Mali1964

UK  EXPATS USING THE  NATIONWIDE CASH CARD TAKE NOTE IF YOU HAVE NOT YET  BEEN MADE AWARE.

My  link


NOTE ! anyone using  the Nationwide cash card (cirrus  card) will find a new card being issued  to their registered address  from 1st June 2010 to September 2010 now  called the cash card plus, the sad news is  that the cash card plus cannot be used in ATM's abroad not even Europe,but can now  be used to purchase items.

So the only card that was truly free of charges is to be no more.

Note this does not affect the Flexaccount debit card  which as charged a  competitive 1% fee for some time now.

Most banks in  the UK charge at least 2.5% to 5% commission plus the  merchant fee ie visa m/c, only Nationwide is 1% all in, Abbey is free   with a special account that includes having a mortgage & i think a   minimum balance of £1000.

The post office credit card is commission free but the exchange rate is   bad to make up for this.

Take note only the Nationwide offer the best rate's   but for how much longer who knows as i hear their profits have halved.

Halifax online swift transfer is another good option  especially if you  transfer at least min £1000 each time,swift fee £9.50 equivalent to 3 x  150bt atm withdrawals with no need to go in branch compared to  Nationwide fee of £20 done by post or in branch only.

The charge for say Bangkok bank to convert your Sterling to Thai Baht is  200bt min to 500bt max i think the rate  they use is 0.25% max (500bt) so at the moment around £1700 could be  sent with only a 200bt fee plus £9.50, on these figures it only saves  around 150/250 baht compared to foreign ATM card withdrawals but the  more you send in one go the more you start to save, as long as you don't  then go using other Thai bank or out of province ATM's you will get  your withdrawals free from your Thai bank.