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

[PLANT]

When I rang to tell them I would be OS...last week...and making purchases I was actually asked would I be loading up the card!

Anyways is it only Thailand that $5 is charged per withdrawal?
Hong Kong will be free?
Best ATM bank to use?

Regards

 

[Cynicor]

AFAIK most ATMs are free, so any bank should be ok to use.

Thailand have to fee, as do many banks in the USA, some in Canada and most in AU.

 

[serfty]

There's links to answers for that and other issues in post #1 of this thread.

 

[Robert K]

Remember there might not by credit card fees. But there might be ATM access fees charged by the bank.

 

[serfty]

Remember there might not by credit card fees. But there might be ATM access fees charged by the bank.

Certainly - these can apply to almost all foreign cards using ATM's.

So that fee is on top of all the other fees that can be and are charged - one is still better off...

 

[PLANT]

HAS SOMETHING CHANGED?
I purchased an item at $24268.00HK which on Xe should be 3,018.76 AUD
But my card has been debited $3053AU?
Thats $34 conversion?
What the?

 

[serfty]

That's 1.1% ... not over the top by any means in relation to other Oz based products.

What date - the AUD has been fluctuating against the USD (&, directly, the HKG) quite a lot the last few weeks.

 

[oz_mark]

If it was the last day or two, then it is pretty close:

Yesterday:

[TABLE="class: tbl_main, width: 90%"]
[TR]
[TD="class: row1, width: 60%"]Date on transaction receipt:[/TD]
[TD="class: row1"]October 18, 2011[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: row2"]Amount on transaction receipt:[/TD]
[TD="class: row2"]24,268.00 HKD[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: row1"]Mid-market rate for HKD to AUD on 2011.10.18:
(Excluding bank charges)[/TD]
[TD="class: row1"]0.125740[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: row2"]Value of transaction in your currency:
(Excluding bank charges)[/TD]
[TD="class: row2"]3,051.46 AUD[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: row1"]Amount shown on credit card statement:[/TD]
[TD="class: row1"]3,053.00 AUD[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: row2"]Your "hidden" fee estimate:[/TD]
[TD="class: row2"]30.53 AUD ( 1.000% )[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: row1"]ACTUAL BANK FEES for this purchase:[/TD]
[TD="class: row1"]1.54 AUD ( 0.051% )[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Baysider]

That's 1.1% ... not over the top by any means in relation to other Oz based products.

1.1% is huge for the 28 Degree Card, its usually between +0.2% and -0.2%.

 

[PLANT]

Thats what I thought as it was right now\today....all I have is cash available amount from Limit to work out the difference from the amount I'm told it cost....will update when I have more details on ONLINE info tomorrow.

Guy on other forum reckons they use mastercard exchange rate, then the figure would be $3083!

 

[Baysider]

No, definitely not the Mastercard exchange rate - that guy obviously doesn't have this card. The cash available amount isn't always a true reflection of charges - seems to err on the conservative side.

 

[adrian]

No, definitely not the Mastercard exchange rate - that guy obviously doesn't have this card. The cash available amount isn't always a true reflection of charges - seems to err on the conservative side.

+1
Don't try to work out a conversion rate based on your available credit limit. Wait until the transaction shows up on the card.

 

[steveward]

Re: Foreign currency question

I have checked frequently and confirm that the 28deg card gives spot rate or very close (like 0.1%) on ATM cash rates - this was USA, Italy and Indonesia...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I always thought the conversion rates was the lowest mid market rate from the day before the transaction?

 

[Lions]

Re: Foreign currency question

28 Degrees Mastercard- a warning

I recently booked a holiday to Europe and pre-booked lots of accommodation to be paid when I arrived at each hotel. I loaded my 28 degrees Mastercard with a sufficient balance to pay when I arrived at each hotel and I informed Mastercard which countries and when the card would be used overseas.

Holiday was cancelled due to an illness and I rang Mastercard to tell them the card would not be used overseas at all.

I was then told my card was about to be cancelled as I was intending to use the card as a debit card not as a credit card. Astonished, I asked would they have told me they were to cancel the card "No, you would have found that out at a Spanish hotel".

I went up the chain of supervisors and managers of Mastercard and always the answer was the same - we will cancel the card if we see it pre-loaded, the card should be in debt and recharged at the appropriate time. I replied that re-charging was not possible due to internet security issues in out-of-the-way places in Spain and Portugal - their answer was "that is your problem".

