Drawing Cash Overseas with a Santander Zero Card (1 Viewer)

[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi,
I have been reading the various threads about Overseas Cash Cards, Caxton, Revolt etc.
I have a Santander Zero Card which has zero overseas charges but does charge interest on cash advances.
Their T&C's specifically say it cannot be in credit (pre-loaded) but I wonder if you can withdraw cash and on the same day transfer an equal (or nearly equal) amount of cash into the account on the internet or with their app. thereby cancelling the interest. If so this would be better than a pre-paid card for me perhaps.
Has anybody actually done it. I live in France so have a Euro credit card anyway but was thinking about our impending trip to Norway. I have no idea how much cash, if any we will need for the twelve day Hurtigruten cruise we are going on.
I also have a Nationwide card which doesn't have charges in Europe so could possibly be used the same way, does Norway count as Europe for Nationwide?
Both cards are paid off in full each by direct debit.
Thanks for any info.
Steve

 

[Tinker2]

Have a look at Monzo card.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Have a look at Monzo card.

Thanks but the idea is to not use a cash card as we already have a euro bank card.
The Monzo card looks good but it looks as if they will soon be charging for cash withdrawals or limiting the monthly amount withdrawn and the credit card exchange rate will probably be better than theirs.

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[Tinker2]

I used it in Europe this summer, nearly perfect exchange rate, I like the way your spends rattle up like a till straight away.
They are going to charge for cash withdrawals, because they can't absorb the charges.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Interesting just found this on Money-Saving-Expert;

"You will be charged interest at an annual rate of 27.9% from the moment you make a cash withdrawal. This is a high rate, but if you pay it off immediately (don't wait for the statement) then you can keep it minimal. Last month I drew out €500 on a weekend in Germany, paid it off immediately when I got home and paid 19p interest."
​

Which if true answers my question, so I think I will give it a try and report back. The monthly interest works out at about 1.5% so if I draw out £50 even at the beginning of the month and they don't accept the deposit on the same day as clearing the loan then it will not be a fortune about 75p interest or nil if they accept the deposit as clearance.

 

[Minxy]

OATs, you've pretty much sussed it out already, some people DO load their credit cards up a bit so they're in credit but you're not supposed to do it, and I've never actually tried as we have cash cards anyway, but if you have to use a credit card for cash withdrawals then transferring funds immediately afterwards from your bank account to refund what you've drawn out should minimise your interest.

Anyone can do this with any credit card but they MUST make sure any credit card used definitely doesn't have an 'admin' etc charges for cash withdrawals themselves, just interest with NO minimum charge for this.

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[Ex-caravantugger]

Unless Hurtigruten cruises are not cashless on board, I don't share your concern. I have used my Zero Card all over the world without problem. When cruising we take an amount of Euros and/or dollars for the odd snack, drink and the odd museum ticket plus tips if you want to reward your steward etc,. Almost everyone takes a card. You live in France and so Euros are no problem. You say your cards are paid by direct debit every month. It is not as though you are coming back to the UK and may have Euros left after your trip so what's the problem? In my eyes you seem to be over complicating the situation. Let your cards work for you, not the other way round. The Zero card is a good one use it and enjoy it. Mike.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Unless Hurtigruten cruises are not cashless on board, I don't share your concern. I have used my Zero Card all over the world without problem. When cruising we take an amount of Euros and/or dollars for the odd snack, drink and the odd museum ticket plus tips if you want to reward your steward etc,. Almost everyone takes a card. You live in France and so Euros are no problem. You say your cards are paid by direct debit every month. It is not as though you are coming back to the UK and may have Euros left after your trip so what's the problem? In my eyes you seem to be over complicating the situation. Let your cards work for you, not the other way round. The Zero card is a good one use it and enjoy it. Mike.

Yes Euros and GBP are no problem but Norway is not in the Euro, it uses the Norwegian Krone (NOK), so some cash will be needed when ashore potentially for coffee etc.
I started off wondering whether to get a Caxton card and realised that we had very little use for one so was considering alternatives.
I was really trying to find if any Funsters had used their Zero Card in this way. If it works, then it will be ideal in other currency countries like Croatia and Morocco etc. to get cash especially necessary in Morroco. Basically trying to avoid giving the banks any excess currency charges and finishing the holiday with a pocket full of useless currency. As you say spending with the Zero card is no problem anywhere in the world. But cash is always a problem and a costly exercise if you get it wrong.
Steve

 

[Lenny HB]

For cash I now use a Metro Bank card, no charges and Mastercard exchange rate also have a Revolut card. The Revolut card is very flexible you can load it with different currencies when you want, you can just leave it in GBP and if you draw cash out you will get the current exchange rate, you can load it instantly so if you don't want to leave cash on it you can load it just before you pop it in the ATM, also you get the interbank rate.

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[Welsh girl]

I used it once (Santander zero card) accidentally when trying to use my caxton card and withdrew £100. I got charged 19% interest. I imediately paid it back in but still got charged. I've changed my pin on one now as I stupidly had the same pin for both. I don't get charged on the caxton card for cash advances.

 

[Rapido925M]

I've used Zero Card on several occasions, replacing the cash as soon as I get safe & reliable internet (usually within 2 days). I don't recall ever getting charged interest nor bank charges BUT the last time I used it in this manner was June 2016. That is how it was "sold" to me when I opened my Santander accounts: I asked about pre-loading and was told "no" but I do preload it with a little and then replace cash as stated. In this manner I hoped to cover all eventualities and I just cleared out the pre-loading at a later date.

I still keep it "ticking over" with the odd purchase every few months and would intend using it for cash withdrawals next time I'm abroad.

Gordon

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Thanks all, it looks like it's worth trying.

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[PeteH]

I have only ever had "Credit" on my Zero, card when a refund was paid in after I had settled the bill (DD each month). But in theory if you take it (any "Credit") out as CASH you should not get charged?.

 

[Minxy]

I have only ever had "Credit" on my Zero, card when a refund was paid in after I had settled the bill (DD each month). But in theory if you take it (any "Credit") out as CASH you should not get charged?.

I've currently got a £2.97 credit on one of my credit cards from a Paypal/Ebay refund but I'll wait until I REALLY need it to spend it ... gotta keep enough in reserve for a small fish and chips!