Travellers rejoice - the Supercard is here.

Peerzy · 12 Mar 2015 at 13:57

slinxy said:
Call me stupid... but what's wrong with using a standard cash card or credit card? I always have in the past, it seems to give me the best rates even after the fees..

Some cards do, some cards are awful and load the exchange rate or add fees.

Not everybody has access to the best cards (Halifax Clarity, Nationwide Select).

Try using your standard HSBC or Natwest debit card abroad and work out how much you've been charged (either fees or rate loading).

slinxy · 12 Mar 2015 at 14:13

Thanks.. I've just been reading up on it.
I normally take a standard cash card for taking cash out on ATMs and a credit card for high end purchases, I'm not sure allows me to register two types of cards and smart enough to decide which card to make the transaction on.

Glaucus · 12 Mar 2015 at 14:17

slinxy said:
Thanks.. I've just been reading up on it.
I normally take a standard cash card for taking cash out on ATMs and a credit card for high end purchases, I'm not sure allows me to register two types of cards and smart enough to decide which card to make the transaction on.

You will almost certainly be wasting lots of money on high fees.
You can register upto 5 cards.
At the moment it doesn't say how you tell it which card to use.
But it's almost certain you select where you want it to take it from in the app, I can't see any other way you could do it. Which will be ios and android.

[TW]Fox · 12 Mar 2015 at 17:13

slinxy said:
Call me stupid... but what's wrong with using a standard cash card or credit card? I always have in the past, it seems to give me the best rates even after the fees..

The issue is 'the fees'.

There are products with no fee's so why on earth would you pick a product with fees for overseas use?

gobbo · 12 Mar 2015 at 18:18

So if this has no fees it might be worth looking at

However I already have Nationwide Select for purchases and Nationwide FlexPlus for ATM, might be worth as an emergency card still

chanjy · 12 Mar 2015 at 18:21

Already got Halifax Clarity, so not much point in me signing up? Does look to be a good deal though

Trifid · 12 Mar 2015 at 18:27

PooKer said:
I feel even if I had this I'd still need some cash. Last thing you want is to be paying then it say "sorry sir its been rejected". Even worse is they'll say that in Swedish. As banks do like to block suspicious activity.

You can tell the bank you're going abroad before hand, Nationwide have a section online to notify them. They also have fee free visa rate cash withdrawals with their debit card and fee free purchases at Visa rate on their credit card. For this reason I've stopped taking cash abroad before hand.

HangTime · 12 Mar 2015 at 22:02

Doesn't always work; when we went on honeymoon my wife told her bank where we were going to make sure we wouldn't have any problems and her card still got blocked after using it at an ATM in Australia. What made it worse was she also got called on her mobile which meant having to pay about a tenner for the privilege (due to exorbitant roaming charges at the time).

wez130 · 12 Mar 2015 at 22:02

The other option i was looking at was the FairFX card for when i need multi currency at the end of the year. Would i be be best with this card or the FairFX card?

FAIRFX Anywhere Currency Card

Use your card anywhere in the world in any currency!

Load Sterling onto your card and your funds will be converted at the point of purchase to the local currency with only a 1.4% transaction fee

Glaucus · 12 Mar 2015 at 22:05

HangTime said:
Doesn't always work; when we went on honeymoon my wife told her bank where we were going to make sure we wouldn't have any problems and her card still got blocked after using it at an ATM in Australia. What made it worse was she also got called on her mobile which meant having to pay about a tenner for the privilege (due to exorbitant roaming charges at the time).

The good thing with this, is that you can link 5 cards to it, so if one stops working, then you switch to the other. And it might nit trigger anything like that anyway as they will all show up as uk transactions to avoid fees anyway.

It sounds perfect, I hope I'm selected.

wez130 said:
The other option i was looking at was the FairFX card for when i need multi currency at the end of the year. Would i be be best with this card or the FairFX card?

One in the op, fairFX charge you lots if fees. "International ATM Transaction Fee €1.50 for the Euro card and $2.00 for the US Dollar card and £1 for the £ Anywhere Card (some ATMs may apply an additional surcharge) "

The exchange rate is probably worse than visas, but as they don't compare it to that, it's hard to work out.

In the OP you dint need to pre load, and simply link upto 5 cards.

However it's a limited roll out, so no guarantee any off us will be selected.

haaammit · 12 Mar 2015 at 22:26

Looked at title and got angry because travellers can rejoice. ****ing ****** -_-

Please fully star out all swearing in future and be careful about your use of offensive terms. Thank you.

PooKer · 12 Mar 2015 at 22:35

Trifid said:
You can tell the bank you're going abroad before hand, Nationwide have a section online to notify them. They also have fee free visa rate cash withdrawals with their debit card and fee free purchases at Visa rate on their credit card. For this reason I've stopped taking cash abroad before hand.

You can do that online for Natwest but I only do that as a back up. In theory this card would be the best of both worlds as its never worth converting foreign money back when you get home as the rate always favours the banks/exchanges.

McBain · 12 Mar 2015 at 23:52

Looks good, thanks for the heads up.

Cosimo · 13 May 2015 at 08:24

Just got an email saying that they are available but "We are experiencing significant demand at present. Please check back later".

rossk26 · 13 May 2015 at 09:15

Looks good, but can't see much of a benefit over clarity card? Also suspect there may be a few issues initially with certain shops accepting this card with it being new? Is it Visa or Mastercard?

wez130 · 13 May 2015 at 15:14

I downloaded the app and tried registering on it and it keeps freezing.

Ross, It's accepted anywhere that accepts visa

Edit, just as i typed that, i got this..

[TW]Fox · 13 May 2015 at 15:18

rossk26 said:
Looks good, but can't see much of a benefit over clarity card? Also suspect there may be a few issues initially with certain shops accepting this card with it being new? Is it Visa or Mastercard?

The benefit over the clarity is very slight but does exist:

A) available if you have poor credit
b) on average 1% cheaper for cash withdrawal as Clarity charges interest on cash.

I will use my Clarity for spending and the supercard for the tiny amount of cash I may need.

Redgie · 13 May 2015 at 15:21

I'd say one of the biggest benefits is the rewards. If I use my Clarity, I get no reward. If I use a cashback card with this thing, I get cashback.

Will await feedback from users before I go switching though

[TW]Fox · 13 May 2015 at 15:26

I wonder if cash withdrawals linked to a credit card get treated as cash advances by the original card company?

thewanted · 13 May 2015 at 15:32

[TW]Fox;28034254 said:
I wonder if cash withdrawals linked to a credit card get treated as cash advances by the original card company?

The email I received from MoneySavingExpert.com this morning suggests not:

On your debit or credit card statement, this just counts as UK spending even if you take out cash abroad.