I was also told that if the card was stolen I would lose the entire preloaded balance and if I tried to re-charge the balance while overseas and passwords were stolen with consequent financial loss it was also my problem.

Be careful with this card.

 

[serfty]

28 Degrees Mastercard- a warning

I recently booked a holiday to Europe and pre-booked lots of accommodation to be paid when I arrived at each hotel. I loaded my 28 degrees Mastercard with a sufficient balance to pay when I arrived at each hotel and I informed Mastercard which countries and when the card would be used overseas.

Holiday was cancelled due to an illness and I rang Mastercard to tell them the card would not be used overseas at all.

I was then told my card was about to be cancelled as I was intending to use the card as a debit card not as a credit card. Astonished, I asked would they have told me they were to cancel the card "No, you would have found that out at a Spanish hotel". ...

Although possible, I doubt what the agent told you was really true (unless you had pre-loaded 10's of thousands of dollars into the account). See post #1 for links to more:

Preload into Credit? How Much?: See post #582 and following, also from post #832

What I would do to de-load is go the the nearest Westpac ATM and withdraw the credit balance in cash then immediately redeposit to your normal institution - you may need several days to do this.

 

[Lions]

Hi Serfty

Thanks for your reply - I have appreciated your work on this forum.

I spoke all the way up the customer relations chain (at least 3 different levels in the hierachy) to the extent that if I wanted to take the matter further I was invited to contact the Financial Ombudsman. They pointed out in the Product Disclosure Statement that they can close your card for any reason - they are correct, it is in there.

I suggest you ring them and ask them the pre-load limit.

My pre-load was $8000 - not an outrageous amount for 65 days away.

I had a similiar experience with Citibank VISA although ANZ VISA allowed the pre-load.

I would never have known this but for the cancellation.

I asked Mastercard to publicise the potential for card cancellation for pre-load reasons by telling them that forums such as this were advocating the use of the 28 Degrees card.

The reply was "People know you can't use a credit card like a debit card".

I didn't know that and I don't think others do either.

Cheers Lions

 

[cove]

I am happy with 28 degrees. I was told not to exeed the credit limit in a credit balance when I started and everything has worked. The rate of exchange in Canada and US worked out to be very good

 

[serfty]

Hi Serfty

Thanks for your reply - I have appreciated your work on this forum.

I spoke all the way up the customer relations chain (at least 3 different levels in the hierachy) to the extent that if I wanted to take the matter further I was invited to contact the Financial Ombudsman. They pointed out in the Product Disclosure Statement that they can close your card for any reason - they are correct, it is in there.

I suggest you ring them and ask them the pre-load limit.

My pre-load was $8000 - not an outrageous amount for 65 days away.
...

It is acknowledged in the posts I linked to that the T&C indicate that a card in credit can be cancelled. The posts also indicate ways and means of avoiding such issues. (Scheduled BPay / Pay on day of withdrawal etc.)

Those posts do indicate that a credit of $8K would indeed be pushing it. (Up to $5K, no more than a week or so.)

 

[kpc]

Some things are best done quietly and without too much publicity. Raising it up the Customer relations chain and the Financial Ombudsman is a sure way to force 28 degrees hand. I have been using this card since 2006 for OS cash withdrawals without any problem. As soon as I get back to Oz, I top up to the nearest round figure, and withdraw the balance from a Westpac ATM, sometimes needing 2 or 3 visits to do so if I have overestimated my cash needs. As has been hinted before keep quiet, keep a low profile, don't maintain a huge +ve balance (as suggested regular progammed Bpay payments is a good way if OS for a prolonged period), things will be fine....making a big issue about it with 28 degrees and maintaing a large +ve balance will surely end this great benefit we all have been benefitting from the last few years!!

Hi Serfty

Thanks for your reply - I have appreciated your work on this forum.

I spoke all the way up the customer relations chain (at least 3 different levels in the hierachy) to the extent that if I wanted to take the matter further I was invited to contact the Financial Ombudsman. They pointed out in the Product Disclosure Statement that they can close your card for any reason - they are correct, it is in there.

I suggest you ring them and ask them the pre-load limit.

My pre-load was $8000 - not an outrageous amount for 65 days away.

I had a similiar experience with Citibank VISA although ANZ VISA allowed the pre-load.

I would never have known this but for the cancellation.

I asked Mastercard to publicise the potential for card cancellation for pre-load reasons by telling them that forums such as this were advocating the use of the 28 Degrees card.

The reply was "People know you can't use a credit card like a debit card".

I didn't know that and I don't think others do either.

Cheers Lions