Caxton Rate (2 Viewers)

[markh]

Wait until the ECB makes its report on the 22/1, if they announce CE then the Euro will slide even more, the Swiss expect it, hence them pulling away from the Euro

 

[DrRogerRam]

I find Martin Lewis, the money savings expert great for travel money.

Here's a link http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money?_ga=1.100635548.307608247.1402608728

 

[BreweryDave]

Can only get better this week

http://www.eurorateforecast.com

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[Deleted member 29692]

Thanks Techno, but the whole idea of the Caxton is no charges from card provider

No charges on Halifax Clarity card either

 

[callumwa]

Thanks Techno, but the whole idea of the Caxton is no charges from card provider. . Keith

No charges on Halifax Clarity card either

And with Halifax Clarity you get the Interbank rate on the day, always better than the Caxton rate, you don't have to part with your cash in advance, and you have up to 6 weeks interest free credit on all your purchases, just remember to pay in full by automatic D/D each month to avoid any interest charges.

Oh and they work at Tolls and unnamed service stations abroad...

 

[Pikeman]

"

• Your prepaid card will not work at automated petrol stations
  For security reasons your Caxton FX card will not work at automated petrol stations. We recommend that you avoid using them or you use an alternative card to settle the bill.
  
  
• Avoid using your prepaid card at Toll booths
  Caxton FX prepaid cards require a merchant to seek authorisation before they provide the goods or services. The majority of European toll roads and bridges do not seek an authorisation and therefore you can't use your Caxton FX prepaid card at most toll booths.
  

Andy, thanks for the heads up on Caxton and NickNic for recommend on Halifax card. Will be better prepared for next trip. Keith

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[Techno]

Halifax card is fine but the idea of Caxton is to stock up when the rate is good and spend them when it's down and it will go down.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I've been doing that. Everytime I think the rate looks good and have some it goes up again Waiting for 1.30 now.




Then I suppose I'll watch it go to 1.40

 

[Dogsense]

Caxton showing NOW 1.273 less then yesterday that was 1.2800

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[Techno]

I bought at peak this morning and tonight it's down to 1:2730 which feels like rubbish after the flurry but it is still good.

 

[Techno]

Caxton showing NOW 1.273 less then yesterday that was 1.2800

1:2920 this morning

 

[Pikeman]

Halifax card is fine but the idea of Caxton is to stock up when the rate is good and spend them when it's down and it will go down.

Sure, but for fuel at un-manned stops, this Halifax card sounds good.

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[Dogsense]

Caxton, when I put £500 to top 5 min ago, they offer €635.50 = 1.271

 

[Minxy]

Halifax Clarity giving 1.319188 today,

and you don't have to give them your money in advance,
you have up to 6 weeks to pay back without accruing any interest.
Pay monthly in full by Direct Debit.

Sorted.......

But ONLY for purchases - cash advances incur interest on the amount withdrawn starting the same day you take it out, it is only for purchases where you get an 'interest free' period ...

In order to get interest free cash withdrawals you would need to put money into your Halifax Clarity card account so that it is in credit not just at zero balance - ie by overpaying a bill or transferring money into the account before you go away so that there is already a good amount of credit in it before you start withdrawing cash from ATMs with it and you also need to make sure you don't go below zero when doing a cash withdrawal - this is how I've been led to believe it can work by another funster although I've not done it myself yet.

In simple terms what they suggest is that you can, for example, stick £500 into your Halifax Clarity card account so you have a positive balance of £500 (ie in credit) then use your card to make cash withdrawals at ATMs up to a maximum of £500 in total ... bingo, no interest on cash withdrawals and you get the 'interbank' exchange rate which is always better than a pre-payment cash card. If you need more cash then I suppose you can re-credit your HC card account to offset your next lot of cash ATM withdrawals. You'd need to know when your actual payment is due each month as I would think that if your card has some 'credit' left on it, this will be used to pay off any 'purchase' balance before the remainder is taken from your nominated payment source and you'd then be back at zero so would need to top it up again for the ATM 'cash' withdrawals.

Personally, for the amount of dosh we usually need I think a pre-payment card is the simplest way to go and can be easily topped up with a text message and/or via the internet.

