Nationwide changes

This is a bit of bad news. Nationwide from Nov 1 are introducing a 2% commission plus £1 a time charge on foreign currency ATM withdrawals.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/flexaccount-changes.htm

Yup, I read that too. It's gutting as we both have Nationwide accounts.. that is until the end of October when they'll be closed.

Irene & Alan

 The trouble is there is nothing cheaper on the market! I would love to close my account just on principle, but it would be cutting my nose etc.. because they know that all the other banks charge more!

We regularly draw money out in Spain to pay into our Spanish bank, as I'm sure lots do, its now going to cost £6 per 300euro transaction! I'm going to see if its much dearer to use HiFX to transfer money in to Spain.

I must say I'm very disappointed in the Nationwide for jumping on the bandwagon of screwing the customer I thought they were better than that. 

Tony.

We have been Nationwide customers for years, long before we moved to Spain and are very disappointed with the attitude they have adopted.

My first thought was to cancel all our accounts with them but then read an article that said it was because they wanted rid of customers who only used the account for foreign tranfers. I have therefore decided to close all other accounts and leave the current account to accept my pension payts and then transfer them immediately to another bank.

As they are still cheapest I can transfer money back to Nationwide if I need it in Spain or transfer a lump sum through one of the currency dealers. Isn't the internet wonderful!

Jean

 I did see on the Beeb that Santander offer an account with no currency fees. Haven't looked into it yet, but I also thought the Co- Op also do no currency fees?

Mark

Just checked with Co-op.  Answer is no.  I did suggest that they might like to think about it.  There's obviously a gap in the market now.

According to the website moneyexpert all adult accounts with Santander which are credited with at least £1000 a month will allow free cash withdrawals in Spain.  Nationwide's change comes into effect in November - write and tell them that you will be switching to Santander if there's no rethink.  If they really want to stop people who ONLY use Nationwide for this purpose, then they can simply restrict it, like Santander, to those whose account receives a certain amount each month.

 Do you have a link for the Santander info? I can't seem to find that bit!

All good things come to an end. This was a perk that all currency trsnsfer cudtomers were receiving even though Nationwide were being charged the 2% fee from VISA. How they (NW) paid for it was too give a reduced interest rate to savings customers. Over the past few years they have reduced their interest rates to a point were they are only competitive to those unwilling to move to another institution. They need to rebuild their margins to attract more savings. NW are a Building Society and as such do not have many of the cash generative arms that many of the full service Banks enjoy from their commercial customers.

Make the most of it and other free Banking whilst you can as most of the retail Banks will introduce more fees over the next 12-months as they pick the customers they want and 'help' the others to move on.

Look to some of the other money transfer agents that will do transfers at competitive rates including fixing the rate for a period.

As someone has pointed out -- the Internet is a great tool for managing Bank accounts no matter in what juristriction they are.

Good luck to those looking for a better deal for FX trades.

 Aha! Found it! That looks like a good alternative, we pay more than a £1000 a month into our Nationwide account. I can, despite my disappointment, see the NW point. Many people have taken out current account purely to get the free money abroad. The rest of us are now having to pay!

I agree with the point if they wanted to they could restrict the free use to those who pay more than £1000 a month into their account.

Tony.

Do any of the members on this site have their pension paid direct into BBVA, and if so, do BBVA make a charge for receiving the transfer in?

Perhaps if they spent less on useless celebrity adverts and sponsorship of equally useless football teams, they might be able to give their customers something back.  Mutual?  It's a joke!

Citibank may be useful - particularly on mainland Spain.

I have used my Citibank card in Spain several times in tandem with the Nationwide card and the difference wasn't that much on the sums.

 1. Any transaction in a currency which is not in the currency of the Account, for example if You use Your Citibank Card to acquire goods, services or currency abroad, will be converted into Sterling using our reference exchange rate (which is Visa's exchange rate on the date it processes the transaction and percentage commission that we set on the amount of the payment. If your account is in a currency other than Sterling the Sterling amount will then be converted by us into the currency of the account using the Citibank UK exchange rate applicable at the time. There may be delay before a transaction abroad is debited or credited to the Account. 

