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Jul 29, 2005
Travelers in the UK apparently spend over £750 million annually by choosing expensive travel insurance or fee-charging cards for use abroad, claimed the Nationwide Building Society in a recent media release.
According to the company, while holidaymakers are typically charged 2.75% on cash withdrawals and purchases made abroad by other credit and debit card providers, Nationwide does not charge a foreign currency loading fee when its customers use its cards abroad. With average overseas transaction values of around £75, the company says that UK consumers are paying over £2 every time they buy something using their non-Nationwide card when abroad.
Nationwide says that besides charging a currency conversion loading fee every time they spend abroad, most of the other providers also levy a fee every time their customers use their debit cards abroad.
Another area where travelers seem to be spending more than required is travel insurance, claims Nationwide, with most travelers taking travel insurance as recommended by their travel agent, instead of doing some comparison shopping for insurance themselves and getting a better deal.
Nationwide refers to data provided by the APACS Plastic Card Review 2005 and the Mintel Travel Insurance Report, February 2005, to make its claims of the estimated £750 million more spent by UK travelers than they have to.
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