Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Information and Services in Turkey Section => Banks, Interest, Money Transfers, Insurance => Topic started by: charlste on May 22, 2012, 08:01:42 AM
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Has anybody been charged a small fee for withdrawing sterling from hsbc cash machine.
I have an escape prepaid travel card which states free withdrawels from foreign atms.
I withdrew some money and was charged a small fee.Escape said it must be hsbc that have levied a small charge.I have used other cards with them and wasnt charged.
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I think your bank levy a charge for using another bank's machine. I may add that the removal of the HSBC machine at the PTT is a bit of an inconvenience, although I see that Western Union have installed a cash machine at the PTT. Also the HSBC bank near paspteur has not been paying out in Sterling recently, wonder why? It can't be because of a shortage of notes.
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The Escape terms and conditions say this:
'*Some ATMs charge a fee. This is regardless of the type of card used whether it be credit, debit or prepaid. If the ATM is going to charge you a fee, it is required to inform you beforehand. It may worth shopping round for an ATM that is free to use.'
Looked at travel cards recently but never taken the plunge. Might consider one for our trip to Calis later this year.
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Nationwide Card - No fee for Sterling withdrawals overseas.
LloydsTSB - Charge for any overseas withdrawals GBP or not and includes flat fee and %
Applies HSBC or any other ATM that dispenses GBP
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Nichola, is your information for Nationwide on their official website[? Up until November 2010 with Nationwide it was free to withdraw sterling abroad but since then they charge a percentage plus £1 withdrawal fee - resulting in a charge of approximately £8 for £300 withdrawal.
Would be delighted if things have changed!!
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Marggie, no charge if you have nationwide flex card for drawing sterling, i use the hsbc next to sekur bank in fethiye.
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quote:
Originally posted by Marggie
Nichola, is your information for Nationwide on their official website[? Up until November 2010 with Nationwide it was free to withdraw sterling abroad but since then they charge a percentage plus £1 withdrawal fee - resulting in a charge of approximately £8 for £300 withdrawal.
Would be delighted if things have changed!!
Nationwide have never charged for overseas withdrawals if the transaction is in GBP, which here in Fethiye is an option available to us at HBBC and a couple of other ATM's :)
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I have used hsbc before and never been charged.Can anybody tell me then which atms are free for sterling.
I still think the escape travel card is a bit of a con.they sent me an email last week to say once the merchant had settled the transaction the withdrawel fee would be credited back to my account.today they are saying it is hsbc that have levied the charge.
I think they probably dont expect people to be withdrawing sterling abroad.
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quote:
Originally posted by charlste
today they are saying it is hsbc that have levied the charge.
I think they probably dont expect people to be withdrawing sterling abroad.
It's more likely that they don't expect people to query the charge.
Cynical ? Me ? ;)
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Thanks Des & Nichola.
Marggie
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Nicola, I know the HSBC cash machine and also the one at TEB near the otogar give sterling, are there any others in Fethiye area?
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Technically Marggie is correct as Nationwide has the right to charge for sterling withdrawals abroad. The charge is not applied because being able to withdraw in sterling is quite rare and does not happen in most countries. The charges just get lost in the whole scheme of things. If sterling withdrawals was a wide spread activity and the incurred costs became a large figure I am sure that the costs would be passed on.
So count yourselves lucky.
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Technically Marggie is not correct (sorry Marggie).
Of course any bank can charge what it likes OPO but actually the information on the Nationwide web site was widely miss interpreted by everyone but it would seem, me! ;)
If you read their web information carefully you can see and it was always quite clear to me that when Nationwide stated on its web site that there would be no charge for withdrawals for GBP that is what it meant.
There were about 100 topics on this subject where everyone widely speculated and assumed there would be charges and there have continued to be posts with people confidently declaring they were now charging.
They didn't and still don't - for that we are indeed very glad :D
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Nationwide Flex Accounts: all sterling withdrawls from any HSBC and Garanti Bank are free of any charges have been using since last November when they abolished there free foreign currency withdrawls.
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Nichola, considering I worked for Nationwide for 30 years and 8 years managing the audit of the treasury function where these transactions get settled that I actually do know what is current policy.I can assure that NBS does pay charges to other banks for these sterling withdrawals and some charges are hefty.At present these fees are not passed on but Nationwide has the right to pass them on.My advice would be to everyone is to basically forget it and to remember the old saying about sleeping dogs.
Nichola, I would suggest that you read all the terms and conditions or in other words the small print.At any time NBS has the right to pass those fees on without having to formlly notify account holders because it is in the small print.
