foreign currency fees - a rip-off!

[Dougo]

Interesting to read about FX and other FF experiences as we'll be O/S later this year for several weeks.

Westpac told me not so long ago that they charge either 1% or 1.5 % transaction fee on purchases O/S - can't recall which % it is. The bank manager also told me that if we have a "normal" savings account with Westpac, we can withdraw FEE FREE at Barclays banks in the UK - which is just as well as it's pretty expensive there -eg GBP16 to go to the movies (friend just back this week told me that's the going rate !!)

I agree with others that the best way to avoid fees is to try to pre-pay as much as possible before leaving home - which is what we've tried to do - the last thing I want to do is arrive home and then start paying for the trip.

 

[Chicken]

The bank manager also told me that if we have a "normal" savings account with Westpac, we can withdraw FEE FREE at Barclays banks in the UK

Westpac Internet -Accessing your accounts overseas

They only waive the $5 ATM fee, not exchange commission. HSBC actually waives foreign exchange commission as well.

I agree with others that the best way to avoid fees is to try to pre-pay as much as possible before leaving home - which is what we've tried to do - the last thing I want to do is arrive home and then start paying for the trip.

No necessary, as paying by credit card online will attract foreign exchange commission from your bank and card scheme. The best is find a friend at your destination, send telegraph them the money, then ask them to give it to you when you meet up. The next best if there is HSBC in your destination is to use HSBC ATM card issued in Australia at HSBC ATM at your destination.

 

[Baysider]

As suggested by Nutcase, the Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard is the way to go - no forex charges. Put it in credit and just do cash advances from any ATM bearing the Mastercard logo. Perfect.

 

[Dougo]

Thanks for clarifying this Chicken - will print out the relevant bits from the Westpac site and ask my Bank Mgr to clarify while I also check out Wizard and HSBC.

Re my comment about buying before you leave home - I'm sorry I didn't make it clear - I meant purchasing accom, car hire passes etc etc here in Australia - which I've done and have not had to pay FX, commissions etc. The only time I've had to pay FX/commissions is where I couldn't find what I wanted here or if what I wanted was significantly cheaper O/S. Generally I've found that while some things cheaper O/S, by the time you add commission, FX AND postage (if needed to send tickets/passes for example), it can work out a lot more expensive than buying the so called "more expensive" goods here.

 

[spunkarooney]

I am surpised that ALL of you appear to have missed this:

NAB Gold Banking
https://www.nab.com.au/Personal_Finance/0,,89797,00.html

You can easily avoid the $12 monthly fee by doing a round robin of transfers (that is, if you don't plan on using the account as your main transaction account anyway).

The withdrawal, balance inquiry and 2% foreign currency fees don't apply to the Gold Banking accounts. See Section 2 - Service Fees at https://www.nab.com.au/Personal_Finance/0,,9733,00.html

I have visited 4 countries in the last week and performed a small test transaction with Citibank and NAB. In each case, NAB has been significantally cheaper.

 

[medhead]

I am surpised that ALL of you appear to have missed this:

NAB Gold Banking
https://www.nab.com.au/Personal_Finance/0,,89797,00.html

I'll refer you to my post on page 2 of the thread.

Of course, I didn't advertise it anywhere as well as you. Thanks.

BTW I have a package with NAB that gets me the same deal and I've got great rates in the EU, hungary and SIN, using ATMs. Much better than CC.

 

[spunkarooney]

Great. Sorry for missing your post.

I can highly recommend NAB Gold Banking for overseas travel, but, as always: have a backup solution.

 

[Dave Noble]

-eg GBP16 to go to the movies (friend just back this week told me that's the going rate !!)

I wouldn't say that taking the most expensive cinemas in London's West End as being "the going rate". The rate at normal outer london cinemas are more like GBP7.50 ( approx AUD15.60 ) which is on par with Australia

Cinemas such as the Main Auditorium of the Odeon Leicester Square are ones where I would be prepared to pay the premium rates for occasionally since it is a v good cinema ( single screen with 1683 seats across the stalls (downstairs) and the circle (upstairs) ).

Dave

 

[NM]

I wouldn't say that taking the most expensive cinemas in London's West End as being "the going rate". The rate at normal outer london cinemas are more like GBP7.50 ( approx AUD15.60 ) which is on par with Australia

I took my two boys to the movies at a major suburban cinema complex in Brisbane on the weekend. It cost $33 for one adult and 2 kids ($13 for adult and $10 each for kids).

 

[Dave Noble]

I took my two boys to the movies at a major suburban cinema complex in Brisbane on the weekend. It cost $33 for one adult and 2 kids ($13 for adult and $10 each for kids).

The local hoyts to me Sydneyside suburbs charges $15.50 per ticket. Even so, at $13 a ticket, the price in UK isn't dramatically higher, just that the top UK cinemas are a tad on the pricey side.