2. Please note that the amount that can be withdrawn at an ATM is also subject to the individual machine limit, your available balance and limits that Citibank may set for fraud or other crime prevention purposes. 

3. Transactions will be debited from your nominated Citibank accounts normally within five days from the date of purchase.

4. Citibank's reference exchange rate applies if the transfer is made across currencies. If you transfer from a Citibank account abroad to a UK Citibank account you may be charged a fee.

Mark

As I understand it the Santander deal is not a debit card but a credit card and though you may well get a good exchange rate and no charges for the actual withdrawal, you will still incur swingeing  interest charges for taking cash out on your credit card. It also seems that you are not allowed to pre-load your credit card account so that you are always in credit.

The best I've come across so far is a Halifax card. It has the same drawbacks as the Santander but the interest rate is lower. The best suggestion has been to credit your Halifax card five minutes prior to going to your hole in the wall and withdrawing cash. Theoretically, your credit arrives around the same time they start charging you interest....of course you will have to guess what the rate will be, as Halifax also say that you are not allowed to go into credit. I would enjoy using my Flex Account to hold the cash for a day or so before forwarding it to Halifax.

These are early days and the best solution will percolate to the top within a month or two.

 Just to put these charges into perspective, I have received a statement from Barclays this week with the following information regarding card use abroad:

Your foreign card transactions are converted into Sterling at the exchange rate based on the exchange rates set by the market or Government on the date the amount is debited to your account. A 2.75% charge for Barclays handling costs and any VISA processing  fees is included in the Sterling conversion shown on your statement and applied to all foreign transactions. There is an extra 2% transaction charge (minimum £1.50 maximimum £4.50) if you wish to draw cash overseas via a cash machine or in a bank, except Barclays cash machines or those within the Global Alliance (deatails available on request). If you use a cash machine outside of the Global Alliance, you may incur an extra service charge. 

Nationwide suddenly doesn't look too bad!!

Mark

Yes, I have my pension paid into a BBVA account in Jumilla.  The pension is paid in euros, so there are no charges for receiving it, however I have just raised a query because I spotted 56.86€ commission for 6 months.  The manager is currently looking into it to see why it is so high and whether they can refund any of these charges......!

Sue

Have been down to Nationwide and spoke to them about their charges but they are still saying they are still the cheapest out of all the Banks and Building societies.

It is annoying as we have been with them for 40 years now and will be charged for drawing money out. although they are giving away free insurance but I believe that is only up till you are 65.

But as Mark has said when you look at Barclays charges it does put it into perspective.  Mark do you know what their charges are for a sterling cheque from Barclays to Barclays, was told it was free last year but that has probably changed.

 Pat     

 Ha, here's the rub Pat. Barclays in Mojacar were pushing us last year for free GBP/ € from a BarclaysUK  account to a Barclays ES account. I opened an account this year after becoming disillusioned with Citibank and thought i'd take advantage of the offer. You can't have the free transfers with a Spain Solutions account which I have, or the other account with no charges. You have to have one that you pay a monthly fee for, so if you are only transferring irregularly, it is cheaper to take the hit in charges when you transfer.

I have seen people in the Mojacar branch transferring funds to the Spanish account using the Connect card,but I don't knw what fees are involved there. I will pop in and see Jesus and ask, but i'm not ther now until October :(

Mark

Yes I thought things might change  we opened the account they were reccomending last year, with interest on the account , when you paid by direct debit.  Are they not doing that this year then?

We have not been back since last year to put money into the account we will be going in October so sent a cheque from Barclays so will be interesting to see what they charge, but normally I just draw the money out from Nationwide and put cash into Barclays.   I still have some cash in B & V so have to close that account and transfer that over. Did  not get time last year.

Have to say we did get interest on the account but might outway what they charge for changing a cheque.

Is your wife still working for Barclays Mark?

Pat