Going abroad? Top tip...

[KevR]

There have been a few posts on here lately about driving on the continent and what to take etc.
Here's a top tip - open a Nationwide Flexaccount and get a Visa debit card.
Unlike all the main banks and most building societies, they don't charge for use in Europe, which means you can use the card to get money from hole in the wall, in shops and (crucially) in automated petrol stations, without paying the outrageous transaction fees charged by others (Natwest and Lloyds are particularly greedy in this respect). Nationwide also give a far better rate than any of the others – also better than most Bureaux de Change (I think the only place in UK you'll get a better rate is over the counter at the post office).

This has been a public service announcement.

[Oscar]

That is hugely helpful, thank you.

Oscar

[macplaxton]

Top tip indeed.

More top tips can be found on the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert site too

[electrokid]

Many many years ago I had all accounts, business and personal, with Lloyds. Recession hit and I was out of contracts for a while and things went into the red. Years before that I had signed a form to use my house as a guarantee against a loan of 2 grand for something or other though I didn't think it was appropriate at the time I wasn't bothered to sign it and that loan was paid off no problems.

Now that I was deep in the red Lloyds waved this form in front of me - it had no account reference - it applied to any money I owed them - a Lloyds scam. My 'personal' manager changed and the new one tried to take my house away from me while combining all the debts from both business and personal (illegal) and taking on credit card debt from another company as well then charging me 33% interest.

As soon as I found a contract I opened an account with Nationwide (N. Anglia as it was then) for the personal and Bank of Scotland for business and ditched Lloyds completely.

Over the years Nationwide has made 2 errors* both of which sorted without any problems. I would heartily recommend them anyway -their very fair treatment of overseas transactions is a definite bonus.

A small suggestion - if you are going abroad then let Nationwide know where you are going. They are hot on credit card security and can put a hold on the card if their software spots an unusual transaction - they may let you know if you have your mobile number lodged with them but otherwise they may not.

To give an example - the 2nd* error was a combination of their error and mine. It's complex - I try to be brief...

For Paypal I use a second Nationwide 'flexaccount' which I top up from time to time and my Nationwide credit card as backup. The flexaccount ran out of funds at the same time a hold was put on the CC because of a 'suspicious' transaction. My fault for letting the flexaccount run dry and Nationwides for blocking the CC.

Paypal pay out money instantly but then get the money from my flexaccount by direct debit - that process can take a fortnight. They couldn't get money from my flexaccount - and the CC wasn't working either - and here's the rub - it's taken them a fortnight to find out - there's a fortnight's worth of transactions still in the pipeline which are going to get £30 bank charges each time they are presented which was a couple of hundred pound by the time it all came to light.

Long story short (honest ) Nationwide refunded all the bank charges because part of the overall problem was their error - EXCELLENT ! but it took a month for the Paypal account to get back to normal.

Bottom line - Nationwide is still a building society - and every year the members vote for it to stay that way because we know a good thing when we've got it - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[KevR]

Bottom line - Nationwide is still a building society - and every year the members vote for it to stay that way because we know a good thing when we've got it

Amen to that, brother...

FWIW I've never had a problem with NW picking up on foreign use as suspicious, but maybe that's because I use it almost exclusively abroad – if I used it in UK, THAT would be suspicious!

[Jaba]

Also.
There are three credit cards that do not charge the 2.75% fee for European transactions : Nationwide obviously, Saga Platinum and The Post Office.
You just get the Visa interbank exchange rate without any loading. The first two cards do make a 1% charge for non European use.
Thanks for bringing this subject up Kevin.