The Lemon Fool

I'm thinking of applying for a Clarity card with the aim of keeping the account in credit and withdrawing cash during several weeks overseas (specifically EUR in Tenerife). Hopefully keeping the account in credit would eliminate any interest charges, and I would hope to benefit from a good exchange rate and zero withdrawal fees charged by Halifax.

Has anyone any experience of using a clarity card for such cash withdrawals: is the exchange rate really good? Any tips on which Spanish banks charge the lowest withdrawal fees.

(I already have a Transferwise Borderless Account which I pre-load in GBP and convert to EUR when the rate is advantageous. I'll use that card as often as possible when spending. However, you can only withdraw £200 equivalent of cash per month overseas before incurring charges.)

Thanks,

DiviLuvva.

According to email from moneysavingsexpert today you get charged immediately for cash withdrawals.

From the Halifax website:

We don't charge fees to withdraw cash with your Halifax Clarity credit card.

We won’t charge you a fee for getting money from a cash machine, however some ATM Providers may charge a fee for taking cash out.
Interest charges apply to cash you take out, from the day the cash is withdrawn.
Accepted wherever you see the Mastercard® sign at over 43 million locations worldwide.

https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/clarity-card/

You may have issues trying to keep the account in credit. In the small print :
"B7.3 Payment amount
....
You must not pay us more than you owe when you make payments to your account ....
etc etc ....
We may also return any credit balance to the account from which the money has been sent ....
etc etc
"

I used to use Clarity like this. It works as you say. Generally I would pay it off same
day by internet banking rather than run it in credit. Cash advances on credit cards do
show on your credit file, and may raise eyebrows if you need a mortgage.

All that said, now I plan on using Starling. Same rate (mastercard) but no worrying about interest as it’s a current account.

Tandem for credit card spending is currently the best deal (mastercard rate, and you get 0.5% cashback)

I have tried Monzo, Starling, Revolut and Fineco 'debit' cards. Fineco allows holdings in Euros and other currencies and the debit card is denominated in Euros so waiters/shop staff cant accidentally charge using dynamic currency conversion (also called DCC for short). For trusted shops in Spain ( for me these include Consum and Aldi ) I use the Revolut card because of the control I have via the app.

I use Halifax clarity, but don’t do anything clever. I’ve been stung using arrival airport cash machines, my usual choice, by their terrible rates, so go into transactions with a figure in mind

DiviLuvva wrote:I'm thinking of applying for a Clarity card with the aim of keeping the account in credit and withdrawing cash during several weeks overseas (specifically EUR in Tenerife). Hopefully keeping the account in credit would eliminate any interest charges, and I would hope to benefit from a good exchange rate and zero withdrawal fees charged by Halifax.

Has anyone any experience of using a clarity card for such cash withdrawals: is the exchange rate really good? Any tips on which Spanish banks charge the lowest withdrawal fees.

The Clarity card exchange rate is the prevailing commercial rate.

The posters who said you are not charged immediately and the ones who said you are charged immediately are both correct, but too vague in their advice: you will start being charged interest on any cash withdrawal immediately, but there are no other charges levied by Halifax for cash withdrawals abroad or in the UK.

You will not be gouged by rates at foreign airports if you remember: 1. Check that the machine itself does not charge for withdrawals; 2. Always choose the option to pay for your cash in local currency, not GBP: if you choose the latter you accept the machine's exchange rate (not Halifax's) which may be very poor.

GS

I use a Caxton currency card loaded before I travel, although it can be topped up from abroad via their app.

I have a Halifax Clarity card as well, as my reserve payment method.

Watis

I've used Clarity all the time when in Greece or the Canaries over the last couple of years. Obviously you have to reject the local banks offer to exchange into Sterling and there are always banks which don't charge for the transaction but you might need to try a couple to find them. My method is not to preload the card, as I think that is precluded by the card conditions, but as soon as I get back home I calculate each likely exchange sterling value using daily exchange rate services you can find on the internet and add interest then round up by a couple of quid and pay that off immediately. If I've overpaid by a little it doesn't matter as it just reduces the balance for other spending when my statement comes through. I find that the interest I pay doing it this way is far, far, less than the gouging charges Natwest used to apply using my ordinary bank card to obtain cash or my credit card for restaurants etc.

After recent experiences in Greece and Spain it seems to be getting harder and harder to find ATMs which don't charge a fixed service charge, so much so that in Greece where I couldn't find anywhere with free withdrawals I just resorted to paying with my Halifax Clarity card (much to the obvious disgust of a number of restaurant owners who clearly would have preferred to have been paid in cash).

Many thanks for the replies and sharing of experience. The notes about pre-loading being against the T&Cs were welcome.

I'll use my EUR pre-loaded Transferwise debit card as much as possible and the Clarity for cash withdrawals; clearing the balance asap via Internet banking.

DiviLuvva wrote: the Clarity for cash withdrawals; clearing the balance asap via Internet banking.

May I take the opportunity to warn you about the way Clarity now handle ad-hoc repayments. It's a long thread but essentially it all boils down to your statement date (not payment date), if you have a full balance DD set up.

Payments made (and cleared) before that date will be taken off the direct debit. Payments made after that will NOT reduce the direct debit.

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=12998

Sats

I was gouged at Budapest airport with no option as to which currency to pay for your cash. I just entered a number of Forints, and only when I got home did I discover the rate was poor.

JohnB wrote:I was gouged at Budapest airport with no option as to which currency to pay for your cash. I just entered a number of Forints, and only when I got home did I discover the rate was poor.

Using a Clarity Card?


GS

Yes, as in this thread, but I've never heard of cash machines offering different rates to different cards

JohnB wrote:I was gouged at Budapest airport with no option as to which currency to pay for your cash. I just entered a number of Forints, and only when I got home did I discover the rate was poor.

Even though you said Forints, that sounds more like the situation where the ATM gives you the amount as per their conversion to GBP, not the amount in local currency like a resident would get.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/new ... liday.html

I have been in a similar situation where a foreign ATM flashes up a bunch of text and it barely makes sense and you only have a couple of seconds to pick an option. I never know if my card will be returned or swallowed...

Satsuma wrote:

JohnB wrote:I was gouged at Budapest airport with no option as to which currency to pay for your cash. I just entered a number of Forints, and only when I got home did I discover the rate was poor.

Even though you said Forints, that sounds more like the situation where the ATM gives you the amount as per their conversion to GBP, not the amount in local currency like a resident would get.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/new ... liday.html

I have been in a similar situation where a foreign ATM flashes up a bunch of text and it barely makes sense and you only have a couple of seconds to pick an option. I never know if my card will be returned or swallowed...

He said he ordered Forints. TBH I have no idea what JohnB is talking about -- I think he is being deliberately vague. The Clarity card always converts foreign currencies at a commercial rate. Perhaps there is a problem in Hungary. Or perhaps he is trying to make us believe he was doing a local currency transaction and in fact accepted the machine's rate by mistake. Easy mistake, but not valid as a criticism of Clarity when the clear advice is to only pay in local currency.

GS

I was using a cash machine to get the local Hungarian currency, the florint. I'm not blaming Halifax, I have no reason to believe any other card would be different.

I've no idea how you use a cash machine, as opposed to a POS terminal, to use local currency.

I have a letter from Clarity stating the interest will go up from 13.2% APR to 19.95% APR from 13-03-2020. Well done to them for providing about 4 months notice.

Somewhat academic, as I've never paid interest, even making a cash withdrawal.
Also, it still probably takes a couple of months interest to match the obscene currency transaction fees added by some competing products.