Credit card use abroad can cost Britons £355 million

13/04/2007

Using your credit card abroad could result in card holders being hit by various charges such as transaction fees, exchange rate loading fees and cash withdrawal fees.

This new date revealed by uswitch.com says the total cost to UK consumers could be as much as £355 million. With £204 million coming from credit card purchases and £151 million coming from cash withdrawals from ATM machines.

Consumers are advised to research their credit cards and look into the rate of overseas transactions and the fee for cash withdrawals abroad before using there card as they could have unexpected bills.

Saga and Liverpool Victoria are two credit card companies who do not charge for purchases within the EU. It might be worth some consumers having one credit card for the UK and one for abroad use to help cut out the fees.

Director of financial services at uSwitch, Nick White, said: "There are several factors for consumers to take into account when using credit cards abroad. Your existing debit and credit cards may not always offer the best deals for overseas cash withdrawals and purchases, so some forward planning could be avoid these charges altogether.

"In the long term, it may end up being more sensible for some consumers to have two separate credit cards – one for UK use and one for overseas.”