28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/14]

[Flashback]

Used in Portugal September last year, no problems. That was with the old Wizard card. Using the new 28 Degrees card, every single ATM (they all seem to be "Multibanco") rejects my card so I've been unable to get any cash out. Thank goodness I had my ING Direct card ($2.50 withdrawal with no currency conversion charge) to get me out of the blue.

 

[kpc]

Requested an increase in credit limit today. Could not be done over the phone; had to fax in an application with proof of income, Notice of assessment etc:shock:, before it was approved.

Say, my credit limit previously was $3500, I could withdraw up to $3500 as a cash advance.
Now, the credit limit has been increased, say to $5000 but the limit on my cash advance remains at $3500, not $5000 which is the new credit limit. A little annoying...is this normal, and has this happened to anyone else?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Requested an increase in credit limit today. Could not be done over the phone; had to fax in an application with proof of income, Notice of assessment etc:shock:, before it was approved.

Say, my credit limit previously was $3500, I could withdraw up to $3500 as a cash advance.
Now, the credit limit has been increased, say to $5000 but the limit on my cash advance remains at $3500, not $5000 which is the new credit limit. A little annoying...is this normal, and has this happened to anyone else?

that does seem unusual.. although slightly academic. The daily limit is something like $1000, that would cover you for three days, by which time the first withdrawal should have appeared on your statement and you are free to withdraw another $1000 (and so on)... (might be a bit of a problem over the weekend where it might take 4 days for a withdrawal to post...)

 

[kpc]

that does seem unusual.. although slightly academic. The daily limit is something like $1000, that would cover you for three days, by which time the first withdrawal should have appeared on your statement and you are free to withdraw another $1000 (and so on)... (might be a bit of a problem over the weekend where it might take 4 days for a withdrawal to post...)

The actual amounts are much higher so your scenario above is not an issue for me (plus I would be prepaying into my account before withdrawing cash) but why separate credit and cash advance limits?

 

[Fantic125]

Requested an increase in credit limit today. Could not be done over the phone; had to fax in an application with proof of income, Notice of assessment etc:shock:, before it was approved.

Say, my credit limit previously was $3500, I could withdraw up to $3500 as a cash advance.
Now, the credit limit has been increased, say to $5000 but the limit on my cash advance remains at $3500, not $5000 which is the new credit limit. A little annoying...is this normal, and has this happened to anyone else?

Nope, I'm on an $8k limit and they want to increase that to $12k.
No thanks. I'm happy with the $216.56 I owe them at the moment..... :shock:

 

[kpc]

Say, my credit limit previously was $3500, I could withdraw up to $3500 as a cash advance.
Now, the credit limit has been increased, say to $5000 but the limit on my cash advance remains at $3500, not $5000 which is the new credit limit. A little annoying...is this normal, and has this happened to anyone else?

...why separate credit and cash advance limits?

Posted above too soon...obviously the account needed to be refreshed / updated as this morning my cash advance limit now matches my new credit limit.

 

[Isochronous]

Used all over Hong Kong and Macau - no problems

Machines did all state a third part fee may apply - no mention of how much - looking at the statement - does not look like I was charged any fee at all.

As did I - also in Singapore, Italy, France, UK, Belgium - no problems.

 

[awilcockson]

Just came back from 2 weeks in the US. A small gotcha to be aware of:

I seriously underestimated the amount of cash we'd go through with 2 weeks of theme parks, so I had not pre-loaded enough money onto my card to cover the withdrawals I wanted to make. This happened twice, and both times I BPAY-ed money onto the card on what happened to be Friday evening Australian time. Now here's the rub ... the funds didn't clear until 2am Tuesday Australian time, nearly 4 days later!! This meant I had to use my other credit card for purchase and incur international transaction fees. So be careful, and remember that although you can usually load money onto the card within 24 hours, this blows out to 4 days over a weekend.

 

[awilcockson]

Oh, and not directly related to the topic of the thread, but close ...

On the second transfer, I overestimated and I know have $3K in credit sitting on top of my credit limit. I'm back in Australia and would rather have that money sitting in my mortgage offset account. Does anyone know if the same rules apply (no interest charged etc) if I do cash withdrawals in Australia?

The website is a little vague, it says no fees at Westpac ATMs, but it also says interest is charged on cash withdrawals from the time of withdrawal. Now, I'm assuming that is only if the card isn't in credit, but that could be a dangerous and expensive assumption!

 

[georgie23]

I have always put on extra and then withdrawn back the amount in Australia - with no Interest charge

Use a Westpac ATM as there is no charge to use

 

[Baysider]

yep, georgie23 is correct, as long as you're in credit it doesn't matter where you are.

 

[awilcockson]

thanks guys time to toodle off and find the nearest westpac ATM

 

[markh]

Hi just a couple of comments about using the card overseas. Had no problem using it in Egypt and Jordan but had to put a sticker over the chip to be able to use the card in some cash machines.CheersMark

 

[Cynicor]

Not certain of the exact rules and times with BPAY, but I believe if you paid it before time X on day Y, it must be treated by the payee as being recieved on day Y, no matter when it actually "clears". Fridays may not be the best day if you miss the closing time, but transferring on a Thursday means you can start using the funds from Friday with no worry about paying further interest. Have a look at the BPAY site or your banks own bpay FAQ if they have one.

 

[serfty]

Not certain of the exact rules and times with BPAY, but I believe if you paid it before time X on day Y, it must be treated by the payee as being recieved on day Y, no matter when it actually "clears". Fridays may not be the best day if you miss the closing time, but transferring on a Thursday means you can start using the funds from Friday with no worry about paying further interest. Have a look at the BPAY site or your banks own bpay FAQ if they have one.

If I had made a BPay payment yesterday (Thursday), more than likely it won't hit the account until at least next Tuesday.

When it does hit the account it will indeed show yesterday's date; however I still would not have access to those funds until Tuesday.

 

[coolsteps]

went to the westpac atm in Australia to do a cash withdrawal and was surprised that it only allowed 1k per day. is this the same for overseas atm's>? is only $1000 cash out per day allowed? i have supplementary cards. so i wonder is it per card or per account? maybe i can use the supplementary card to take out another $1000 on the same day i wonder if it will work?

 

[awilcockson]

When it does hit the account it will indeed show yesterday's date; however I still would not have access to those funds until Tuesday.

And that was the problem. The card was maxed out and I couldn't use it for either cash withdrawals or purchases. Something that can normally be remedied overnight, but not in this case.

 

[awilcockson]

went to the westpac atm in Australia to do a cash withdrawal and was surprised that it only allowed 1k per day. is this the same for overseas atm's>? is only $1000 cash out per day allowed? i have supplementary cards. so i wonder is it per card or per account? maybe i can use the supplementary card to take out another $1000 on the same day i wonder if it will work?

It says in the T&Cs $1K per day at ATMs and $3K per day at branches.

And no the supp card won't work.

 

[PLANT]

Edit: Wrong PIN grrr ahhhhhh

 

[htrieu]

hey guys
hopefully someone can answer some of my questions
If i cash advance over the counter from a bank overseas (I need more than the ATM $1000 limit), is the foreign exchange rate at mastercard's rate or the bank's rate?
Do you suggest a cash advance and then bpay it back straight away or overcredit the account?