Got a nasty shock from my recent Spanish bank statements.

Apparantly my bank says that any goods purchased in another currency ie £ or whatever are subject to 1.50% commission on top of the usual currency exchange rates.

I thought this ONLY happened when you withdrew money but now it seems not and the Bank said it applies not only to Spanish VISA but also MASTERCARD.

Guess just have to spend Euros now??? :scared:

Fortunately we tend to pay through Paypal for most of our things from abroad, usually off e bay, and they take the money in Euros no matter where we have bought from.

I think something similar happens on most cards in the UK, it's just costed into the exchange rate you get. The only one not to make this charge is the Nationwide Credit Card, hence is recommended for use abroad by most financial websites etc..

Strange I have amex and visa and neither make a charge for purchases. I also have mastercard and visa on a Spanish bank

Thanks to everybody for their input.

What I do not understand is that neither of these Spanish cards had commission charges before July 2006 for making purchases in other countries which do not have the Euro as currency??

I am with Banco Atlantico or Sabadell as it is sometimes called and I just wondered if these charges were because I banked with them??

We are with them too and find they charge for everything....they charge for a debit card and we constantly find debits of a few euros for one thing or another. Someone else may be better qualified to comment but I think many Brits with credit cards being used abroad don't realise that they are paying a commission to use their cards, which is included in the exchange rate they get..except for the Nationwide.
Our Spanish friends always pull our legs about banking with THAT gypsy bank!!

As poollounger says most Banks in the UK do make a charge but hide it by giving a lower exchange rate. Nationwide is the only one I know in the UK who doesn't do that.

Next time you use your cards check the exchange rate you're given as this can make a big difference on cash or purchases.

Recently I used both my Natwest and Nationwide Debit cards to withdraw cash in Spain. I withdrew 300€ from each at the same cash machine at the same time.

I paid over £11 more for my money with Natwest than I did with Nationwide and that was just because of the exchange rate they gave as neither appeared to make any charges.

Hi Poollounger and Dazzle

Thanks for your input.

It seems like I need to seriously think about changing my Spanish Bank, they persuaded me to get a Cuenta Mas account which attracts a deduction charge of 18 Euros per month BUT they assured me there would be no more charges!!

Do you know if it is possible to get a card in the UK from Nationwide if you have not resident there??

I can't see why not. We have Spanish cards and we live in the UK so you would think it would work the other way round wouldn't you? Although thinking about it they might require you to have a current account with them.

Try their website. I do have internet banking with them.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/default.htm

All credits cards charge a fee, you usually don't notice it as it's buried in the exchange rate. My German Master Card (or was it visa) always charged it separately.

Nationwide don't and they give a very good exchange rate too. That's why all the financial experts recommend them for foreign travel.

Dazzle is corrrect about the Nationwide. They do tend to operate along different lines to everybody else. Even their mortgages are granted not on simple multiples but affordability, which may or may not work in ones favour. Mitzi you are right about the Spanish banks... thre are constant deductions of a few euros here and there. Mind you on the news here the other night there was an item about First Direct bank planning to charge customers who had less then £1500 in their current accounts a monthly fee, which was taken as a sign that free banking might be coming to an end here. Unfortunately this would also penalise the worst off.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

I am hoping someone will reply who has both these spanish cards and does not get slammed with commission charges each time they buy something which is not using the Euro!!

Still waiting for a letter promised from the Banco Atlantico last week explaining these extra charges....

I have a credit card and savings account with the Nationwide and they know I live in Spain but when I applied for a current account they said no because I was not a UK resident.

Hi Glynis

I know you are not allowed to have a current account in UK if you live in Spain, but I think you can get round this if you have a UK address and it does not appear to be a problem if you have had this type of account before you went to Spain??

We are still with HSBC in UK!!