[mkcol74]

[quote quote=868227]Since we’re on this topic, a friend of mine has a card called ‘Revolute’ which he swears by for multi-currency transactions. I have no first hand knowledge of it and therefore am not recommending it, but it may be worth looking into.[/quote]

@capetonianm I had a Revolut card before my Curve card. The main differed, IIRC, is that on Revolut you have to top it up in advance of spending, as it’s a pre-paid debit card. I believe they’re expanding into real bank accounts too.

[canucklad]

My mate also swears by his Revolut card …….

What gets me is the jargon filled , almost always ambiguous language that is used when offering you a choice of options. I’ve also noticed recently the practice of varying terminology from ATM/ device when having to decide what to do.

I always assumed that choosing the “home rate” was opting for the bank rate and that opting for “local currency” meant the tourist rate.

Daft me….I’ll be more careful next time.

And on a serious note, considering the trouble banks have got themselves into recently, over a whole variety of misdemeanours why would they create further confusion that could come back to bite them in the bum.

Surely, withdrawing money should simply be set at the cheapest rate available at point of sale ?

[LuganoPirate]

[quote quote=868237]Surely, withdrawing money should simply be set at the cheapest rate available at point of sale ?[/quote]

I agree, but that’s much to easy Canucklad. Today it’s all about making as much as you wherever you can. Those conversion fees and foreign use charge add up to many millions, if not billions worldwide and are irresistible to the banks and shared with the merchants. On top, my son had his card debited ZAR. 21,000 as a deposit by Europcar. Fair enough,young driver and basic insurance. However he’s now been told the refund will take about 14 working days! No reason for that at all, other than they can make 10% annualized on all the deposits they hold. A nice tidy sum to boost their profits, and they don’t even have to share it with the cc co.

[ASK1945]

[quote quote=868227]Since we’re on this topic, a friend of mine has a card called ‘Revolute’ which he swears by for multi-currency transactions. I have no first hand knowledge of it and therefore am not recommending it, but it may be worth looking into.[/quote]

I have had a Revolut card for about a year now. It’s a Mastercard and I have been very happy with it. The overseas rates are better than any of my credit or debit cards and I have saved a large amount.

Whilst it has to be pre-loaded, it takes only seconds to add money from my usual Mastercard, so I don’t keep more than £100 on it at any time. The transfer is just a “bank transfer”, with a 50p (only) charge. If I need to pay for a purchase larger than £100, I just top-up there and then, and the money is there instantly. I use it to get out cash, also.

I download regular statements to my printer wirelessly through my phone.

The advantage is that if I lose it, or it’s stolen, I don’t lose much. I am just a satisfied customer, with no connection whatsoever with Revolut.

[MartynSinclair]

Just had a long chat with the admin team for the Post Office The Money Card as I am convinced money was going missing when drawing out in Euros, from multi currency ATM machines at Heathrow airport.

I was told that this is caused by Dynamic Currency Conversion charges by Mastercard and is outside the control of the Post Office. Despite requesting the money from a currency ATM machine at Heathrow airport, the withdrawal from my “Euro Account” was made in local currency £, and Mastercard made additional charges, without telling the customer first. The Post office agent confirmed the FCA are aware of these unfair charges, but there was nothing he was able to do.

The advice he gave was only to use the currency card when the currency is deemed as “local”, i.e when you arrive at your destination. The Multi currency ATM machines, in the airport concourses (at LHR and other airports) have several layers of hidden charges… they are nothing other than a currency conversion machine, not as I believed, an multi currency ATM dispenser…

[canucklad]

Martyn’s story above reminded me of an OAP pals issue with the airport ATM at Krakow last year….

A group of us went over for his younger brothers 65th birthday, ages ranging from early 20’s to grumpy ol’ Jimmy !!

We passed security and headed to the bar, collectively pulling together the last of our Zloty’s to purchase a final beer or vodka.
All except for 1 ………” Where’s jimmy? “ was the cry………

10 minutes later, an angry man was seen gesticulating, furiously wielding his walking stick like a medieval warrior brandishing his sword.
The highly polished floor disappeared quickly as our very own Victor Mel drew approached the bar.

“Oh, look, its Jimmy !!!” ………. and before we could ask where he had got to, we were greeted with a barrage of mumbling expletives ……….
“ What the ********, ********, ****** am I supposed to do with all these ********* Zloty things ??? “

Where did you get them ?

“I went to the bank machine and I definitely pressed the Union jack button, and the *******,******* still gave me Zlotys “

Suddenly realizing our new wealth in local currency,
“Just get to the bar, you stupid old goat “ was the next words that collectively left our mouths ……….

[DavidGordon10]

I have just met the unwanted DCC in Budapest. At the airport, in the bistro, I was given a bill and after pressing the buttons on the credit card machine I was told I had agreed to pay in GBP. No I had not!! The manager came and sorted it out, and I paid in HUF.

I preserved the voided bill and the one I paid – they were £33.96 vs £33.26 respectively – so I saved 70p. OK, that is not much but a million 70ps is a lot of money. “Who cares about a profit of 0.5% – wholesalers.”

[Chris in Makati]

[quote quote=868221]

I too am not recommending the following, however I can confirm that I’ve had several successful transactions go through my Curve card without issue – a mixture of website, over the phone (CNP) & real life chip+PIN/contactless transactions go through, plus ATM withdrawals at home and abroad. You simply link whatever debit/credit card (ex AMEX) you want to actually be charged in GBP, and the app pops up with a notification for every transaction so you know each time it’s used.[/quote]

I too got a Curve card, mainly so that I could make charges to my Amex card and avoid the substantial fees that Amex make for using the card overseas. Unfortunately, Curve no longer handle Amex cards, so that’s severely limited the usefulness of the card for me.

I’ve found the best card to use for travelling overseas is the Halifax Clarity Credit Card. Halifax don’t mark up the exchange rate at all so you get an excellent rate of exchange. Also, they don’t make any surcharges for using the card overseas, neither do they have any fees for cash advances.

They do charge interest from the day the cash is withdrawn though, but it’s calculated on a daily basis. What I do after withdrawing cash is to make a transfer from my Halifax bank account to the credit card account for the amount withdrawn. That way interest is charged only for a couple of days and the fee is an insignificant amount.

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