Money makes the world go round
Posted on 18. Aug, 2010 by Kirsty in Blog, Planning, Saving
Over the last couple of months I have been researching how we should carry all our money round the world with us. Defiantely couldn’t be just in notes!!! I had a look at current accounts, most charge you an arm and a leg to use the card abroad – no go! Then I had a look at credit cards, a few of these charge you at 0% for using them overseas both in commission and loading fees. So now we have to look at our own bank accounts and finances to make sure we were getting the best deal whilst we were overseas.
From reading other blogs it seems that being in the UK we are pretty lucky to have free basic current accounts. Unfortunately somehow we may have taken advantage of this a little too much and now hold 6 different current accounts between us. At the moment we are proud customers of Lloyds TSB, 2x NatWest, Barclays, Santander and Nationwide. They have all had their different uses over the years but it has come to the point where we need to close some of these down.
Three of these accounts are not really going to be useful while we are travelling so will be closed (natwest, Llloyds and Barclays). Nationwide use to be brilliant with 0% fees in Europe and a 1% fee worldwide, however in November this is changing to 2% fee everywhere, so will also now be closed. So that leaves Santander, this will mainly stay open as their credit card offers brilliant rates abroad and we need at least one bank account to keep our millions in!
or gold??
Santander zero credit cards has 0% commission and 0 fees including withdrawal fees, but the downside, it does charge 29.9% interest on cash advances. The only way to apply for the credit card is to have a current account, so we opened a joint account which will be our main account whilst travelling. The current account also offers 6% interest on credit balances up to £2500, which is a lot better than most saving accounts. However their debit cards are cards from hell when travelling charging you not only commission but a loading fee! We’ll be taking them just in case but hopefully will never need to use it.
Halifax’s clarity credit card just pips Santander zero as it offers a lower interest rate on cash advances – only 12.9%. This will be our main card for withdrawing money from cash machines and we have already set up a direct debit to pay it off in full at the end of each month.
Finally one of the NatWest accounts is my student account which kindly offers a 0% interest free overdraft for the next three years. So I have put the money to pay off this overdraft into a high interest account and will let it build up interest for a bit. (every little helps)!.
So overall we will have three credit cards and two Santander debit cards. And Natwest will sit happily for the next three years building a bit of interest.
How have you managed your money whilst away? tips welcome….
An English couple travelling China and South East Asia since August 2010. 
TravelinJones
18. Aug, 2010
We used Capital One accounts: 1) a money-market account with 6 free ATM withdrawals per month from ATMs around the world with no fees and a decent interest rate on the balance.
2) a Capital One credit card — no transaction fees, no foreign exchange fees.
We found — after considerable research — these were the best option for our adventure 3 years ago — and we still use both on any international trip. Not sure if Capital One extends accounts to those who reside outside of the U.S. but it’s worth a look. You can even get a no-annual-fee affinity credit card that gives you travel rewards.
Not sure about cash advance charges — but better option is to have 2 separate but linked accounts and withdraw cash from your savings. Also, it was easy to pay all bills/do banking online from our regular Bank of America accounts — but the B of A credit cards have nasty foreign exchange fees.
AdventureRob
19. Aug, 2010
When did Nationwide change their terms again? 2% everywhere is lame
When I left for travelling it was free everywhere, then they changed it to free Europe/1% elsewhere. Still at 2% I think it’s got to be one of the better ones for use abroad?
Anyway I’m going to try and go to Credit cards now, more protection if it gets cloned. Pay it off at the end of the month and no interest charges. I have the santander zero card (again – I got this a few years back when it was Abbey Zero) although I wouldn’t want to use it for cash out at ATMs
kirsty
19. Aug, 2010
Yeah, they announced it a few weeks back and it will be changing in Nov. Supposedly it is to make way for free travel insurance for people going on holiday in Europe! Not any good for long term or people worldwide though!!
I think I prefer credit cards too because you get more protection. Santander zero is not too bad for withdrawing cash as you are only paying the interest think it works out at around £2 for every £100 – but the new halifax trumps that as it is 12% so around £1 for each £100
ayngelina
20. Aug, 2010
Unlike the US, Canada just doesnt have accounts with no international fees. But I did split my money into two banks as sometimes ATMs will accept one card and not the other. I also chose HSBC, which I highly recommend as it doesn’t charge fees when using an HSBC worldwide and they are everywhere.
Jaime
21. Aug, 2010
Oh how fun I bet all this research is. I can’t wait for me to start doing all my research. I know the US has so many banks to choose from and so many different types of accounts as well. I know it will be alot of work but hey we gotta get the account thats going to save us money. It pays off to do research!!!
Matt
26. Aug, 2010
Had you considered using a prepaid card? We’re taking away a Caxton FX card, which doesn’t charge any withdrawal or loading fees while abroad.
Interesting to know your views.
Am also lucky enough to have a Santander zero CC which I’ll be using for any card payments.