Most Popular
1. Banking Crisis is Stocks Bull Market Buying Opportunity - Nadeem_Walayat
2.The Crypto Signal for the Precious Metals Market - P_Radomski_CFA
3. One Possible Outcome to a New World Order - Raymond_Matison
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
5. Apple AAPL Stock Trend and Earnings Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
6.AI, Stocks, and Gold Stocks – Connected After All - P_Radomski_CFA
7.Stock Market CHEAT SHEET - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.US Debt Ceiling Crisis Smoke and Mirrors Circus - Nadeem_Walayat
9.Silver Price May Explode - Avi_Gilburt
10.More US Banks Could Collapse -- A Lot More- EWI
Last 7 days
Stock Market Volatility (VIX) - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Investor Sentiment - 25th Mar 24
The Federal Reserve Didn't Do Anything But It Had Plenty to Say - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Breadth - 24th Mar 24
Stock Market Margin Debt Indicator - 24th Mar 24
It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - 24th Mar 24
Stocks: What to Make of All This Insider Selling- 24th Mar 24
Money Supply Continues To Fall, Economy Worsens – Investors Don’t Care - 24th Mar 24
Get an Edge in the Crypto Market with Order Flow - 24th Mar 24
US Presidential Election Cycle and Recessions - 18th Mar 24
US Recession Already Happened in 2022! - 18th Mar 24
AI can now remember everything you say - 18th Mar 24
Bitcoin Crypto Mania 2024 - MicroStrategy MSTR Blow off Top! - 14th Mar 24
Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - 11th Mar 24
Gold and the Long-Term Inflation Cycle - 11th Mar 24
Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - 11th Mar 24
Two Reasons The Fed Manipulates Interest Rates - 11th Mar 24
US Dollar Trend 2024 - 9th Mar 2024
The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - 9th Mar 2024
Investors Don’t Believe the Gold Rally, Still Prefer General Stocks - 9th Mar 2024
Paper Gold Vs. Real Gold: It's Important to Know the Difference - 9th Mar 2024
Stocks: What This "Record Extreme" Indicator May Be Signaling - 9th Mar 2024
My 3 Favorite Trade Setups - Elliott Wave Course - 9th Mar 2024
Bitcoin Crypto Bubble Mania! - 4th Mar 2024
US Interest Rates - When WIll the Fed Pivot - 1st Mar 2024
S&P Stock Market Real Earnings Yield - 29th Feb 2024
US Unemployment is a Fake Statistic - 29th Feb 2024
U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - 29th Feb 2024
What a Breakdown in Silver Mining Stocks! What an Opportunity! - 29th Feb 2024
Why AI will Soon become SA - Synthetic Intelligence - The Machine Learning Megatrend - 29th Feb 2024
Keep Calm and Carry on Buying Quantum AI Tech Stocks - 19th Feb 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Don’t Let Credit Debtit and Pre-Paid Card Charges Ruin Your Summer Holiday

Personal_Finance / Credit Cards & Scoring Jul 18, 2012 - 12:12 PM GMT

By: MoneyFacts

Personal_Finance

Best Financial Markets Analysis ArticleAfter weeks of rain many people will be looking forward to their summer holiday and travel to warmer climes.

While arranging your spending money may not be the highlight of any holiday, a small amount of time and effort could see you making significant cost savings.


Using your credit and debit cards abroad may be the easiest and most convenient way for many, but costs can soon mount up if you’re not careful.

Sylvia Waycot, spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments:

Travel Money
“Changing your currency at the airport may seem convenient, but you will be paying for the privilege through unfavourable exchange rates.

“Money can be exchanged once overseas, but lack of local knowledge may mean settling for uncompetitive rates of exchange. If your trip takes you off the beaten track, your options may be further restricted.

“Shopping around before you go will leave you more in control of getting the best rate.

“Commission free doesn’t necessarily mean the best deal. The commission fee is likely to have been loaded into the rate.”

Credit Cards - See Appendix 1
“Credit cards will levy a foreign usage charge of up to 2.99% for both purchases and cash transactions. Charges are applied each time the card is used and can soon add up.

“Taking money out on your credit card is never advisable even in the UK. Interest rates on cash withdrawals are charged at a higher rate than purchases and a cash handling fee, typically 3.00%, minimum £3, is applied.

“£100 cash withdrawn from an MBNA or Virgin Money credit card will see you paying £7.99 in charges alone.

“Credit cards from The Post Office, Saga, Metro Bank and selected products from Halifax and Sainsbury’s Bank make no additional charges for using you card overseas.

“It is worth taking a credit card in case of emergencies, or unexpected ‘surprises’.”

Debit Cards - See Appendix 2
“In the UK we are so used to free banking that many people assume things will be the same when they go overseas.

“This can be a costly mistake as cha

rges can apply to both withdrawing money out of a cash machine and for making purchases in store.

“Customers taking out cash need to be aware of minimum charges. If you withdraw lots of small amounts you will be hardest hit, so it may be worth planning a few days ahead for your financial requirements.

Prepaid Cards - See Appendix 3
“An alternative to credit and debit cards for overseas use is the popular prepaid travel cards, not to be confused with the prepaid everyday UK use cards.

These have been tailored to make overseas charges a minimum and have the added advantage that if they are lost or stolen, no one has access to your UK accounts.”

www.moneyfacts.co.uk - The Money Search Engine

Moneyfacts.co.uk is the UK's leading independent provider of personal finance information. For the last 20 years, Moneyfacts' information has been the key driver behind many personal finance decisions, from the Treasury to the high street.


© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in