Nationwide Flex a/c

We are non residents & have a Nationwide Flex current account which we only use to withdraw funds in Spain via ATMs that have the Visa sign. Using this method we don't get charged anything & we get superb rates. I thought you would be interested to know how we did. Before we left the UK on Dec 14th we put a certain amount of cash into the Flex a/c & drew out as follows.

Each time we withdrew 300 euros. All just below the Sky currency bank rate.  

17/12 rate 1.396

18/12 rate 1.402

 20/12 rate 1.389

29/12 rate 1.353

An ideal way to get euros in Spain for hols.

I have the same card and can confirm that this is probably the best way to get your euro's without incurring commision. Always a great rate. You can use it for transactions as well ie shopping, without being charged. Some visas charge 3%

Ditto Morerosado,

I have a N/Wide flex account and to date I havn't found a better deal?

Hi Mike, great to "see" you again. Trust you had a good Christmas & New Year. We were in Spain from Dec 14th till 6th Jan & had a wonderful time.

It's amazing though, getting back to the Nationwide account, how many people still don't seem to take advantage of our great finds & then still continue to go on about rates etc. It's the same with using a UK mobile in Spain rather than buying a Spanish SIM card for your UK mobile or, better still, a Spanish mobile. If you're going to ask for advice please take it or what are we all doing here ?

I'm poorly so slightly grumpy & feel a vent or 20 coming on.

This message was last edited by morerosado on 1/10/2008.

  Hi More, sorry your feeling poorly get well soon we do not want  you  venting.  We both have a Nationwide Flex account and cards brilliant no charges and good rates.   Roy has had his for years but I only changed 2 years ago, received a cheque book as well but have never used it.    I think I did convince a few couples to change in the village. Take care Pat  

I am glad I have spotted this gem as we belong to nationwide and r going out in a few weeks to complete and need to buy quiet a few bits and bobs We were going to put it on our credit card but if the rate is better and we just draw cash Can u only do this by drawing cash from flex a/c how abt rates for nationwide credit card Look forward to hearing from u Saznaz

I don't know about cc's Saznaz (we haven't a N/wide cc) though Simmo in this thread said the cc doesn't incur charges if you use it to buy services, not take cash out though. 

We use Saga Visa in Spain for services, we bought some furniture. Saga Visa don't charge the 2.75% or whatever others tend to charge. ENSURE you use a machine with the VISA logo on it or you WILL be charged. Take out euros too not sterling. One we used was Cajamurcia bank.   Machines give instructions in English & my OH found it very simple.  

This message was last edited by morerosado on 1/10/2008.

Thanks v much will c wot they say abt cc

Hi Saznaz, I have used my nationwide credit card in spain and their are no fees on buying goods only for taking out cash and the rate you get is very good. Remmy

thanks v much Remmy will look into that - my hubby used his MBNA card whilst we were out in Feb - the rate here was 1.34 and they gave us 1.21 - daylight robbery

so will use nationwide card in future

ta

Hi Saznaz, When i went the rate was 1.466 and i got 1.46 on the nationwide card. 

We have just organised N/wide ccs to go with our N/wide flex a/c as we can check online too & move money around & pay bills from Spain. We had Saga Visa, which suited us fine, but they aren't online &, in future, we're able to spend more time in Spain so need online facilities. We always get superb rates using VISA ATMs with our N/wide debit card.

Just thought I would post to say that we got 1.280 € / £1 on 18th March using our Nationwide Flex a/c debit card in a Visa ATM in Guardamar, CB, taking 300 € out. On 9th April, taking another 300 € out, we got 1.247 (Sky said it was 1.2476 later that day we noticed).


This message was last edited by morerosado on 4/11/2008.

Hi More

Glad you are having a good time. We aplied for our Flex account last week, so hope to be hearing soon .

Mark

Has I've said previously,

Theres no better deal for currency Exchange Rate and NO charges that I'm aware of for drawing cash abroad than the Nationwide Flex account!

