credit cards: New research published this week by the website Totally Money claimed that poor exchange rates and high fees cost Britons holidaying in Europe 640m last year, including 95m lost through using debit cards abroad and 100m from credit cards, according to The Guardian. The fees for using your card abroad are often confusing and complex. Pick the wrong card to use abroad and you will probably end up spending more money than you need to. For example, with some bank cards, making lots of small purchases can end up generating a hefty bill. Meanwhile, with some banks including Nat West and HSBC, it is not unusual to be charged 9.50 for a 200 cash withdrawal from an overseas ATM. Check how much your debit and credit card charges for foreign transactions before you head off the costs are far higher than many people realise, says Andrew Hagger at financial website Money Comms. That's because some apply a foreign currency purchase fee of up to 1.25 on each transaction, which is in addition to the currency conversion fee AKA non-sterling transaction fee imposed when you buy something in anything other than pounds.
(news.financializer.com). As
reported in the news.
Tagged under credit cards, exchange rates topics.