I've just got both, Nationwide and Halifax credit cards, so judging by what you say Robert, I'll use my Halifax card first, then when I'm all spent out, move onto my Nationwide card!![msnwink]
I've just got both, Nationwide and Halifax credit cards, so judging by what you say Robert, I'll use my Halifax card first, then when I'm all spent out, move onto my Nationwide card!![msnwink]
Oh, I think I have got to grips with this very well Paul, it's just that you don't believe what I'm saying (not that it's important to me as I've got the card that doesn't make a charge for foreign purchases).
The companies doing the misleading are the ones who don't show charges on statements but 'hide' them away somewhere in the fadey small print on the back of the statements or 'lose' the charge in their exchange calculations so they (almost) convince people that they're not being charged.
blott
Thanks for the detailed clarification Robert, thanks for taking the time to clarify this fully.
Your link is also very interesting as whilst it says the Nationwide card is best for not 'loading' it only goes with the bank account which is not the best buy. I can concur that CC rates are better than TC rates having checked Travelex and what I was getting on my CC. Your are right about the advert, I willsee what happens (a little while ago I got the Wanadoo advert removed).
One last point, as stated earlier, the Nationwide do not give cashback on purchases abroad -
We will pay a cash reward on purchases (excluding balance transfers, transactions made abroad, or made with retailers that are registered outside of the UK, cash advances and payment protection insurance premiums).
They give 0.5% for the first 6 months then 0.25% thereafter. The Halifax One gives you 1% cashback on all purchases all of the time. This means that the Halifax card compared with the Nationwide in fact cost me £17-50 whilst in the US but if you take it over a whole year I would get more cashback with the Halifax card than the Nationwide one and I am sure people use their credit card all year around and not just when they go on holiday.
Paul,
I have a Nationwide current account(flexaccount) that is not used other than to move money into and out of their E savings account and ISAs - the balance in the flex account is always zero.
It is perfectly possible to have several current acounts, several savings accounts and several credit and debit cards - I do.
Whilst MoneySavingsExpert states that Nationwide is not the best current account it is right up near the top and better than Halifax
Puzzled by this quote:
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:[u]We</u> will pay a cash reward on purchases (excluding balance transfers, transactions made abroad, or made with retailers that are registered outside of the UK, cash advances and payment protection insurance premiums). [/quote]
"We will pay" Who are we?
I should make a declaration, I do not work for Nationwide and have no connection with that Building Society other than as a satisfied customer etc etc and I own shares in Halifax plc.
Robert the quote is cut and pasted from the Nationwide website T&C's of their credit cards. So the WE is the Nationwide.
The whole point I have been trying to get over is that it is usually better to stick with the card you have that is associated with your bank account.
Blott, sorry but you haven't got to grips with this unless you have changed your mind and I have no problem with you admitting that you were wrong, I won't hold it against you. Your whole point was that Non Nationwide CC's make a charge on your statement. Between Robert and myself we have PROVED that they don't so you were wrong. I was fully aware that any charges they make are incorporated into the exchanges rate as I have been saying this all the way through on this and similar posts. It certainly was not hidden from me, and I am sorry but it is the Nationwide who are trying to con people by saying that they will see a charge on their statements which is actually totally incorrect.
No Paul, I haven't changed my mind at all. My original point was that other credit card companies made a 2.75% charge for overseas purchases and Nationwide do not (which is correct). However, as you didn't believe what I was saying, for your benefit only I just asked the Halifax to clarify how they charged this and reported what they said.
I think you'll find that Robert proved exactly what I have been saying in that Nationwide would provide consumers with more for their purchase price actually and not that I was incorrect! <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:If you made CC purchases totalling $2,000 when the Visa rate was £1=$1.79
Nationwide would charge $2,000 divided by 1.79 = £1117.32
Halifax would charge $2,000 divided by 1,740775 = £1148.91
In effect Halifax gives you an exchange rate of approx 5 cents less than Nationwide.[/quote]
How can Nationwide possibly be saying that anyone will see a charge on their statements when Nationwide don't make a charge for foreign purchases? I think you'll find the advert to which you were referring was pointing out that other credit card companies customers may see a charge on their statements - an entirely different point.
If you want to stick with your Halifax credit card, then its of no consequence to me whatsoever. I have a Halifax current account and shares but I wouldn't have their credit card as I like to keep as much of my money as possible and don't wish to pay 2.75% every time I make a foreign purchase. Hence I have a Nationwide (amongst others) credit card.
blott
Paul,
The thrust of Blott’s argument all along is that if you use a Halifax credit card you get charged 2.75% more for purchases than if you use a Nationwide Credit Card.
