Nationwide ....... Again

[nichola]

I am sure it will.

It says the 2% is for foreign currencies transactions and we can draw GBP which is not a foreign currency from any HSBC ATM in Fethiye area.

In Istanbul for example you can only draw money as Euros, USD as well as TL so that would incurr a 2% charge. Plus the £1

We are fortunate to be able to draw in GBP here so the damage should be minimal.

[Gorgeous_bird]

Watch the money saving expert website for updates he loves the Nationwide flex card. He will certainly offer advice on the best option for us.

[tribalelder]

GB..... He has already blogged it and is saying if you don't meet the criteria ....Ditch it!  However his blog is a bit ambiguous.  "It will introduce a new 2% load for Euro currency and double its load for world wide currency from 1% to 2%"
So in effect it is the same.
We have sterling so obviously don't fit into the Euro box but are we world wide?
We are sterling you may say but if we are not Euro or w.w where does it fit in?

[Colwyn]

TE it isn't the "home" country that counts as Europe (or world-wide if you are outside the area); it is the "foreign" country where you are spending. Turkey is a member of the European Visa club (as is Israel).

KK I have been offered several free travel insurance packages. Two problems I experienced were they would not cover extended stays away (say over 45 days) nor will they cover any existing medical conditions. Both of these mean they are no use to me. Given the number of these free offers that are promoted now I have to assume that they are a very cheap option for the banks and insurance companies that are pushing them so enthusiastically. So how good is the service going to be?

OP I agree that the problem of what to do about this is that other banks are, nearly always, even more expensive. I have come across one Halifax card that says it doesn't charge anywhere abroad but haven't researched it yet. So I go along with GB and will hope that MoneySavingExpert comes up with some practical advice.

[Old Daffodil]

Will the insurance apply to British people living abroad or will you need to live in Britain to qualify for cover?

[Colwyn]

Nationwide marketing director Chris Rhodes, acting as spokesperson for the changes, has really annoyed me with his pontifications on the issue. He says:

"Of the 1.4 million customers who use the card abroad, two-thirds do not pay their salary or pension into the account".

But you had no rule  to say that they should. And now you are not actually proposing that the benefits will be available to those who pay in their salary. You are removing them entirely (you say - perhaps you may change your mind).

"There is no doubt customers cherry-picked FlexAccount for its attractive overseas terms ... They had more than their fair share of rewards for being with the society".

Now I really like this. A director of a High Street bank (let's not take all this "Society" talk too seriously) lectures me on moral philosophy; as if a banker is a leading expert on fairness. Bit rich that isn't it.

It seems a rather strange business decision to me to alienate 1.4 million of your customers by taking away one of the prime benefits of holding a FlexAccount - and the reason why many of us joined Nationwide in the first place. This is especially so since, according to Rhodes, the average cost of the service for customers taking their card overseas is £12 - hardly saving Nationwide a fortune (that looks odd to me but that is what he says). But in the realm of making strange business decisions I do accept that bankers are experts.

Quotes from Guardian.

P.S. Last year the executive directors of Nationwide recived a remuneration increase (salary, bonuses, pension benefits) of 25%. So they are certainly getting their share of rewards. Fair? You judge.

[Gorgeous_bird]

I am a bit gutted as I do get my pay paid into the flex account and now they are removing the benefit so for me the answer is simple. I will withdraw the money from my account beofre the holiday and change it as and when I need to - A little innvenient but never mind.

[milliemars]

My husband has his pension paid into Nationwide,they also make him wait if his pension is due on 1st of the month and it falls on a weekend or BH he gets it the first working day after,we accepted this because we live here and were not paying any commission on ATM,s maybe time to look around,considering a couple of times he has waited until 4th to draw on his pension,justhink of the interest they are earning,if this happens to all their customers.

[amca]

As well as grieving on this site get  on to Nwide and tell them.
I have.

[Gorgeous_bird]

As if that will make a diference, if they wanted to know what we thought they would have asked us. They could have introduced a deadline by which time those who were not having a certain amount paid into the account then the accounts would be closed if they realy wanted to attract customers who would use the account regularly. This is not about us it's about THEM.