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Credit Card usage abroad


Mel B

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Much mention is made of using a Nationwide credit card when making purchases abroad due to there not being any charges for doing so, however this is NOT the case for ALL of the Nationwide credit cards therefore I thought I'd mention it so that people check which one they have an don't get caught out! 8-)

 

You can tell which specific card you have by the colour of it.

 

The below DOES make charges when used to purchase items abroad depending on how much 'allowance' you have earned:

 

> Black card = Nationwide Credit Card (now the standard one issues)

 

The below do NOT make charges for using them abroad to purchase items:

 

> Grey card = Select Credit Card

> Light blue card = Cash Reward Credit Card *

> Gold card = Gold Credit Card *

> Dark blue card = Classic Credit Card *

 

* These are now 'closed to new business' so unless you already have one, you can't benefit from the 'no fee' status.

 

You can get full info here by 'ticking' the card you have:

 

Nationwide Credit Card charges

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The Saga CC is OK too and the exchange rate is sometimes - but not always slightly better.

Trouble is you only know when when you see your statement!

Nevertheless it is a good backup and several times in France and in Spain one has worked and the other has not so it does indeed pay to carry two and be one jump ahead!

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Tracker - 2013-05-04 8:17 PM

 

The Saga CC is OK too and the exchange rate is sometimes - but not always slightly better.

Trouble is you only know when when you see your statement!...

 

The Saga and Nationwide credit cards are both VISA-type. Consequently, in a theoretical identical scenario, the exchange rate applied to, say, a no-fee-for-EU-usage Saga credit card will be the same as for a no-fee-for-EU-usage Nationwide credit card.

 

In practice, it's not going to be possible to make an "identical scenario" comparison because of the way the system works. The exchange rate used for each transaction can also vary significantly and apparently oddly (again because of the way the sysytem works).

 

For example, on 18 April I bought fuel at a French Carrefour supermarket service station using my Nationwide card and the Euro/Sterling exchange rate applied to the transaction was 1.157698. Using the same card the exchange rate applied to items bought in the Carrefour supermarket itself (about a half hour after I obtained the fuel) was 1.157851

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Our last 3 week trip to France we spent about 150€ in cash paid for everything else with a Nationwide select credit card, virtually stopped using cash since they brought in charges for cash withdrawals & payments on the debit card .
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KeithR - 2013-05-04 8:21 PM

 

my black nationwide credit card DID NOT charge me this year.

 

Had you 'earned' an allowance that meant you didn't reach a level where you would have been charged?

1031814007_nationwidecreditcard-black.jpg.96e44bd86b412880eb0f1f2a93a4faf0.jpg

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