Overseas Transactions...............which is the best card?

[Ulysees]

Presently I use my TSB debit card for overseas transactions but have noticed they charge £1 for online, £1 for other transactions abroad and minimum of £2 for cash withdrawal abroad. Is this the going rate or does anyone know of a better way? I don't mind using a credit card if this will lessen the cost?
TIA

Credit cards don't tend to charge you for online or abroad use. (Cash withdrawals from a cc are another matter, and, from what I know, Nearly Always a Bad Idea.)

It's hard to compare how good they are, though, as they don't necessarily use the best conversion rate for transactions in foreign currency. Still, better than paying a fee on top of a bad forex rate!

Nationwide are the only debit card issuer that don't charge a feee for overseas cash withdrawal. They're generally a good bank as well, ime.

cheers NQC. I did a search online and found nationwide do a flexi current account and don't charge for OT so I've applied for one. Not going away until May but thought I'd be organised for once.

spooky frogs!!!

At least I don't look like I'm Nationwide's secret PR person if you came to the same conclusion by yourself.

We moved all our accounts to Nationwide about 8 years ago, and I'm generally v. happy with them. The online banking facility is easy to use too, and you can keep money in an online saving account and just click it through to your current a/c if you have an emergency abroad. Their savings rates aren't usually the absolute market leaders, but they're consistently good so you don't have to keep chopping and changing.

Oh go on admit it frogs, this is all a ploy and we both own nationwide Oh imagine that [dreaming]

I'll keep TSB for the other accounts for now but may swap. How many current accounts are you allowed? Is there a limit?

Actually visa and mastercard both charge a foreign currency transaction fee - they hide it in the conversion, but its there in the small print of your agreements.

I have two flexaccounts, a personal one (joint with dh) and a separate one which I use for work transactions (am self-employed). AFAIK there's no limit to the number of different linked e-savings accounts you can have, and you can change the names of them online which is handy. So instead of the screen showing you an 8-digit account no. and you having to remember which is which, they come up rather handily as 'holiday account', 'children's savings' or 'tax'.

I think Nationwide is a mutual, so can't be a shareholder sadly. But I think they consistently come up well in customer satisfaction surveys, and that's certainly my experience.

Yes they seem to come out well from what I've read online.