buying euros

[johnk]

My debit card has stated to charge for cash withdrawals in the eurozone. Is there a cheaper way of buying or withdrawing euros?

[Eve]

I'm sure some places do special debut cards for currency nowadays which could be worth looking into.

Would assume you can withdraw as well as pay with them?

[Eve]

Debit cards even!

[dzug2]

A few banks do fee and charge free debit cards:

Metro bank (you van live anywhere but have to open the account in person in the London area

Norwich and Peterborough BS - reputed to be fussy about who they take on

Cumberland BS - you have to have an address in their branch area.

Or there are prepaid cards (FairFx and Caxton Fx have the best reputation) that have low fees.

[cc1]

Nationwide still don't charge fees within the Eurozone, it's 1% outside, we've used it for years and the rate charged when purchases and withdrawals are debited has always been better that the publicised currency rates.

[johnk]

I have a Nationwide debit card and they have just started charging for cash withdrawals in France. First I knew about it was when I checked my statement last week!!

[237SJ]

My Lloyds debit card has been charging fees for ages. I don`t know about cash machines but they add a charge every time it`s used to pay for something overseas. I never use it overseas and I use a Santander Zero credit card which doesn`t charge for cash withdrawals or purchases.

[hc4361]

Nationwide do charge for cash withdrawals in Europe.

I have a pre paid card and use internet banking to load it.

[johnk]

With the Santander card are you paying interest on the cash withdrawal immediately?

[237SJ]

I think so.

[237SJ]

Sorry I should have been clearer about that. I`ve never paid interest on a credit card because I always pay off the whole balance. I took about £150 worth of Barbados $ out of a machine in September. When my Santander bill came in I paid it as usual. When the next bill came in there was an interest charge of £1.76. I asked Santander what it was and they said it was interest on the cash withdrawal. It might have been some sort of time lapse with the withdrawal and the billing date.

[hc4361]

This is from the Santander Zero terms and conditions:

"There is no interest free period on Cash Transactions and Balance Transfers."


You start paying interest from the day you withdraw cash.