Clarity Credit Card

robj20 · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:15

sigma said:
Max ATM cash withdrawal every day? That's a lot kd drugs to be purchasing!

Bring worried about using a card but happy to carry large wads of cash seems illogical. Especially considering a credit card is prortected and also with contactless you don't even need to type in a pin.

You don't carry the cash around the while time you take maybe £100 each day out.
Card worries are more it not working, then your stuck with zero money.

Plus drawing max out at the ATM because there might be a fee to use the ATM.
Though I don't think there will be looking on Google maps there is a HSBC Bank there so should be free and safe.

Thecaferacer · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:17

Just checked and you are correct, a recent law change prevented companies doing that

robj20 · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:25

Looks like the card isn't as good as taking cash.

Card 100lira=£14.20
Exchange over there today 100lira= £14.08

Not sure what to do now.

Thecaferacer · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:32

It's literally going to cost you 85p for £100 to use a card over cash. With the convenience and safety of a card it's a no brainer in my mind.

sigma · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:46

robj20 said:
You don't carry the cash around the while time you take maybe £100 each day out.
Card worries are more it not working, then your stuck with zero money.

Plus drawing max out at the ATM because there might be a fee to use the ATM.
Though I don't think there will be looking on Google maps there is a HSBC Bank there so should be free and safe.

Well it makes sense to take some cash for sure but if you inform the bank of you travels then why wouldn’t it work? If it doesn’t work then all you need to do is call the bank. Do you only use cash in the UK?

dirtychinchilla · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:48

Draw it out of the ATM. In Poland I withdrew the equivalent of £100, and the ATM charged me £101. Superb.

Participant · 7 Mar 2019 at 10:57

robj20 said:
Exchange over there today 100lira= £14.08

And you can achieve that rate by exchanging cash? Where?

robj20 · 7 Mar 2019 at 11:05

Participant said:
And you can achieve that rate by exchanging cash? Where?

http://monexcyprus.com
7.100

touch · 7 Mar 2019 at 11:16

robj20 said:
Looks like the card isn't as good as taking cash.

Card 100lira=£14.20
Exchange over there today 100lira= £14.08

Not sure what to do now.

Have you got an up-to-date rate on the card?
Things have changed quite a bit today:

robj20 · 7 Mar 2019 at 11:18

touch said:
Have you got an up-to-date rate on the card?
That's the same rate you quoted yesterday and things have changed quite a bit today:

It's what the Mastercard website tells me. I have noticed it's a day behind though, I will have to see tomorrow if it beats the 7.1 of the exchange today.

touch · 7 Mar 2019 at 11:22

robj20 said:
It's what the Mastercard website tells me. I have noticed it's a day behind though, I will have to see tomorrow if it beats the 7.1 of the exchange today.

Well, if their rate from yesterday was 7.044, I would guess from the graph that todays rate would be around 7.125

malachi · 7 Mar 2019 at 11:23

Take out cash at the start when you get there and pay for everything else on the card when you need.

Makes life easier for you.

robj20 · 7 Mar 2019 at 11:25

touch said:
Well, if their rate from yesterday was 7.044, I would guess from the graph that todays rate would be around 7.125

I will let you know tomorrow when I can check.
https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html

jrodga2k5 · 7 Mar 2019 at 21:24

Cashwithdrawls if you need to will be charged immediately at the APR...pretty sure mines works out at around 1.44% or something like that.

Usually however the exchange rate offered plus the % of APR works out better than the best rate I can get before I go anyway. My tip would be to withdraw the largest amount you can/require especially if the ATM's abroad will be charging their own fees.

Other than that use it for everything else, always select the local currency, pay it off when back.

Martynt74 · 7 Mar 2019 at 21:37

Yeah. Choosing the local currency is the thing to be careful of.

I made a bit of a balls up last week. In the past I’ve always withdrawn cash using my clarity and paid it off straight away. However this time I’m waiting on some money coming in ready for the next statement date.

Problem is the cash incurs interest daily and I’m not debating pulling cash from elsewhere to cover it.

Really should’ve paid using card and just used minimal cash when needed. Need to remember that for future.

ScoTTyBEEE · 7 Mar 2019 at 22:08

Marvt74 said:
Yeah. Choosing the local currency is the thing to be careful of.

I made a bit of a balls up last week. In the past I’ve always withdrawn cash using my clarity and paid it off straight away. However this time I’m waiting on some money coming in ready for the next statement date.

Problem is the cash incurs interest daily and I’m not debating pulling cash from elsewhere to cover it.

Really should’ve paid using card and just used minimal cash when needed. Need to remember that for future.

It’s pence, it’s not even worth worrying about.

Martynt74 · 7 Mar 2019 at 22:34

Good point. It’s easy to forget that it’ll only work out around a tenner or so for the month.

ScoTTyBEEE · 7 Mar 2019 at 22:42

Marvt74 said:
Good point. It’s easy to forget that it’ll only work out around a tenner or so for the month.

You’d have to withdraw £1000 odd right at the beginning of the month for it to be even that.

Martynt74 · 7 Mar 2019 at 22:45

Well my balance is around £1400 as I said I paid for everything in cash out of habit and it’s gonna be about a month till it’s paid off.

Not sure why I do it abroad since I use very little cash here.

Jean-F · 7 Mar 2019 at 23:08

PapaLazaru said:
I use it for everything in local currency and pay it off as soon as I get back.

As do I, best card I’ve ever had for use abroad, I used to use a Santander Debit Card, but the exchange rate they used was marginally worse than Halifax, sure, it was only nickels and dimes, but I figured that it was better when the nickels and dimes were in my favour, than in Santander’s.