[Closed] Using your Debit Card in Europe.

you can generally use your debit card no problem.
Your bank will screw you on the exchange rate though.

And you'll probably get charged for withdrawing Euro's from a cash point.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

Hmmm. Buy cash with a Debit card, I think. Ta.

You've got time to apply for an FX card which you can load with Euros and use at ATMs at a better exchange rate. I use Caxton FX, others are available...

Halifax Clarity credit card is good for me. No fees on purchases and no fees for withdrawing cash from ATMs. The exchange rate is good and the interest I pay on cash withdrawals is a reasonable rate which is pretty irrelevant since I can pay it off soon after the withdrawal using online banking should I wish. I just use it as I wish, no guessing what I need.

Quite a few places don't take cards, so have some cash handy either way.

If you bank with Santander, you can move over to the "select" account (you get a fancy gold card) - this has zero fees for foreign use, as well as the credit card..

Your bank might not charge you when you withdraw the money, but the Spanish one might. The charges vary a lot. Some are free, some 1 euro, some 4 euro. I can never remember which one, there should be charging info on the screen though.

If you bank with Santander, you can move over to the "select" account

Just looked at that, you can if you earn 5K a month net or have 75K in the bank! 😆

FairFX. It's the future.

Halifax clarity card is the one, used mine all over the world - literally!

I use a mix of card and cash - mostly card, the rate isn't great €1.22 but as I'm reminded everytime I look in the ash tray of my car, I own a pile of Euro and Swiss Franc coins which probably represent a greater % if my holiday spending money than the saving between using the Post Office €1.35 and FairFX €1.36

When I buy cash, I just walk into the Post Office, FairFx and whatnot are a tiny bit cheaper, but you have to add £7.50 on top for delivery and Euros are insanely competitive, there's not massive savings to be had really.

Just for the convenience and security I'd use a card, rather than changing large amounts of cash before you go. Not quite sure why torsoinalake claims that quite a few places don't take cards, maybe 10 years ago but these days it's a rare shop or restaurant that doesn't. (Though quite a lot do have a minimum 10€ spend before they'll accept your card).

nickdavies - Member
If you bank with Santander, you can move over to the "select" account
Just looked at that, you can if you earn 5K a month net or have 75K in the bank!

think they changed the criteria recently so you should be able to. Don't understand the card, it's the same number just gold, bit pointless really..

it's to remind you that you're better than everyone else 🙂

Your bank will screw you on the exchange rate though.

And some banks charge a flat fee for each withdrawal, which works out extremely badly if you repeatedly take out small amounts of cash.

I'm so sad I made a spreadsheet to put all the fixed charges and value related charges into. It then graphs the cost against transaction value for my various credit and debit cards. My holidays are just fun, fun, fun 🙂

just gold, bit pointless really.

Helps the muggers and thieves to identify targets.....

I have always recommended the [url= https://prepaidcard.easyjet.com ]Easy Jet Pre Pay Credit Card[/url]
Its a no brainer and I use it mainly in Spain
Also only pay in Euros when given the option on the card machine. and pay tips in cash only !!

Another vote for Halifax Clarity here. No problems with it being accepted anywhere I've tried to use it.

I've just been abroad with santander's basic visa debit

I used it at cashpoints and cash registers in all sorts of establishments in China, NZ, Australia and the United Arab Emirates..

Incurred charges of a coupla quid here and there
Had no problems in Greece 15 years ago either

Halifax Clarity.

I tend to use it in suitable ATMs abroad too.

Found through the moneysaving expert linked posted earlier.

Long time ago, Spain, and in particular Barcelona, had a bad name* for pocket picking and credit card scammage. If this is still true, which I don't know, then best to use a credit card. Can you get one that you'll regard as temporary. You don't have to tell the issuers that.

*Within the company I worked for everyone who went there, the entire team, were ripped off. These were people mostly well used to working abroad.

Not quite sure why torsoinalake claims that quite a few places don't take cards,

FWIW I never use my debit card for anything other than taking cash out of a bank cash machine - and that is in the UK. Abroad I always use a credit card, and have both MasterCard and Visa just in case they only take one or the other.

The rate I don't really worry about, more concerned about security and risk.

And before folk accuse me of paranoia, in +20 years of travelling the globe I've never had a problem.

i got meself a halifax clarity card due to moneysavingexpert recommendations but dont know the best way of using it. we're going to turkey and rhodes this year. am i right in thinking i can withdraw a few hundred quid over the course of a week and not get charged withdrawal fees? and so long as i pay it off within the month then theres no fee whatsoever?

same with paying for meals, shopping etc over there bit by bit? i could have say 20 transactions and not pay any charges as long as i pay off the balance when i get home?

thanks

Nationwide Flex plus account, decent exchange rates and no fees. Account costs £10 a month but also gives you family travel insurance, Inc winter sports and European breakdown cover, so it's well worth it for me.

Another vote for FairFX, had mine for at least 5 years now...

am i right in thinking i can withdraw a few hundred quid over the course of a week and not get charged withdrawal fees?

