re. Abbey Zero Card. Well, just got the PIN number. Phoned them up to check I really was getting the Zero card. Yes I am. £8100 limit. Really was not expecting that much... they will let me BT right up to that limit with 0% fee and 0% interest (6 months).

The limit compares well with my last application - Post Office Credit Card (also 0% on foreign purchases) where I only got £3800.

Leaving the UK again on Friday. Think it will be my last blast on Nationwide Visa.

That's interesting about Abbey still doing the Zero card, but I will probably stick with doing USD transfers to local currency, as you say it will probably end soon and I tend not to use Credit Cards in SE Asia because of the tampering with the Chip & Pin machines that some shops have here. I had one card cloned and £6,500 worth of transactions made in 24 hours on a visit here some few years ago.

Nationwide Debit card was great and I will still keep it for some transactions, charges are still lower than the 2.75% most other banks hit you for.

It's okay lawman, I just changed up $38,000 and we used a local guy who runs a pharmacy, he is well known by my wife's family for 11 years and we get preferential rates over other tourists and locals. He even delivers currency to our house to help with the safety factor, not good to be seen with loadsa money in a poorish area.

It would be different in a country I don't know but it pays to do your homework before travelling or ask opinions of a few people where one is visiting

Cheers

ATM

"Abbey withdrew their Zero card applications"

I applied online about 10 days ago. All the links via their home page had disappeared, but I found a working link after googling around. I got a "conditional acceptance" by post which I signed and returned, and received the PIN number this morning. That letter is also branded "Zero".

I can't remember the link, and it took a while to find. On arrival I had to accept some dire warning from firefox about an out-of-date security certificate or some such.

Although this card has been "de-promoted", it might still be possible to get them. Maybe some branches still have some application forms tucked away?

I suppose it's only a matter of time before Abbey Zero and the Post Office card follow suit.

"It is good to have US Dollars here and convert to local currency on the black market, I actually just changed up 6 months money for living expenses and got a better rate than the FX spot rate on my currency site."

I'm not sure where in Asia you are, but this is sometimes true in Vietnam where I lived for a while. It is especially true around lunar new year or currency volatility. Other times the difference is marginal. BUT, I would never recommend a tourist gets involved in this, except through a trusted local. There is a real risk of fake notes and other scams which soon blows away the saving.

Thanks but I already have Sterling and US Dollar accounts with Citibank and use that when travelling to the States, safer than carrying a wallet full of wonga about and good rates but I now spend 8 months in Asia and the rest in US. It is good to have US Dollars here and convert to local currency on the black market, I actually just changed up 6 months money for living expenses and got a better rate than the FX spot rate on my currency site.

It looks like I will have to do that size transaction once a year and just use USD, the only reason I didn't use that way before is because there is only a very small government guarantee if the banks fail, and the smaller banks tend to go t*** up quite a lot here. Cash under the mattress then......

Citi Bank's debit card when linked to a Euro account is free for cash withdrawals.....

There is/was a link on the Egg site offering the first €50 free if you opened an account via the link......

It has been posted many times (including by myself) on here about Nationwide not charging a fee if you use their debit card for purchases or for ATM withdrawals in other countries. This also applied to purchases made on their credit card abroad.

Unfortunately, I just noticed on another site that they will start passing on the Visa part of the fee for transactions made in countries outside of Europe from 1st June for Debit cards and a few weeks earlier for credit cards. The fee will be 0.84% at the start and will rise to 1% from July.

Most cards charge a 2.75% FX fee on purchases and a further charge on ATM withdrawals so Nationwide still seem better than most. Abbey withdrew their Zero card applications also so there is only the Post Office Credit Card now who don't charge fees for foreign purchases (not sure how good their currency rates are)

Has anybody heard if Liverpool Victoria still do a fee-free credit card for use abroad or better still any current accounts with fee-free debit cards? I don't fancy paying fees 11 months a year......