Spending money!

[clinkham]

Sorry, I didn't mean to spook anyone wih my previous post. I was checking the Caxton website with a view to signing up and I came across the piece about the lack of any compensation deep within their FAQs. I thought people should be aware of this.
I'm no expert so I am not suggesting everyone avoids these cards, just that it is probably best to be fully aware of the small print and take your decision accordingly.
For myself, I'm happy with Nationwide - a fee free credit card for purchases and a visa debit card for hole in the wall cash withdrawals which 'cost' around £4 for a 300euro withdrawal. The exchange rate is identical to the visa rate here. Exchange rates

To compensate for the charges on the debit card, Nationwide provide free annual travel insurance, which saves me about £80 per year. I don't have enough cash in the currenmt account to rack up £80 in charges so I'm quids in!

 

[El Gordo]

Have a look at

Moneysavingexpert.com

Very comprehensive but I don't think it mentions the advantage of withdrawing cash with the Santander debit card in Santander cash machines as it applies only in Spain.

 

[clinkham]

Clinkham
That is very interesting. My son took out a Caxton Card last December and is still travelling with it. When we took it out it was operated by the Newcastle Building Society so we thought it would be very safe. Very strange that it does not seem to be operated by them anymore and quite worrying that you are not protected! I will investigate this further tomorrow!

The FairFx card mentions Newcastle Building Society - have you confused this with the Caxton card, perhaps

This from the FairFx Card Terms&Conditions
18. Compensation
The Prepaid Card is an electronic money product and although it is a product regulated by the Financial Services Authority, it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. However, in the unlikely event that NBS becomes insolvent, funds that you have loaded are protected against claims made by creditors.

 

[tangofan]

No, the Caxton card was definitely from Newcastle Building Society, I have not got confused with Fairfax. I will call Caxton tomorrow and ask them why/when they took it over from NBS.

I have found another card, My Travel Cash, recommended by Which?, that is issued by NBS. Must be some reason why they have offloaded Caxton if they are backing Fairfax and now this new card.

I went through all the cards with a fine tooth comb at the time when my son got his and some of the cards do actually charge for ATMs, so you may as well use your debit card.

 

[edward]

I still use Nationwide credit card with no charges & Debit card for cash at ATM with small charge but great exchange rate for both & free annual travel insurance for Europe when you have a account with £750 monthly pay in- so a great deal home & away

 

[barefoot]

Agree with Clinkham and Edward here. As someone who lives here, and always got cash out free with Nationwide, we were very disappointed they began charging, but having looked at various options, the very good exchange rate more than compensates for the fee. They don't use the tourist rate as they bulk all the transactions together and use the bank rate at the end of the day. I've checked it myself, and if the bank rate says 1.138, then that's what I've got!

 

[sws97sdg]

They don't use the tourist rate as they bulk all the transactions together and use the bank rate at the end of the day.

I thought all banks did this for withdrawals, they dont use the tourist exchange rates, visa use their own exchange rate on the day of withdrawal, their web page has more details, always better than the tourist rate.
http://www.visaeurope.com/en/cardholders/exchange_rates.aspx

 

[barefoot]

SWS, we've transferred larger amounts via Nationwide and they then seem to give an immediate rate, which we've always found worse than when we withdraw cash from the machine.

 

[tangofan]

I have called Caxton and it seems that the cards issued now are Visa cards which are not connected to Newcastle Building Society but cards issued previously were Mastercard and funds for these are still held by NBS but any new card will now be Visa. Therefore not to be recommended I guess as there seems to be no protection. I was not able to find out any reason for this though.

Maybe just stick to debit cards after all as the better rate will probably compensate for paying charges.

 

[Rangers1]

Travelex card works very well and i think there is to much on the down side of these cards!!! so if your using your debit card and your bank goes bust where do you think you would be with your debit card? no money at that point as it would take time to get your money via any compo scheme.

 

[tangofan]

That is true but you would get your money back. If you had loaded £500 on the travel card you would lose it and not be able to get it back. I agree this need not be a reason to not having a card but they are not covered under the Financial Services Regulations so people should just be aware of this.

As for leaving you stranded with no cash on holiday, you should always have another card with you in case you lost your card or the ATM ate it or something!

 

[Rangers1]

Agreed you would get the money back. Cards are good but if not covered by compo scheme then little better than cash but like alot of things they are good until something goes wrong.

 

[snowy2007]

Look at Saga credit card no fees.

 

[Harters]

By co-incidence, we've just this afternoon applied for the Saga card.

Didnt fancy the pre-topped up card idea and my companion in life had been having a nosy at the money saving expert website. Martin Lewis had described our NatWest card as one of the "ones from hell" and was recommending the Halifax Clarity card as "best" but for some reason it's decided we are not a good credit bet so won't issue us with one (Gawd knows why - 39 years with same bank, 29 years in this house and a pension income that doesnt have us begging for scraps). Well, the Halifax can go stuff itself!

There's no fees as Snowy says. You get charged something like 12.5% APR. But that translates into only about £1 per £100 drawn out - assuming you set up a direct debit to pay it all off each month. Should save us around the cost of dinner one night of the hols.

 

[its cd]

I know I have said this before but the Santander zero card is a really good option .............. I don't think you have to have been a customer for a long time I am pretty sure that new customers can also have a zero card .......... just to test it last time I was over I paid half of a restaurant bill with the Santander card and the other half with my M&S Mastercard and the Santander charge was around £2.50 less on a 50euro transaction ............... the debit card also seems to give a pretty decent exchange rate

 

[snowy2007]

CD you now have to have had a currant a/c with Santander for 3 months and you must pay in £1000.00 per month. to get a Zero card.