  We opened our account before we came out for our first visit last Sptember, they always give the business rate, not the tourist and don't charge commission. Credit card is good too

 

I have been using Nationwide Credit & Debit cards all over the world for years for buying goods with the Credit card and cash with the debit card, as far as I know this has always been the best way of doing my transactions. The other benefit is by setting up for on line banking as well you can easily monitor your spending on the net whilst away. Other banks have similar deals but none as far as I know have offered this so consistently for so long. I do most of my banking with Nationwide wish they has branches in Spain. Nationwide offshore Euro account based in Isle of Man is worth a look as well.

Phil

I've been using my Nationwide flexaccount for withdrawing cash in Spain or a good few months now and been very impressed with the rates. Never more so than last week, I withdrew €200 which worked out at a rate of 1.27, my sister withdrew the same and hers cost five pounds more the rate being 1.23, and the rate she got on the euros she brought with her from the post office just a few days before was 1.17. Big differences!! I've even got better rates using the Nationwide account than transferring cash through the currency exchange with Custom House. And, now that Custom House are charging in the region of €15 per trade the Nationwide is looking even better.

Hi Carol & Richard. This is exactly why I began a new thread just for Nationwide as other info on it gets lost in other threads & the info is far too ace for that.

People often say "it can't be possible for you to get those rates so easily" &, until they bother to open a Flex a/c & use the Debit card to find out for themselves, they're not convinced. Often I feel people just say (like my OH did to me when I suggested opening an a/c) "Not another bank a/c ??" (He really did need convincing.

Thanks for posting about your experience with your debit card.

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Hey, we suddenly have more smileys to play with, about time too.

Saw great one for the big agents ........  & what most would like to do to them

Thanks EOS Team.

I've been using my Nationwide debit card for months now and without doubt this has been the best deal around. However, I've noticed that several banks are starting to charge a fee through their Cash Machines. Banesto charged me 0.5% the other day and Santander charged a similar amount too!
Are there any Spanish Banks around NOT not charging a Fee?

I always use Servired machines.

Another tip is that if you have a joint accout you can both draw out £300 in euros a day.  Very handy if you're having work done on the house.  With the falling rate you can only get 350 on each card but at least with two cards you can draw out 700 a day.  Some machines have a 300e limit per transaction but you can put the card back in and get the remaining 50 or more euros.

You also don't need to inform them when you want to use your debit card abroad but you should inform them if you want to use your credit card.  Especially if it's the first time you'll be using it in Spain.

I always ring them when we go to Florida but as a regular visitor to Spain I don't bother.  I only really use it for the car hire and the occasional Eroski or Carrefour purchase.

Semi, do you not get charged for using your N/wide Flex a/c debit card in the Servired ATM's, then ? 

I was always under the impression I should only use Servired for our Banco Halifax debit cards ! (Free for Banco Halifax there & not free with their cards elsewhere.)

If anyone wants to look at the website click on this link >>>  
 SERVIRED LOCATIONS IN SPAIN it is in English generally. It has the interchange rates there. Also you can find your most convenient Servired ATM in whichever town you want. If you click on the far right where it says "ATM locator" then on next page there are two menus. "Provincia" (so click on "Alicante" for example) then where it says "Ciudad" do same & click on "Guardamar del Segura", for example. You can tell it the name of the road etc but also you can just click on "buscar". Use the + & - & click on map on the little black dots with coloured arrows. These dots signify where a bank is which has a Servired ATM & you get address. For instance, if you click on the dot to the right of the Plaza Labradores the small screen, which you can print off, has this on it.

Entidad: BARCLAYS BANK
Dirección:  MAYOR, 6
Localidad: GUARDAMAR DEL SEGURA
Provincia: ALICANTE
C.P.: 03140
Horario: 24 horas
Nº Cajeros: 1


The dot to the right of that dot (corner of Calle Mayor & Calle Norte) has this 

Entidad: BBVA
Dirección:  MAYOR, 2
Localidad: GUARDAMAR DEL SEGURA
Provincia: ALICANTE
C.P.: 03140
Horario: 24 horas
Nº Cajeros: 1


Clever eh ?  Go have a play with the site.










