Nationwide ....... Again

[Colwyn]

It seems every year we get a story saying Nationwide is going to withdraw its free debit card facility and free shopping with credit card in Europe and Turkey. There might be more substance to the warning this time.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/70421836-9bff-11df-a7a4-00144feab49a.html

[friar tuck]

The new deal may be of use if you have your salary paid in to your Flex account.

[tribalelder]

Nationwide....Flights....Residence Visas.....Road Tax.  What other nasty little Gremlins are going to conspire against us [?]

[nichola]

Perhaps we should all write to Nationwide to say we think this stinks especially as you can only draw £300 a time so its £1 per every £300.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Although I do not like these charges Nationwide still provides a good deal against competitors. Taking 300 GBP will still only attract a 1GBP levy plus 60p currency levy. Compare that to most other Banks where the charge is 3.90.I do not think writing to Nationwide is going to change a great deal for those people living abroad.

Why Nationwide is doing this is to increase profits. It was not a great year for Nationwide last year. Also it is very reliant on the mortgage market and this is slow in the UK. Low interest rates actually are not good gor financial institutions as they really narrow margins.

[tribalelder]

If you read the FT article it says it will charge 2% for foreign currencies plus the fee so you will have to stick another £6 on to get your £300!:(

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Sorry you are right my maths are terrible. You could  not tell I was an accountant in a past life. Their charges are still lower than the big banks.

You raised a very interesting point earlier when you talked about banks, residency and flights add to this the cost of living and exchange rates and current interest rates. Recently I was reading an article about France and whether the novelty of living in France has worn off for ex pats. I wonder if Ex pats in Turkey think like those in France. This may be another subject for another day.

[kenkay]

It will be interesting to see the degree of cover offered by their free Multi Trip Travel Insurance.
It's often been said that these free schemes aren't worth the paper they're written on

p.s. Flex account is my major account so if the level of cover is acceptable then I will be better off paying the card charges.

[nichola]

quote:Originally posted by tribalelder

If you read the FT article it says it will charge 2% for foreign currencies plus the fee so you will have to stick another £6 on to get your £300!:(

The society is set to levy a 2 per cent commission charge on transactions in foreign currencies, plus a £1 fee per currency withdrawal from overseas cashpoints.
Am I right that if you draw it in GBP then it just the £1 per transaction?

So if I continue to do as I do and draw in GBP and change into lira here where I get a better rate than Nationwide would give me anyway it is still only £1 for every £300.

I don't like it but I can sort of live with that.

Plus I am going to take every penny out of my account before November.

So see me at the ATM  

[stuart]

good point nichola. i wonder if it will work.....any other money wise  folk got any ideas?
i get my salary paid into the nationwide and rely on the cashpoints .. seven quid a hit is quite a sting.