You'll pay (a relatively low rate of) interest on cash withdrawals, depending on the rate they offered you on the card. If you really want to watch every penny you can use internet banking to transfer funds to cover the withdrawals (i.e. minimise the interest earning period)

Vote here for Caxton card. Can use it globally and control your fx rate.

Just use a card same as you would in this bit of Europe.

Halifax Clarity card. You'll pay (a relatively low rate of) interest on cash withdrawals, depending on the rate they offered you on the card. If you really want to watch every penny you can use internet banking to transfer funds to cover the withdrawals (i.e. minimise the interest earning period)

and do you mean once ive made a withdrawal or paid for something, its better to get straight onto wifi and use internet banking to transfer money from main bank acc to set balance to zero again?

thanks

EDIT: i know this thread is for Europe, but im off to turkey. same rules apply?

Whilst in lanzagrotty in April we took some cash, everything else went on the card. Was given the choice of paying in pounds or euros each time. Rates were good and no charges. Just hassle free.

I take a cash float for things like taxi's and minor shop purchases (tacky holiday souvenirs) and will withdraw cash with my debit card to maintain it. But generally try to put as much on C.card as possible - far better exchange rate.

I used my debit card in Europe (London, in this case) without problems last month. Didn't have to worry about carrying a large amount of cash around, either.

can i just ask another halifax clarity question please?

just been reading another MSE email about holiday spending and it still confuses me. i feel heartened that ive got a clarity card, but dont really understand why 😀

what confused me is about spending vs withdrawing money. apparently withdrawing money still charged say 20%ish interest rate until youve paid it off, whereas paying with the card doesnt attract interest as long as its paid off fully.

so am i right in thinking that if we go to greece say and withdraw £100, im paying interest still each day for say 3 weeks until i get my statement? and if the interest rate is 20%, how much extra would i pay? (its obviously not £20 as the 20% leads you to believe)
but if i pay for £100 worth of meals, drinks etc on my card, theres no fees/interest at all, i just pay cost price and settle up when the statement comes through?

id prefer the first option as i believe it helps the small businesses over there to pay cash, so ill do that as long as the difference is only pence rather than £s.

thanks

EDIT: just seen [url= http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/euros/delivery/one/100-pounds-worth#results ]this too from MSE[/url] which implies i could get money from my clarity card today at the best rate for a future holiday. is that right or am i reading it wrong? what would be the best way of getting euros today for a holiday in 2 weeks time?

thanks

as i believe it helps the small businesses over there to pay cash

Good on you for wanting to support small local businesses, first of all. However, the fact that the Greek government only gets a fraction of the tax they should due to all of the evasion going on, is a big part of why they're in the mess they're now in, I believe. Another angle to consider maybe...

Back to your question, yes, that's how I understand it, and 3 weeks' interest at 20% APR is going to be very approximately 1% so £1 on that £100 you hypothetically withdraw.

+1 for Nationwide Flex Plus and travel credit card. Use mine all over the world with v low or no fees and v good exchange rate. Would take a lot to make me change. Customer service also v good. Always take some cash in case you can't get any at the airport (this happened to me in New York - not ideal!)

I settled for FAIRFX in the end. Bought Euros at £1 = €1.37 rate. Current macro rate being £1 = €1.40, they're making 3 cents per on the deal. Much better than going through a local bank, even with a charge levied at the cash machine for withdrawals once I get there....

Not quite sure why torsoinalake claims that quite a few places don't take cards, maybe 10 years ago but these days it's a rare shop or restaurant that doesn't. (Though quite a lot do have a minimum 10€ spend before they'll accept your card).

On my last trip the only place that didn't take cards was the black cab that brought me home from the station. And they complain about Uber .....

b r - Member
FWIW I never use my debit card for anything other than taking cash out of a bank cash machine - and that is in the UK. Abroad I always use a credit card, and have both MasterCard and Visa just in case they only take one or the other.

For payments abroad in shops, credit card is fine, just need a decent card with good rates and/or no fees. These days it's usually one or the other now, e.g. no fees advertised but they load it on the rate.

However for cash at an ATM, almost all credit cards will sting you with a cash withdrawal rate and/or fee and will charge you interest on it from the day you take out the cash, i.e. no interest free period. This is the same whether UK or abroad. A debit card there's no interest obviously and fees tend to be lower.

A way around it with credit cards is to preload it so it's in credit enough to take out cash with no interest. Though some cards block you doing that I've heard.

Or there are the previously mentioned travel cards that are basically preloaded cards and good rates. Though I had trouble getting my TravelEx one accepted in certain places in the US. Some shops saw it as a debit card but the system would be confused or ask for a PIN and the PIN system over there doesn't work like ours. Some just rejected it outright. Generally worked though.

p.s. watch out for places that see you're British and try to charge you in sterling using their own (very high) exchange rate. The same also applies to certain travel companies when they try to get you to buy add ons during a package trip (ski passes on ski trips are a classic example, though some will now admit up front that charging in sterling will cost a packet and you should request charge in Euros/whatever).

Also, can find some places that will only take MasterCard and not VISA or vice versa, especially some ATMs.

I tried to use my Clarity card in 2 different places in Portugal, and they both said they only accept Portugese cards. Something to watch out for in some countries.