This message was last edited by morerosado on 5/25/2008.

I may be wrong but I thought a Nationwide leaflet told me to use Servired.  Anyway I've never been charged although I have come across some atm's outside Banks which ask you if you want to pay in local currency.  Some of the atm's questions can confuse you and I've pressed the wrong button by mistake and it's gone through in £'s rather than Euros.

I now know the Servired machines to avoid, the one in Carrefour rarely works.  It's just a matter of trial and error to find the ones which are straight forward,the one around the corner from the Banco Halifax in Torreveija limits each withdrawal to 150e.  A pain when you're trying to load up the account.

We'll check with Nationwide, there's nothing on their website. NATIONWIDE SITE If we can use Servired ATMs that would be a bonus. Actually we were told to only use ATMs displaying the VISA sign. Cambank must've changed their ATMs to include VISA now as I remember we wouldn't use our cards there as we'd been told we'd be charged. 

I told a friend, Paul, recently to use ATMs with VISA displayed & he told me later after we met up in Spain that he'd been using Cambank ATMs. I said I'd told him to only use those displaying VISA signs & he said they had ! When we went to check we found the Cambank ATM at Dona Pepa near us indeed had a VISA sign on it. Paul says he wasn't charged.

When I bought our house in October 2003 the agent took me to Solbank to open an account to use for Direct Debits etc.  I needed to load up this account on each visit so I opened a Flex a/'c to use for getting currency abroad.  I've been doing this for 4 years now, in Spain I use Servired machines and in Florida I use SunTrust.

I have never been charged for using Servired machines other than an indirect charge by having the atm machine calculate the rate I'm going to be charged.  This I explained earlier when the atm screen asks you a question on how you want the transaction to go through.  It's happened to me a couple of times at different machines and the wording is never the same so I can't quote how you need to answer.  I have pressed the wrong button and it's gone through, the difference in the rate when I checked my statement wasn't a lot.

For me this system works, I only need to draw out the amount of euros I need for each trip.

MikeT - Whereabouts in Spain are you based, if we're in the same area I can tell you the best machines to use.

Morning all, rain, rain, rain here.

Semi, MikeT is in Las Chapas, Marbella. It says so under his avatar.

So it does, better go and clean the glasses as I scrolled down and couldn't see it there.  Funny I thought I was sure I'd seen a reference to the Costa del Sol

 

Hi All

I am going back some years now but when Nationwide first started the no charges on cards offer, they sent out information for how to use the cards so not to be charged any commission. The key information I recall was to always use ATM’s that had the VISA sign and only at Bank’s not ATM’s in shops and places like that as they may charge (But not all do). Then don’t opt for the bank you get the money from to do the exchange rate for you as this may not be as good as the rate Nationwide will give. I have always followed these basic rules all over the World including Spain and have used my debit card to obtain cash from all banks that display the VISA sign on the ATM and have never been charged. I have sometimes used ATM’s where I haven’t been sure if I am going to be charged but these have always informed me there will be a charge so I have cancelled the transaction and gone to another ATM. I last used my debit card in Spain at the beginning of May 08 at two different banks being CAM & Bankinter but have used others in the past.

Obtaining cash with Credit Cards is not free of charges as you pay interest on cash withdrawals or that’s how I understand it I am not sure on this one as I don’t use Credit Cards to obtain cash just goods for which again Nationwide make no charges in converting the currency to £

Regards

Phil

Hello all,
We have lived here for nearly four years and always use Nationwide cards to withdraw cash. We were  told to use ATMs with the Cirrus symbol and I have used most of the banks in the area over the years. You should always be informed if there will be a charge and can cancelat that point. I know we shouldn't stll have a Flex account but simply use our family address for correspondence in UK. 
Jean

I always use the Nationwide FlexAccount when not in the UK--(I am buying offplan in Quesada)--my wife works for nationwide and so would love it if they opened a few branches in Spain !

If anyone wants more info on the accounts you can see the rates etc from their website.