Also I would point out to you that banks are not allowed to charge what they like. If a customer feels that they have been charged excessive fees then they have the right to appeal to the Ombudsman. There have been many cases where appeals have been made and the Ombudsman has found in favour of the customer.
Due to the current level of interest rates and the resulting tight margins every financial institution are looking at ways of increasing income.Things may even get tougher if the BOE cuts interest rates as suggested by IMF. In the current climate we arenot far away from returning to the old days when you paid for the privelge of having a current account.
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I was under the impression we had got onto discussing if you are charged by the NBS (Nationwide) for withdrawing GBP here in this area where some banks do dispense GBP.
So I am not sure what your point is OPO?
I recall that Fi contacted the NBS (Nationwide) and this is what she reported and I am guessing this was in writing.
"Nationwide's reply to withdrawing Sterling abroad.
I confirm the charges will apply as the transactions would be completed abroad.
So we can't use that loophole to save the charges..."
Obviously working at the NBS does not necessarily qualify one to know what the current policy is.
And, if the NBS change their policy and start charging for overseas withdrawals in GBP I am sure it won't be because a handful of people are discussing it on this forum.
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{A Link to an old CBF topic was here - no longer available}36821&whichpage=5&SearchTerms=Nationwide
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Nichola, my point is and I will pu it as simple as I can for you is that when you take cash out of a HSBC, TEB or any other bank in Turkey they make a charge for that transaction. These banks do not do it for nothing. This charges are included in the settlement amounts that Nationwide makes. So your £100 withdrawal will also include a TEB bank charge. Nationwide currently absorbs that charge. Ithas the right to pass that charge onto you the account holder. I hope that is simple enough for you.
I do take exception when you insult me by questioning whether I know what NBS policy is. All i can say is I am in a much better position than you are to comment on it. I have told what the policy is that NBS has the right to pass bank charges on but has decided for the time being not to.
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And please let me put this simply for you OPO. I believe we were talking about what actually happens in real life not whether or not they have "the right" to make charges and nor about whether or not the Nationwide pays charges to other banks for these transactions.
The point in question which I was directly asked by Marggie is if this information is on their web site and relates to, does the Nationwide make charges to Flex account card holders for withdrawing in GBP overseas.
And the answer to this question is no, it does not.
Taken from the Nationwide Web Site
"We will introduce a commission charge and a cash withdrawal charge for transactions in currencies other than Sterling".
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quote:
Originally posted by LeeGlo
Nicola, I know the HSBC cash machine and also the one at TEB near the otogar give sterling, are there any others in Fethiye area?
LeeGlo I only ever use HSBC at their ATM in Fethiye so I am sorry but I don't know about other bank ATM's in the area. Others will I am sure. :)
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It seems Nichola you seem to be wearing blinkers and struggle to understand what the policy is. In real life NBS has the right to charge but does do not so.
To clear all of this confusion up I will raise this issue with senior management
I think what all of you living in Turkey should also understand is that you should not have a flexaccount. The conditions include you should be resident in the UK.
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Just a wind up, I will not raise it with senior management because if I did they would probably decide to pass the charges on.Because of the amount involved it just might be that someone has not cottoned on to it.It is very unusual to be able to draw sterling out of ATMs abroad. I have been to a number of countries and have never seen it except in Turkey and that is why it slips under the radar.
Please just leave things as they are. Making any representations to NBS could finish up biting you in the pocket.
If you live in Turkey you have an account that you should not have and free sterling withdrawals.
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There is no confusion! No one but you it seems cares what goes on behind the scenes. Do we get charged - no we do not, YET!
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Nichola if that is the way you want to play it I will raise it. Then you may care about what goes on behind the scenes.I have given you the reasons why it is not an issue at the moment.
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We can play bat and ball on this all night I am afraid especially as no one else is online.
But I am afraid you are completely missing my point in your determination to pursue the topic of behind the scene charges that you first introduced to the topic and which I believe no one actually cares about.
I restate my point which is about what I was asked - Do we currently get charged by the Nationwide for withdrawing Sterling overseas. Answer - No we don't!
I will leave it for others to comment on your intentions which are nothing to do with me or what I think and will be entirely down to you.
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I for one dont care what the policy behind the scene is at the moment. I am just grateful i do not get charged by Nationwide for withdrawing in GBP from any bank out here. Long may it be so. If they do decide to charge later on I will accept it.
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If ALL banks make a charge for drawing money from each others machines, surely at the end of the day, by the time HSBC adds up the withdrawals from other bank cards and TEB add theirs up and Nationwide add theirs up etc etc etc, then check the difference to see who owes who what, it's probable not cost effective to charge anyway. You know how much accountants cost!!!!
