charges so I do make £3.50 on the deal

As I said I'm not convinced that this would happen, but will stick with Nationwide until after 1st November then see what's around.

Yes you can preload the card anytime, hence our preference for it apart from the advantageous excahnge rate. While the balance is positive, cash withdrawls are not subject to ATM charges anywhere abroad. As a pure credit card, purchases are always free of charges even abroad. Not bothered about the interest rate as we just pay it off full by direct debit so it is just a very good cash/current account while on the move.

 

[sagart]

On trips to the US I use a Caxton card....Prepaid MasterCard Travel Money Card | Currency Card | Caxton FX.
Balances never expire if you don't want to cash it in on on your return. if you do, you can either get a refund from them or withdraw fom your local ATM.
Used it once in Petaluma and was asked for Id. My passport was at my daughter's so I offered a Scottish ferry pass issued by the Scottish Executive, they were so impressed, "you work for the Scottish Governmen!" from then on I never bothered with the UK. passport

 

[Kontiki]

OK seem to sorted now, had to call in the main Post Office & while the wife was at the counter I was looking at the leaflet on their credit card, they had an advisor who asked if he could help so I got him to clarify about using the card abroad (not disputing what anybody says but paranoid with all banks etc. been screwed too many times for not reading the small print )

He said exactly what you did that you can pre-load the card & avoid any charges at all & it was what he did (also said he was getting a lot of inquiries from Nationwide customers ), so we signed up. What he did say was that we should make a small purchase on the card to get a bill, on this there is a bar code that you can use to quickly put money onto the account.

 

[Nolly]

[No message]

 

[Kontiki]

We have had a bit of a saga trying to get a Post Office credit card . When we were in the main PO we talked to a financial advisor & filled in the forms to apply for a credit card. About a week later the wife had a letter (we applied as her being the main card holder) we had to provide them with details such as ID (passport/driving license) bank statements plus some other documents. This was to do with money laundering (I wish, give me the money & I'll wash it ) Not wanting to send some of this we opted to go back to the main PO & the same guy copied them & signed the copies then said he'd post them. About another week & we had another letter the picture on the photcopy wasn't clear enough & the months bank statement wasn't a months transactions!! Apart from the transactions for the month it had one on the 2nd of the moth & one on the 28th (ok not quite a month but it was our monthly statement) . After the wife cooled down we took more statements, passport etc & everything else they sent back & went in the PO again. Same guy couldn't believe it, copied all the documents again, got bigger envelope & sent them all back again.


Guess what, today we get a letter saying we have been refused a credit card!!!!! Rang them & they wouldn't say why, said we should contact Experian to check our credit rating. Signed up for a free check & couldn't find out anything, rang Experian to cancel & told them we thought their website was crap as it didn't say why we were refused a PO credit card. While the wife was talking to them the girl had a look at her details & told her that it was probably that we had too many credit checks in a short time & our credit limit was too large!!!!!!! We are in the process of changing our bank accounts so we have a lot of new accounts & not got around to closing the old ones, even so she said we would probalbly have to wait about a year to apply for a card again. As Victor would say 'I DON'T BELIEVE IT' At the same time both my daughters are getting bombarded with mail trying to get them to take out another credit card. Maybe another explanation is we have very rarely had charges on any bank or credit card (the only time was a mix up with the dates or once I paid the wrong amount) so we aren't worth it for them.

 

[vwalan]

it a ba----d i had a midland credit card withdraw its credit because i hadnt used it for a while .i was building up credit on the other card to allow for that emergency . lost about 7grands worth of credit and like you never actually pay charges always have direct debit and cover it . but it takes ages to build it up . thought you never know when away could blow the motor or something might need the credit . but the bu--ers took it away. dont know the best way to deal with them . never mind .cheers alan.

 

[Kontiki]

Although we wouldn't have been happy they should have told us straight away that we couldn't have a card without having the performance of proving we aren't money laundering.

Needless to say the wife was fuming about it & is going to write a letter to the customer relations (won't do any godd but it will make her feel better). If they had been more like this in previous years the country might not be in such a mess now.

 

[vwalan]

is it really in a mess i havent found any really cheap houses or very cheap m,homes so nothing as really changed. known times whenyou could just take over the payments or pay off the bill but not there this time . its not that bad its just the papers scare mongery i think.

 

[jovik]

Nationwide

Are you sure the Nationwide has changed the way they do business ? I know one of the account cards would be 'payed to use' but the other which i have used and still use,a debit visa card (and i'm in Bulgaria) is still free at the ATM,with a limit amount of withdrawel.
I would think that the Nationwide would and will lose alot of customers and business if they do start charging,as thats why i tranferred my bank monies from Barclays to them !! and so did ALL the expats and travellers in Bulgaria and further afield,i know as i am a forum member on a few expat sites from all over.
So ,i am sure you are mistaken,i would double check,as this type of statement came out,a few months back on these other forums,its either a misunderstanding or a scare tactic by other card/bank business's.
If you do enquire,or you ask about setting up a Nationwide account,please state it is the ONLY reason you are doing so,is to use your 'flexable friend' in foreign countries for FREE,and to ask the particular branch to pass the message on,up the tree of management etc .

They start charging from November this year.