 

[Techno]

I wondered who you were for a minute

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[Stewart J]

Luckily I loaded up my Caxton card this morning at 1.292, a very happy bunny

 

[callumwa]

But ONLY for purchases - cash advances incur interest on the amount withdrawn starting the same day you take it out, it is only for purchases where you get an 'interest free' period ...

In order to get interest free cash withdrawals you would need to put money into your Halifax Clarity card account so that it is in credit not just at zero balance - ie by overpaying a bill or transferring money into the account before you go away so that there is already a good amount of credit in it before you start withdrawing cash from ATMs with it and you also need to make sure you don't go below zero when doing a cash withdrawal - this is how I've been led to believe it can work by another funster although I've not done it myself yet.

In simple terms what they suggest is that you can, for example, stick £500 into your Halifax Clarity card account so you have a positive balance of £500 (ie in credit) then use your card to make cash withdrawals at ATMs up to a maximum of £500 in total ... bingo, no interest on cash withdrawals and you get the 'interbank' exchange rate which is always better than a pre-payment cash card. If you need more cash then I suppose you can re-credit your HC card account to offset your next lot of cash ATM withdrawals. You'd need to know when your actual payment is due each month as I would think that if your card has some 'credit' left on it, this will be used to pay off any 'purchase' balance before the remainder is taken from your nominated payment source and you'd then be back at zero so would need to top it up again for the ATM 'cash' withdrawals.

Personally, for the amount of dosh we usually need I think a pre-payment card is the simplest way to go and can be easily topped up with a text message and/or via the internet.

So would putting money into your Halifax card in advance, not just be exactly the same as you are doing with a Caxton or Fairfax and just as easy?
Weeks or months in advance, they have your money in their accounts, not you.

With Halifax Clarity they never ever have my cash in advance, in fact they never have it until a few weeks after I have had the goods.

I very rarely ever draw cash when abroad. I keep a small float of hard cash, but will use my card at every opportunity, and I get the best rate on the day, always, and it works at Toll booths and unmanned fuel stations.

The idea of getting excited at buying 1000 euros at 1.30 and three months later it is 1.25, just bypasses me. It could also be 1.35...Whoopee do.
If I wanted to make money on currency exchange I could have made a fortune on the Rouble recently.

I just want a card that gives me the best rate on the day and works everywhere and I don't need to worry if I have a phone or net connection if I find something I want to buy when abroad.. Halifax Clarity, Nationwide, Post office... simples....

 

[Minxy]

So would putting money into your Halifax card in advance, not just be exactly the same as you are doing with a Caxton or Fairfax and just as easy?
Weeks or months in advance, they have your money in their accounts, not you.

With Halifax Clarity they never ever have my cash in advance, in fact they never have it until a few weeks after I have had the goods.

I very rarely ever draw cash when abroad. I keep a small float of hard cash, but will use my card at every opportunity, and I get the best rate on the day, always, and it works at Toll booths and unmanned fuel stations.

You are talking about using the Halifax Clarity card, or any other card, as a pure credit card for PURCHASES which is what they are supposed to be and you don't pay interest on purchases (some may charge a fee but most don't) when used that way so long as you pay off the whole balance each month (or longer if you have a 0% interest rate for for so many months ... but that's another discussion!). However if you draw cash out on a credit card you will pay interest from that day.

If you therefore need CASH then transferring funds to the credit card account is ONE WAY of being able to use it to draw cash out via an ATM without paying interest on it, especially if you don't have any other means to get cash, so in that sense it's similar to the pre-load type cash cards (Caxton, FairFx, Ukash etc). However if you draw out more cash than the amount you have transferred into your Halifax Clarity credit card (or that is left in it) it will still allow you to have the money but charge you interest on the portion which is below zero, ie a negative balance. This is where it differs from the pre-load type cards which once you get to the limit of how much you've loaded it with it will stop so you don't run the risk of having interest charges on cash withdrawals so if this happens all you do is simply top it up with via a text - you don't need internet access and a text is all that is needed to find out your balance.

You do have to be careful which pre-load card you use though as the FairFx one now charges 5op per top-up or balance request and also charges £1.50 to draw money out of ATMs so once we've used up the money on it we won't be loading it any more. The other one we have is Ukash which you can only top-up or check the balance of on line, but this is our back-up card so not a major issue.

I didn't say these cards/ways to use them, were ideal for everyone and for you it appears not to be something you're interested in, but others are.