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You would think most people would look at it like that Quackers,but obviously one person does,nt. dont waste your time Nichola, some people just love to argue,(small minds) ;)
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All I am trying to say is that these withdrawals should be subject to charges. What you have is a system glitch and NBS are not aware of it. I know for a fact that they are not aware of the strange situation you have in Turkey on being able to withdraw sterling from ATMS. I am not arguing that they are charging fees as I have used the account in Turkey.The global banks such as HSBC are well aware of it but NBS is just UK based.
What I want to make you aware of is that if it is discovered then they will apply fees and as a last resort close any accounts with foreign addresses.
Baz, one of the big prooblems for Nationwide is that 3m people who have flexaccounts do not use it as their main bank account and use it as a convenience account for things like holidays.This is the main reason why fee charging was introduced. So running these accounts is an expensive business. What you say about netting off fees is not far off how it actually works. The problem is that in the case of Turkish banks the fees tend to be one way as we do not get many people withdrawing from TEB or Garanti in the UK.The reason why the non sterling fees have not been identified is that in the whole scheme of things the amounts are small. To pass these feeson would be cost effective as it would just require a minor system change.
Des if I was as small minded as you think I am I could have raised this issue a long time ago. As I said above it is a system glitch that would not require a great deal of effort to change it.
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Discussion seems to have really livened up on this topic! We have been out all day and had a few vodis so now is not the time to get into discussion. Will log in tomorrow when the brain is clear!:D:D:D:D
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Oh Dear.... it looks like Mrs Nationwide is not happy . Charges ! No Charges ! what does it matter. If it's free let's leave it at that and not rewrite the terms and conditions .
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Jeez give the guy a break - he has 30 years experience of working with the bank you are all discussing and gave you the benefit of his involvement. I don't see any small mindedness or spouting of rules - I'm sure he couldn't care less if you like or don't like his information - but I guarantee he is right ;)
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I messaged Nationwide head office and got this message back about drawing currency.
Dear Member,
Thank you for your message.
If you withdraw the funds opting for the local currency then you will get the 2% charge and the £1 withdrawal fee, however if you opt for the sterling then you will not get charged but the exchange rate is lower.
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So if you withdraw sterling from a sterling account there is no exchange rate to work out,100 pounds is 100 pounds.
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quote:
Originally posted by Daffodil
So if you withdraw sterling from a sterling account there is no exchange rate
No, there is no charge...
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yes but there could be,?
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quote:
Originally posted by Jacqui Harvey
I messaged Nationwide head office and got this message back about drawing currency.
Dear Member,
Thank you for your message.
If you withdraw the funds opting for the local currency then you will get the 2% charge and the £1 withdrawal fee, however if you opt for the sterling then you will not get charged but the exchange rate is lower.
I think what is meant by the exchange rate being lower is that when you take your £100 to an exchange you will receive a lower exchange rate than that being offered for withdrawing lira at the ATM where you would receive the wholesale rate of exchange. However then the withdrawal fee and percentage charge comes into play.
When next in town I will check the rate being offered by the exchanges and make a comparison between that and the wholesale rate taking into account the charges.
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(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t301/KayaKoyuWalker/rjo0471l.jpg)
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There is no charge and no exchange rate when you are dealing in sterling taken from a sterling account. If you are taking 100 pounds in ten pound notes out of an ATM in Turkey it is the same as taking 100 pound in ten pound notes as in Britain. Then you spend it and that is when the exchange rate comes into action.
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Meanwhile back at my original posting i have had a reply back from escape prepaid travel card.
it seems it was them now that charged the fee not hsbc who they tried to pin the blame on.
They have said that on this occassion they will give me back the charge but not to draw sterling again.
bit of a con really because they guarantee no charge abroad on atm withdrawals.
When you therefore draw lira they exchange it at a lower rate.hence that is how they make their money.
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we have defo found that Jacqui.we always draw out in tl and on checking our bank statement we have had a higher exchange rate, did a rough calculation and the difference in what you save withdrawing in sterling and not accruing the charge is pennies.
I am curious to know who is Mrs Nationwide[?]
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Still dying to know who is Mrs Nationwide[?]hope that comment was not directed at our lovely Nichola who just stands up for what she believes in in life :)
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I don't mind if I am Mrs Nationwide Karennina :)
I think the NBS is great, I love the fact it is still a mutual Building Society and we voted and won to retain its mutual status against those that seek profit over people, much to the annoyance of those who didn't in the hope of making a quick buck. It is the reason I was a member in the first place long before the Flex account and free overseas withdrawals in GBP was an issue in my life.
I am sure they are more than well aware of what they deduct in charges from our accounts and what they could and don't. Long may it continue.