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The £754 million cost of cards abroad
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For those heading overseas it can make sense to shop around when it comes to spending money
Using a debit or credit card abroad can seem the most convenient and safest option – after all, who wants to walk around with wads of foreign currency on them?
But uSwitch.com, the online comparison service, says banks will be raking it in in fees and charges from the transactions and withdrawals we make abroad – to the tune of £754 million, it predicts, in 2009.
Louise Bond, personal finance manager at uSwitch.com said: "Any consumer who holds a debit or credit card should research foreign usage charges thoroughly before they leave so they can make informed decisions about how best to manage their holiday expenditure."
Banks levy a range of different fees and charges when using cards abroad - and they are rarely the cheapest option.
Security advantage
One alternative is to get a prepaid card instead. These are essentially pay-as-you-go debit cards. You simply load the card up with the required amount of money then use it in shops and restaurants, or to withdraw money from a cash machine as you would with a normal debit or credit card.
There are two advantages to using a prepaid card. The first is security. These cards are pin-protected so if you lose them they can be cancelled.
More importantly you can load only a limited amount of money onto the card, so if it’s lost or stolen and not cancelled you only lose what’s on the card. With a debit or credit card, any thief or fraudster can potentially access your bank details and rack up far larger debts.
These second advantage is cost. In some – though not all – cases, these cards can work out far cheaper than many conventional credit or debit cards.