Just out of interest though, if you need more ready cash when abroad - say you've run out - how do you go about getting more?

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[callumwa]

You are talking about using the Halifax Clarity card, or any other card, as a pure credit card for PURCHASES which is what they are supposed to be and you don't pay interest on purchases (some may charge a fee but most don't) when used that way so long as you pay off the whole balance each month (or longer if you have a 0% interest rate for for so many months ... but that's another discussion!). However if you draw cash out on a credit card you will pay interest from that day.

If you therefore need CASH then transferring funds to the credit card account is ONE WAY of being able to use it to draw cash out via an ATM without paying interest on it, especially if you don't have any other means to get cash, so in that sense it's similar to the pre-load type cash cards (Caxton, FairFx, Ukash etc). However if you draw out more cash than the amount you have transferred into your Halifax Clarity credit card (or that is left in it) it will still allow you to have the money but charge you interest on the portion which is below zero, ie a negative balance. This is where it differs from the pre-load type cards which once you get to the limit of how much you've loaded it with it will stop so you don't run the risk of having interest charges on cash withdrawals so if this happens all you do is simply top it up with via a text - you don't need internet access and a text is all that is needed to find out your balance.

You do have to be careful which pre-load card you use though as the FairFx one now charges 5op per top-up or balance request and also charges £1.50 to draw money out of ATMs so once we've used up the money on it we won't be loading it any more. The other one we have is Ukash which you can only top-up or check the balance of on line, but this is our back-up card so not a major issue.

I didn't say these cards/ways to use them, were ideal for everyone and for you it appears not to be something you're interested in, but others are.

Just out of interest though, if you need more ready cash when abroad - say you've run out - how do you go about getting more?

Not 100% sure what your point is Minxy.... I know how all these cards work. My previous Natwest Mastercard & Visa cards, and other cards, gave crap exchange rates as well as charges. That's why I shopped around.

When abroad, be it on holiday in the van or for work, I always use Halifax Clarity. It simply has the best exchange rates, no commissions, no transaction fees etc. I have used it in America, Africa, Asia, as well as Europe. It is recommended by MSE (Martin Lewis).

When away 99% of the card's use is purchases such as, Fuel, Food, Restaurants, Tolls, Supermarkets, and so on. I normally carry sufficient cash for the trip I'm engaged in. If I need more cash I tend to make one sufficient cash withdrawal, (avoiding lots of small ones). At the same time I withdraw I transfer online from my Bank Acct to Halifax the same amount. Takes about a minute all told to transfer, faster than posting on FUN....

 

[Minxy]

No point being made, just that the way you were suggesting that you use it was as a credit card, not to get cash, I was just clarifying that cash withdrawals DO have interest charges applied except if it is done in the way I've suggested or indeed by going on-line immediately afterwards as you do to transfer sufficient funds to clear the balance ... if you haven't got an internet connection though then going on line to do it your way isn't an option where as pre-loading it with some credit to offset your cash withdrawals means you don't need to ... just different ways that's all.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

1.282 this morning.

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[Viennese]

I have a Post Office credit card which also charges no fees for use abroad, but you have to tell them in advance where/when you are going away.

I used to pre-load this card before Caxton etc were available, but at some stage I was told it was no longer possible. Haven't tried since.

 

[markh]

Caxton back up to 1.292 for top ups this morning, could well be worth waiting though as the bank rate is 1.33 and we have the Greek elections on the 25/1 which will potentially destabilize the euro even more

 

[Bobndebs McKay]

Transfer Wise did me 1,3267 this morning!!

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[mjltigger]

I just checked the visa rate for today which my bank (Nationwide) uses to process my overseas Euro transactions and it is steady at 1 BRITISH POUND = 1.2961800000

 

[Techno]

Caxton 1:3050 and climbing
https://www.caxtonfx.com/business/currency-cards

 

[mjltigger]

just checked Ukash which I use for most spends and I think what I am about to post may draw some of you away from Caxton....

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[Judge Mental]

BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE.com 1.3226

we always use this company...consistently best rates

 

[mjltigger]

BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE.com 1.3226

we always use this company...consistently best rates

that's a great rate but of course for exchange by the looks of it rather than pre-pay card

 

[Judge Mental]

that's a great rate but of course for exchange by the looks of it rather than pre-pay card

fit a safe

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