StuartO Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Barclaycard are currently offering a Platinum Cashbck Card which charges no fees or commission on transactions abroad, including ATM cash withdrawals, and also gives you 0.25% cash back on all purchases, at home and abroad. The deal expires on 31/8/2023 so don’t assume the same beyond that date. The cash back feature makes it better than anything else currently on offer. You do of course have to pay the balance off each month to avoid interest charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timandjen Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 We have always used a Halifax Clarity credit card specifically for overseas travel. Supposed to be best rates and worth it even for drawing out cash. Hope that this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I am a fan of the Halifax Clarity Card as well. Two questions/comments about the barclaycard :- 1. If you draw cash as I routinely do abroad in contrast to purchases (where the bank make commission from the seller as well as a markup on the currency conversion) interest on that cash drawn (not unreasonably) accrues immediately. You can mitigate this by paying money in to keep your debit balance down. So assuming the card works normally paying money in monthly (and paying when it is due under the statement) will not mitigate interest on the cash drawn although of course it will prevent interest on purchases. 2. Halifax clarity use a rate pretty close to or maybe even equivalent to the commercial bank rate (not a precise definition I know) for currency conversion. The difference will vary but might be say 3% better. The attractiveness of the Barclay card may therefore be influenced by the currency conversion rate they offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 HymerVan - 2019-03-07 5:08 PM I am a fan of the Halifax Clarity Card as well. Two questions/comments about the barclaycard :- 1. If you draw cash as I routinely do abroad in contrast to purchases (where the bank make commission from the seller as well as a markup on the currency conversion) interest on that cash drawn (not unreasonably) accrues immediately. You can mitigate this by paying money in to keep your debit balance down. So assuming the card works normally paying money in monthly (and paying when it is due under the statement) will not mitigate interest on the cash drawn although of course it will prevent interest on purchases. 2. Halifax clarity use a rate pretty close to or maybe even equivalent to the commercial bank rate (not a precise definition I know) for currency conversion. The difference will vary but might be say 3% better. The attractiveness of the Barclay card may therefore be influenced by the currency conversion rate they offer. The Barclay card in question(which I have), does not charge interest on foreign cash withdrawals if you settle balance at end of month. If you use it to pay for purchases or services you get the same currency conversion as if you withdraw cash, and it may be a better option as you will not get any other charges which is possible that a foreign bank may charge for cash withdrawals. p.s. there are not any transaction fees or foreign currency handling fees either. You may have been mislead by the lies on this page. https://www.halifax.co.uk/travel/help-guidance/using-debit-credit-cards-abroad/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 colin - 2019-03-07 5:16 PM HymerVan - 2019-03-07 5:08 PM I am a fan of the Halifax Clarity Card as well. Two questions/comments about the barclaycard :- 1. If you draw cash as I routinely do abroad in contrast to purchases (where the bank make commission from the seller as well as a markup on the currency conversion) interest on that cash drawn (not unreasonably) accrues immediately. You can mitigate this by paying money in to keep your debit balance down. So assuming the card works normally paying money in monthly (and paying when it is due under the statement) will not mitigate interest on the cash drawn although of course it will prevent interest on purchases. 2. Halifax clarity use a rate pretty close to or maybe even equivalent to the commercial bank rate (not a precise definition I know) for currency conversion. The difference will vary but might be say 3% better. The attractiveness of the Barclay card may therefore be influenced by the currency conversion rate they offer. The Barclay card in question(which I have), does not charge interest on foreign cash withdrawals if you settle balance at end of month. If you use it to pay for purchases or services you get the same currency conversion as if you withdraw cash, and it may be a better option as you will not get any other charges which is possible that a foreign bank may charge for cash withdrawals. p.s. there are not any transaction fees or foreign currency handling fees either. You may have been mislead by the lies on this page. https://www.halifax.co.uk/travel/help-guidance/using-debit-credit-cards-abroad/ Interesting to note that Barclays do not charge interest on cash withdrawals "until the end of the month" Not quite sure if "end of month" in this context means :- End of the calendar month in which the transaction occurs End of the credit card accounting period e.g 4th of month to third of next month or End of Period by which payment must be made which could be say 56 days. Whichever of these it is there does seem to be an interest concession. I can't see any "lies" on the credit card bit of the link you quoted (with dare I say it a certain lack of circumspection) although clearly using a debit card IS expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Comprehensible summaries of how the Barclaycard Platinum Cashback Plus credit-card operates can be read here https://www.fool.co.uk/mywallethero/credit-card/barclaycard-platinum-cashback-plus-card-review/ https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/barclaycard-platinum-travel-credit-card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 HymerVan - 2019-03-07 6:15 PM Interesting to note that Barclays do not charge interest on cash withdrawals "until the end of the month" Not quite sure if "end of month" in this context means :- End of the calendar month in which the transaction occurs End of the credit card accounting period e.g 4th of month to third of next month or End of Period by which payment must be made which could be say 56 days. It's the end of the standard credit card period, I have a direct debit set up so can use the card for extended periods without having to worry that I will run out of money (assuming there is enough in current account. I can't see any "lies" on the credit card bit of the link you quoted (with dare I say it a certain lack of circumspection) although clearly using a debit card IS expensive. The link shows the supposed benefits of a Clarity Card, it quotes that all other credit cards charge a Foreign currency transaction fee and Cash fee, these are quite plainly lies, as not only do these not apply to the Barclaycard, but also a couple of other cards I looked in to getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Derek I bow again to your extraordinary diligence and skill. The forum is much the better for your efforts. Stuart I will have a detailed look at the Claims on the Halifax site over the weekend when I have more "focused" time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 We use the Halifax clarity for everything except cash..........We use the Santander debit card for that ;-) ..... Interestingly we were on a Spanish toll road that wouldn't accept the Halifax card so used the Santander card.........got charged £1.25 transaction fee on top of each toll 8-) ....... It cost me £3.75 to learn it pays to carry cash :D ......