Post by artisans on Feb 3, 2009 10:31:44 GMT 2
Looking at the web site whatprice.co.uk, I found the following advice:
Watch out when using your credit card abroad
Going on holiday or business to Spain, France or Italy this year? Then watch out for a new ploy to overcharge your credit or debit card.
Many restaurateurs and retailers in these countries now have the facility to get you to authorise your bill in euros but then they recharge your card in sterling. That sounds innocent but there's a sting in the tail. The retailers charge you an additional service fee of up to 4%! The system is called dynamic currency conversion (DCC).
Beware of extra credit and debit card fees whilst abroad.
DCC guidelines from Visa say that UK cardholders should be offered the option to either have their card charged in euros or to have the transaction changed into sterling before it goes through. It seems that in practice, few of us are being offered the alternative. Many retailers are charging us in sterling automatically - and with the extra 4% fee!
The language barrier might explain the lack of explanation but we are a little more cynical! Even where permission is sought, we doubt whether many restaurateurs or retailers will clearly spell out the additional service fee. After all it's an opportunity to make a bit more profit!
I feel that this consideration highlights one of the differences between Spain & Greece. Resorts in Spain have long since become the domain of international companies and investors, whereas as in Greece, the plethora of small island villages like Roda means that you are still dealing with the owners and their families. This is bound to reduce the incidence of such practices because they have a vested interest in bringing you back. That is exactly why Roda has been so popular - trustworthy people who welcome you as friends.
When abroad in Euro-land have credit and debit card transactions done in Euros...
Our advice is that when abroad in euro-land always ensure that your transaction is processed in euros. That's because some UK card operators such as Nationwide, Saga and Lombard Direct will convert euros to sterling at no charge. Others, such as cards from our high street banks, will charge 2.75% as a foreign currency loading fee - but even that's less than the retailers' 4% DCC.
In fact even with a 2.75% foreign currency loading fee, it'll still be cheaper to use your credit card rather than converting sterling to euros before leaving the UK or converting it abroad at the bureau de change. That's because the exchange rates applied by Visa and Mastercard are often much better than you'd get for your cash and travellers cheques whilst abroad. And please don't be fooled by the commission free advertising outside the bureau de change. They might not charges commission but their currency rates are never cheap - after all, how else do they make a crust?
There is another interesting revelation on this site and that is that 1 in 3 cardholders use the same pin number for all their cards. With so many cards in our pockets these days, it is a tempting prospect, but if some fraudster watches you entering your pin and later steals your wallet, he or she has access to all of your cards. The advice is twofold: be particularly careful when entering your pin numbers anywhere - not only abroad. Secondly, don't use the same pin number for all your cards. Work some way of remembering them. For example, use the first, second, third and fourth digits from each of the number clusters on that card or some combination like that. Or if you have a better memory than me, memorise a pin for each card!
I particularly like the idea of remembering one four-digit number and then applying that to the number clusters on each card. This ensures that every card has a different pin and even new or additional cards pose no problem. Finally, in my opinion, for holiday money abroad the Nationwide Flex-account still seems to be the best all-round option.
Watch out when using your credit card abroad
Going on holiday or business to Spain, France or Italy this year? Then watch out for a new ploy to overcharge your credit or debit card.
Many restaurateurs and retailers in these countries now have the facility to get you to authorise your bill in euros but then they recharge your card in sterling. That sounds innocent but there's a sting in the tail. The retailers charge you an additional service fee of up to 4%! The system is called dynamic currency conversion (DCC).
Beware of extra credit and debit card fees whilst abroad.
DCC guidelines from Visa say that UK cardholders should be offered the option to either have their card charged in euros or to have the transaction changed into sterling before it goes through. It seems that in practice, few of us are being offered the alternative. Many retailers are charging us in sterling automatically - and with the extra 4% fee!
The language barrier might explain the lack of explanation but we are a little more cynical! Even where permission is sought, we doubt whether many restaurateurs or retailers will clearly spell out the additional service fee. After all it's an opportunity to make a bit more profit!
I feel that this consideration highlights one of the differences between Spain & Greece. Resorts in Spain have long since become the domain of international companies and investors, whereas as in Greece, the plethora of small island villages like Roda means that you are still dealing with the owners and their families. This is bound to reduce the incidence of such practices because they have a vested interest in bringing you back. That is exactly why Roda has been so popular - trustworthy people who welcome you as friends.
When abroad in Euro-land have credit and debit card transactions done in Euros...
Our advice is that when abroad in euro-land always ensure that your transaction is processed in euros. That's because some UK card operators such as Nationwide, Saga and Lombard Direct will convert euros to sterling at no charge. Others, such as cards from our high street banks, will charge 2.75% as a foreign currency loading fee - but even that's less than the retailers' 4% DCC.
In fact even with a 2.75% foreign currency loading fee, it'll still be cheaper to use your credit card rather than converting sterling to euros before leaving the UK or converting it abroad at the bureau de change. That's because the exchange rates applied by Visa and Mastercard are often much better than you'd get for your cash and travellers cheques whilst abroad. And please don't be fooled by the commission free advertising outside the bureau de change. They might not charges commission but their currency rates are never cheap - after all, how else do they make a crust?
There is another interesting revelation on this site and that is that 1 in 3 cardholders use the same pin number for all their cards. With so many cards in our pockets these days, it is a tempting prospect, but if some fraudster watches you entering your pin and later steals your wallet, he or she has access to all of your cards. The advice is twofold: be particularly careful when entering your pin numbers anywhere - not only abroad. Secondly, don't use the same pin number for all your cards. Work some way of remembering them. For example, use the first, second, third and fourth digits from each of the number clusters on that card or some combination like that. Or if you have a better memory than me, memorise a pin for each card!
I particularly like the idea of remembering one four-digit number and then applying that to the number clusters on each card. This ensures that every card has a different pin and even new or additional cards pose no problem. Finally, in my opinion, for holiday money abroad the Nationwide Flex-account still seems to be the best all-round option.