Dave

 

[NM]

The local hoyts to me Sydneyside suburbs charges $15.50 per ticket.

Ouch. Time to find another cinema. We went to the Greater Union at Chermside on the weekend. Sign up for the Cinebuzz club and its even cheaper.

For the UK, I would think GBP7.50 is reasonable. About comparable to 2 pints at a pub (always god to bring it back to a measurable commodity comparison )

 

[serfty]

I used the wizard seven times or so over the last fortnight.

A brief check this morning on two of the transactions at random using XE.com's Credit Card Charges Calculator™ showed variance to prevailing daily exchange rates of 0.14% and -1.11% :shock:.

It has been noted that the date of transaction can vary this result and a 0% is rare.

 

[osbuyer]

About the earth card's fees.

This is from the Westpac site (google: earth credit foreign fee)

New Foreign Currency Transaction Fee
For Earth+ credit cards (to be known as Earth Gold credit cards from 1 October 2008):

• Effective 28 November 2008, a new Foreign Currency Transaction Fee will be charged to you by Westpac when you make any purchase or cash advance/withdrawal in a foreign currency. This fee will be 2% of the value of the converted Australian dollar amount of the purchase or cash advance/withdrawal.

2. The applicable credit card scheme may also charge Westpac fees for processing foreign transactions. We pass these fees on to you. The fees vary depending on the applicable credit card scheme:

• Visa International Service Assessment fee – 1.0%1
• American Express foreign exchange conversion fee – 1.0% for Altitude & Altitude Gold and 1.5% for all other credit cards (including Altitude Platinum).
• MasterCard Issuer Cross-Border Assessment3 of 0.8% plus MasterCard Currency Conversion Assessment4 of 0.2%

So it looks like they are going the way of all other cards.

I do a heap of purchases from the USA, so any reduction of fees would be awesome! I have tried to apply for the Wizard card but their site is flaky and keeps falling over during the application process. Actually this has happened a lot on the main GE site, which I use for another card.

Anyway - any other good cards for o/s purchases?

Cheers!

 

[Alanslegal]

I do a heap of purchases from the USA, so any reduction of fees would be awesome! I have tried to apply for the Wizard card but their site is flaky and keeps falling over during the application process. Actually this has happened a lot on the main GE site, which I use for another card.

Anyway - any other good cards for o/s purchases?

Cheers!

Shame about the Wizard website being flaky.

Have you thought of downloading the form and proceeding via the hard copy way?

 

[auriga]

The Wizard card is by far the best for overseas use.

 

[gibspmuh]

About the earth card's fees.

This is from the Westpac site (google: earth credit foreign fee)

So it looks like they are going the way of all other cards.

Makes me glad to have dumped the card seeing as the low foreign exchange fees were one of the few selling points. Certainly not many attractive cards left these days for use overseas!

 

[oz_mark]

Makes me glad to have dumped the card seeing as the low foreign exchange fees were one of the few selling points. Certainly not many attractive cards left these days for use overseas!

Earth+ started off as a good card for travelling, but is just reverting to a normal Westpac card in terms of features.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Mrs JV & I both had Earth+ cards until a couple of weeks ago. Then we received notice that they were introducing the new foreign exchange fees. Almost the same day I received the offer noted on another thread to upgrade my Citibank c/c to a Platinum for no additional fee. It was also annual fee time on the Earth+ card.

The lack of foreign currency fees was one of the features that convinced me to take the Earth+ card (the others being 15,000 free points to join and that there was no limit on the number of points I could earn; and it was 1:1 which is better than that ANZ nonsense).

We decided to ditch the Earth+ and accept the Citibank platinum offer; yes I know that Citi charge exhorbitant fx fees, but as I am not travelling o/s for 12 months or so that doesn't worry me at this time (I also have an HSBC account and will check out Wizard before I travel o/s again).

Better still, I will keep an eye on this thread and let my friends at AFF help me decide what is best at that time.

Earth+ is disappointing: like most of these banks/cards, they start off good and then change the rules; sure they loose some customers but they keep the "lazy money".

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Just a quick Question.
I still have a HSBC account open, set up in London. HSBC ATM Card still works.
If l transfer money into that account from Australia and then use the in a HSBC ATM in Germany/Hungary, would l get slugged a fees at all?

Btw, l just came back from Germany and got slammed by St George for using my visa debt card. Some of the fees were outrageous. Crazy, making me think twice now before my return trip in December/January and use that card willy-nilly.

Cheers
Dan

 

[Chicken]

Just a quick Question.
I still have a HSBC account open, set up in London. HSBC ATM Card still works.
If l transfer money into that account from Australia and then use the in a HSBC ATM in Germany/Hungary, would l get slugged a fees at all?

HSBC ATM card issued in Australia (under Cirrus MasterCard network)already waive all forex commission (both HSBC commission and MasterCard commission) when you use any HSBC ATM worldwide.

So why would you want to transfer money to the UK again?