That is the major issue and in that Blott is undoubtedly correct.
It seems to me Paul that you missed your vocation and should have been a politician as you appear to be attempting to ‘move the goalposts’ as a diversion from the central issue and pick Blott up on a technicality i.e. how that 2.75% charge is presented on your Halifax statement. Remember that Blott originally stated:
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Paul, like I said, you won't even notice if you've paid any charges as they're not shown on your statement.
Paul, they charge you 2.75% on every purchase[/quote]
I agree that Sheila - the Halifax employee Blott quoted later in the thread - was incorrect on the method of presenting this 2.75% on the statement; but it is not in dispute(now) that Halifax do indeed make this charge.
If you look back at your contributions in this thread I suggest there are far more inaccuracies, viz:
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Blott, I have used different CC's over the years and have never paid anything. The exchange rate might be a little more favourable with Nationwide but as I have said before they don't credit you with any foreign purchases wher other cards do so it is a bit of swings and roundabouts.
[/quote]
Well you do pay something! and as the swings mean losing 2.75%(less 1%) and the roundabouts mean losing nothing; I wouldn't recommend you stick to the swings.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:just printed my statement off of the Halifax website - No Charges so I keep the money in my pocket also.
[/quote]
No charges except the ‘hidden’ 2.75%
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Blott you don't pay 2.75 on everything you buy abroad.
[/quote]
You do!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:as none of knows what exchange rates each individual card company is using. Nationwide might not factor in a 2.75% deduction but who knows what rate they are using in the first place.
[/quote]
We do know what the exchange rate is – if it is a Visa card it is the Visa rate.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:As none of us (the public) know what exchange rate each CC company is using you could have a situation whereby the Nationwide could (and I am only using this as an example) be using a lower exchange rate than everyone else.
[/quote]
No they could not!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Your(Blott’s) whole point was that Non Nationwide CC's make a charge on your statement.[/quote]
Er – I don’t think it was anything of the kind. Blott’s ‘whole point’ was that Halifax charge 2.75% more than Nationwide – and they do! – less any cashback.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I am sorry but it is the Nationwide who are trying to con people by saying that they will see a charge on their statements which is actually totally incorrect.
[/quote]
C’mon Paul. What Nationwide are stating in the advert is essentially correct – namely other CC companies charge an extra 2.75%. I agree there may be a semantic issue here but t
OK I give in, I am fed up hitting my head against a brick wall.
Blott, I have no idea what advert you are looking at but it is not the same one as me. The Nationwide advert I am talking about is with a woman sitting down with a bank employee with her statement in her hand asking 'what are these charges on my CC statement'. Both Robert and I have proved this is incorrect as it is taken into account in the exchange rate. It has nothing to with charges on a Nationwide statement.
Robert, I don't think I have ever denied that the Nationwide CC is marginally better whilst you are in the US but as I am only there 3 weeks of the year and in the UK for the other 49 weeks the Halifax card is far better based on a years spending because of the cashback advantages. You have taken my quotes in isolation and not read all the posts. You have not considered what I was replying to which was when Blott was so adamant that there was a 2.75% charge that showed on my statement, NO THERE IS NOT. Also I can tell you and Blott that when the $ was 1.79 the Halifax was giving me 1.7688 (not a 2.75% difference) so I am exteamly sceptical on who uses what rate.
If I was so blatantly wrong it's a shame Blott didn't take me up on my bet (too late now) but in the point I was trying to make I was in fact correct as Blott said if I had spent £1000 it would show up on my statement as £1027-50 NO IT DOES NOT.
Personally I have finished with this post, people can make their own minds up as whether to go to all that trouble to save a couple of pounds.
Seems to me that Blott and Robert are correct and they have shown remarkable patience trying to explain all this to you - if you choose to ignore them that is up to you, personally I find your attitude very rude.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by wrpac00
If I was so blatantly wrong it's a shame Blott didn't take me up on my bet (too late now) but in the point I was trying to make I was in fact correct as Blott said if I had spent £1000 it would show up on my statement as £1027-50 NO IT DOES NOT.
[/quote]
Just for the record you wouldn't spend £1000 on your credit card in Florida it would be in $'s then the charge (2.75%) would be added before the exchange rate used to transfer the total amount into sterling - which is why you like many other people don't realise they're being charged a fee.
Caroline & Dave
Paul,
Let us not allow this discussion to become acrimonious as the purpose of this thread is not to score personal points but surely to inform those with less interest in financial matters the best way to exchange their Sterling into US$.
The dispute over presentation of charges, rather than the charges themselves, and the Nationwide advert only serves to obfuscate; and after all they are peripheral issues.
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