Paying by Debit Card

[El Gordo]

"The Real World"

Sorry I haven't posted recently.

Hi all just got back to the "Real World" after 6 days in PP. Why six days? because came back on Friday 13th for £13!! plane only had 72 people on board while the Saturday outward flight was almost full!! Superstitious me no !!! Had a great time. Enjoyed the facility of using both Debit and Credit cards from Nationwide. Not sure of the conversion rates until I get my bill/check online, but I'm sure they will be better than those offered by the "Hole in the Wall" Will pay off card by direct debit and avoid interest charges.

I think the Real World is wonderful when you are sensible and don't live beyond your means. We are not rich, I'm not working and I am "kept" by my wife who retired early. We just have to make choices about what we spend and how we live.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone about the Real World comment

I'm concerned now if this Nationwide perk may disappear with so much being lost by banks at the moment - lets hope not

Just thought I would mention that you should not rely on only one card as your only means of finance when you are abroad, a couple of years ago the machine kept my card because it was used (as the bank put it) outside of my "normal" usage!! Fortunately I had other means to continue without problem. Other friends have run up large phone bills trying to overcome the problem of having your card stopped or taken.

I have found in the past that it is a good idea to let your bank know where you are going.

Happy days to all

 

[alcanadakid]

Have been away so have only just picked up this thread. When you make a purchase using a credit card the seller and the credit card company are jointly responsible to provide the goods or service. If the seller goes bust or fails to supply, the credit card company is then liable to give a refund. They generally don't publicize this for obvious reasons.

If a company goes bust then you should file a claim against the company and the credit card company at the same time. Experience has shown that credit card companies tend to fob you off, but if you insist on you rights then they are obliged to reimburse you. Strangely even if you only pay part of the cost by credit card, that card provider is liable for the full amount.

This covered by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which makes the card provider "jointly and severally" liable.

One very important point is that this only applies to credit cards and does not apply to debit or charge cards.

 

[Kezza66]

At that time there was an interesting point highlighted by the Daily Mail in an article they ran when XL in relation to Debit cards which suggested that in the case of XL all might not be lost for some debit card users as they may be covered by a little known chargeback Scheme in the Visa debit card rules according to a spokesman for "Which"
The spokesman said “If you paid by Visa Debit Card you should be able to get your money back by making a chargeback claim to your current account provider. In the case of XL you have 120 days from the date your flight was due to depart to make a claim." Unfortunately this does not apply to Maestro debit cards.
My debit card is a Maestro card and does not have that protection.
I think the Nationwide debit card is a Visa one ( as their credit card is ) so I think I will look at that as an extra option as you need to protect yourself every which way in the present economic climate.

Further to the above I found this BBC explanation of the respective protections provided by credit card / debit cards which may help clarify the situation
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Working Lunch | Debit card refunds: your rights (updated)
Keith

 

[El Gordo]

Nationwide cards Update

Just checked my Nationwide CC a/c and got exchange rate of 1.1445389E to the £ on the 7th Feb with no charges for using abroad.

Also used my Nationwide Visa debit in the hole in the wall and got:

9 Feb -1.144 100E cost me £87.41
11feb -1.135 100E cost me £88.11
12feb -1.110 100E cost me £90.09
13feb -1.108 100E cost me £90.25 all with no other charges or commission.

The machine always offered to debit my account in £s at a rate worse than I have been charged.

Unfortunately you don't know the rate until you check online and have no idea if its going up or down.

I wonder what exchange rates and costs were for other cards

 

[Mark1875]

Just checked my Nationwide CC a/c and got exchange rate of 1.1445389E to the £ on the 7th Feb with no charges for using abroad.

Also used my Nationwide Visa debit in the hole in the wall and got:

9 Feb -1.144 100E cost me £87.41
11feb -1.135 100E cost me £88.11
12feb -1.110 100E cost me £90.09
13feb -1.108 100E cost me £90.25 all with no other charges or commission.

The machine always offered to debit my account in £s at a rate worse than I have been charged.

Unfortunately you don't know the rate until you check online and have no idea if its going up or down.

I wonder what exchange rates and costs were for other cards

As I have said a number of times before, I work in Europe but live in the UK and travel most weeks. I dont think the Nationwide exchange rate can be beaten, it is the bank to bank rate they give you and will better any rate a bank/money exchange/ travellers cheque will give you.

HOWEVER, please, please do NOT say yes when asked if you want to be charged in pounds, its a trick by most European banks to catch non Euro users into accepting the local bank rate which is ALWAYS worse than simply doing the transaction in euros at Nationwides bank to bank rate.

I have used this system for years with no hiccups and frankly have a flex account with the nationwide simply for my euro transactions.

It really is as easy as it seems. Its a pity we could not get Nationwide to advertise here, then everyone would gain.

 

[pollensa]

Its a pity we could not get Nationwide to advertise here, then everyone would gain.

I have looked for Affiliate Program (advertising that pays commission), but I haven't managed to find one yet...

 

[Mark1875]

I have looked for Affiliate Program (advertising that pays commission), but I haven't managed to find one yet...

Its a pity, as the site would gain, the users would gain and Nationwide would gain.