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 colin - 2019-03-07 6:58 PM ...The link shows the supposed benefits of a Clarity Card, it quotes that all other credit cards charge a Foreign currency transaction fee and Cash fee, these are quite plainly lies, as not only do these not apply to the Barclaycard, but also a couple of other cards I looked in to getting. You are misinterpreting the information on the link. The link deals solely with using HALIFAX credit and debit cards outside the UK. The credit-card entry indicates that the “Clarity” card has no foreign currency transaction fee nor cash fee, but that all other HALIFAX credit cards have 2.95% and 3%(min £3) fees. This can be confirmed from the information on the following link that covers the full range of Halifax credit cards. https://tinyurl.com/y6nbtw48 Until recently the Halifax “Clarity” card has probably been the best credit-card for obtaining cash outside the UK, but (provided that one can qualify for it!) Barclaycard’s "Platinum cashback plus” credit-card is better still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Hi Stuart 0 we use Tesco Credit Card. Points for every £ spent. NOT just TESCO's anywhere,anything. We have used points for return Eurotunnel a few times, they also can be used on ferries etc. Depending on your spend could be useful for travelling. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Hi Another card that gives cashback and free to use abroad is MBNA. Used it last year and was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 The reason why I recommended the Barclaycard Platinum Cashback Card (be careful, there is another Platinum Card which has different provisions) is that it appears to do exactly what it says; no fees or commission on foreign transactions (including cash withdrawals) and 0.25% cashback on purchases, home and abroad. We have previously used Post Office and Nationwide cards (which offer no fees or commission on purchases abroad) but charge for cash withdrawals. We're also taking two other bank cards which offer fee-free cash withdrawals, Monzo and Starling. Monzo is only fee-free for the first £200 per month but Starling is completely fee free and both can be topped up easily on line. I think this gives us enough options! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Has anyone compared the exchange rates on this new card to the clarity card as that might make a difference? From what I remember the rate on the clarity card as mentioned is pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Barryd999 - 2019-03-08 9:09 AM Has anyone compared the exchange rates on this new card to the clarity card as that might make a difference? From what I remember the rate on the clarity card as mentioned is pretty good. The Barclaycard uses standard Visa exchange rate, Clarity card uses Mastercard exchange rate, in general there is usually a slightly better rate with Mastercard. On this link it is calculated at an average of 0.6%, so for £100 that's a 60p difference, off set that by 0.25% cash back and it's 35p difference. So for purchases it's slightly worse, but for cash it can be a lot better depending on the period of interest. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2015/05/mastercard-vs-visa-for-using-abroad-which-wins/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 I bought two items of the same price in Spain last month using Clarity for one and a Santander 321 credit card for the other. The conversion was exactly the same to a penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 pelmetman - 2019-03-08 7:58 AM We use the Halifax clarity for everything except cash..........We use the Santander debit card for that ;-) ..... Interestingly we were on a Spanish toll road that wouldn't accept the Halifax card so used the Santander card.........got charged £1.25 transaction fee on top of each toll 8-) ....... It cost me £3.75 to learn it pays to carry cash :D ......... .....or use a Santander (or another that doesn't charge a fee) credit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkist Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Don't think anyone has mentioned that the Barclaycard Platinum is not available to existing Barclaycard customers, bit of a cheek really. We always used Saga, but as this is now unavailable have now got a Halifax Clarity Card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rael Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 We use Transferwise. This gives you a card and a German bank account. You get the actual commercial exchange rate at the time you buy. There are limits on cash withdrawals hence we also use FairFX. I don't like the idea of a credit card, unless I'm paying it off straight away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 yorkist - 2019-03-09 1:43 PM Don't think anyone has mentioned that the Barclaycard Platinum is not available to existing Barclaycard customers, bit of a cheek really. We always used Saga, but as this is now unavailable have now got a Halifax Clarity Card. The required criteria for obtaining a Barclaycard Platinum cashback plus credit-card are defined here: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/platinum-cashback-plus Card best suited for new customers who: Are aged 21 or over Haven't had any Individual Voluntary Agreements, County Court Judgements, and haven't been declared bankrupt in the past six years Always make payments on time Have at least four years' experience of managing credit Have had a permanent UK address for at least three months Have a personal income of more than £20,000 per annum Are able to afford repayments on any outstanding credit commitments We’re sorry, if you already have another credit card provided by us (which may be one of our partner cards), we’re unable to accept applications for a further card. Provided that one can qualify, it’s as good a credit-card as there is for people travelling abroad. It’s plainly intended to attract new business to Barclaycard, hence the restriction on current Barclaycard credit-card holders having one. Without that restriction there’d be a mass move-over of existing Barclaycard card-holders to the new product. I’d like one, but I’ve already got a Barclaycard credit-card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdav Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Only one place to go for this advice in my opinion. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rael Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 TransferWise at 15:00 today. Euro 1160 cost £999.53, market rate of 1.1645, fee of £3.39. So I topped up a bit. Not sure how that compares to other cards but I now know I have the Euros and am not at the whim of the market when I'm away. As its a Euro card there will be no charges (in Euro countries) I also take a Euro FairFX card and Tesco Visa but only use the Visa in an emergency. With all this Brexs**t uncertainty, who knows where the pound could go in the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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