FullCircle

Hi there
I have recently tried (for the first time) to draw cash out of my Sabadell MasterCard from a UK ATM. The card would not even insert in the slot! I tried three ATMs. Would someone please enlighten me? I've been searching online for the answer with no luck and can't reach Sabadell by phone. I hope someone out there can help.
Cheers

amideislas

The UK's banking system is UK focussed and generally doesn't recognise worldwide standards.

Having said that, I've never had any problem using my Spanish debit card in the UK (LaCaixa). Is there something else that you're missing? Inserting card upside down or wrong direction?

FullCircle

No, I'm definitely trying to insert it correctly. It was as though the back of the slot was blocked or closed. I immediately inserted a UK Card with no problem. I tried three different ATMs! I wondered if it was something to do with the hologram and/or 'Servired' logo on the back of the card but you would think at least one of the banks' ATMs would have accepted it. I also wondered whether the card needed to be authorised in some way by the bank for use outside of Spain. I have tried calling Sabadell but keep getting a Spanish message and then disconnected.

Pulaski

Does the card have a chip?

Is the ATM linked to the Mastercard network?

If the bank that owns the ATM is open, and is part of the Mastercard network, then I would go inside and ask them, because all Saba dell are likely to tell you is that the card should work. Any bank that is a member of the Mastercard network should be able to give you a cash advance over the counter.
The last time I checked Mastercard was still a US based organization with a significant network of member banks in most industrialized countries. The same was true of Visa when I last looked.

Short version: Good grief you post some crap.

tebo53

I have used my Sabadell debit card (inadvertently) to pay for a meal in the UK using one of those chip and pin machines and it worked in that ok. My wife successfully used her Barclays debit card in the Sabadell ATM here in Benidorm.

Steve

amideislas

Well, the UK banking system (like the US), is rather backward by comparison.

But in all fairness, perhaps "backward" isn't the best term. It's just focussed on domestic banking, using its own special rules and technical metrics, often ignoring international standards. For example, many UK banks are great and super fast at transferring funds domestically, but as soon as you want to do something "international" (even, in some cases, use a "foreign" card), it's a "deer in the headlights" sort of thing. This explains a lot about why the "international transfer" business is almost exclusively a UK thing... UK Banks just fail miserably at it.

Pulaski

That is just nonsense, just plain and simple, but fits your personal agenda. Quoting one area that irritates you personally, doesn't make it true for the UK. The US is a whole other matter, I'll give you that!

bob_bob

'Backward' LOL, nonsense, America was years behind the UK in areas like chip and pin / contactless. International transfers are simple and quick from my UK accounts, all done simply online

amideislas

You ought to try banking in Europe. Then you'd know what I mean. I have yet to encounter a European bank that doesn't offer virtually any function available at a branch office (including international transfers and currency exchange functions ...at reasonable rates) in it's online banking.

In contrast, my account in the UK requires a visit to a branch office to fill out paperwork if I want to transfer any money anywhere abroad, and it's eyewatering expensive to do, in addition to the local branch often being clueless about how to do it, having to call the manager to find out.

Needless to say, I don't use it for that. And the US... My friends in the US wouldn't know where to begin if they ever needed to send money to this side of the Atlantic. No simple online function like over here. That's why you need a "transfer service". Big business in the UK. Nobody's heard of them over here though.

Oh, and there are only two countrues where my European bank cards "might not work". You guessed it.

Pulaski

I looked up, for curiosity, information about Germany, being the largest country in Europe, and the advice I found was that there are three choices for sending money internationally - your bank, something like Western Union, Paypal, etc., or an on-line remitter.

And do you know why online FX broker-remitters are "big business" in the UK? (That's a rhetorical question, because I know you don't know. ) It's because that is where the knowledge, people and technology are! Half of all FX is traded in London, so the technology for exchanging currency and moving money is centered in the UK!

You might as well criticize the wine industry for being "big business" in France, the whisky makers for being "big business" in Scotland, or the mobile phone manufacturers for being "big business" in South Korea.

It obviously doesn't fit your agenda of continuously wanting to bash the UK (which BTW, is tiresome, and has been for a long time), but the UK is still the major player in FX and international funds transfers.

FullCircle

Yes, Pulaski, it does have a chip but it's twice the size of the one on my UK Card. I went into Lloyds, they had no idea why it wouldn't go in the slot and told me to contact Sabadell (easier said than done after hours). As the chip is on the left hand side of the card, it's the first part of the card to be recognised in the slot. Very frustrating! But I won't rest until I solve the mystery.

johnnyone

i) How is it I manage to transfer money from my UK bank to my Spanish bank without visiting the branch, without fees and at very competitive rates. ie zero apart from a couple of points below the commercial rate? That is also apart from the fee the Spanish bank charged me for receiving the funds!

ii) I incur no bank charges on my UK account, yet my Spanish bank amongst a myriad of other charges even charge me the postage costs in sending me statements.

ii)I had the (mis)fortune of having to pay some cash in to my Spanish bank. One teller and a 20 minute wait!

Give me a UK bank every day of the week.

amideislas

Yes, as you illustrate, we all know everything British has always been superior. Even when it isn't. And even if it weren't, everything else is inferior. Even when it isn't. Explains the origins of stereotypes that have existed since long before I was born.

No worries, though. It's just part of being British. Part of the charm we all know and love.

We're English, my dear. Arrogance is beneath us.

amideislas

What bank? I've heard there are UK banks that can do this... online even...

Charged you for >receiving< money? Sounds like a US bank. You ought to change banks. BBVA has totally free accounts, for example. No charges for anything.

Pulaski

You clearly know very little about banks and banking. The norm/default in all countries around the world, including Spain, and Germany, and ..... (well, about 200 others) is that banks charge a modest fee for receiving a wire, as well of course for sending a wire. That is perfectly normal in most cases, though it is waived in some cases, for some people, and perhaps even some businesses.