Can you afford the cost of withdrawing your cash overseas?

With the hefty charges and commissions that banks are now charging these days for accessing their own money when they go abroad, many consumers may be asking themselves whether they can actually afford to withdraw cash when they travel overseas on business or for pleasure. UK banks charge a small fortune to consumers for accessing their own money, and with charges being applied every time a withdrawal is made the cost can really add up.

Experts are urging consumers in the UK to consider other options when they travel overseas, such as taking traveller's cheques or using their card to make payments for purchases. This can save on the number of withdrawals required, and can save you the shock of coming home to find that you have been charged over and over again by your bank simply for withdrawing cash that belongs to you.

One Barclay's customer said that when he went to Australia recently to see his girlfriend and look at properties he made a number of cash withdrawals on his Barclays Connect card, and each time he was hit with an extortionate fee, all of which added up over the time that he was there. He came home to discover that he had been charged eighty five pounds for the privilege of withdrawing his own money.

He stated: 'I was withdrawing £100 at a time and was being charged a fee and commission each time. I think I made around 14 withdrawals and it was costing me £5 each time just to get access to my cash. Plus I made several purchases on the card and was again charged each time.' A conversion fee of two and three quarters of a percent was applied to the card each time, along with a two percent foreign transaction charge with a minimum charge of one pound fifty.

Tom Smith
3rd May 2007