New supercard is out (perfect for overseas purchases)

[sal]

Doesn't a cash withdrawal on the card attract interest charges? I think it used to, but I've not used it in an ATM for a while.

It does if you don't payout the balance in full, which i usually do. When i miss it for some reason it's still much cheaper in the end than most other cards charge you.

[Fred Bloggs]

A huge vote for Halifax Clarity from me. The ATM interest charge is piffling if it's paid off in a couple of days. I'd like to use my AmEx card more abroad for the air miles, but I can't afford to really.

[missinggreenfields]

It does if you don't payout the balance in full, which i usually do. When i miss it for some reason it's still much cheaper in the end than most other cards charge you.

I thought that an ATM withdrawal starts to accrue interest as soon as you make it, though. So you need to pay off as soon as possible, not just when the bill arrives.

I'm not saying that it's not a good deal, but you will incur interest charges of some kind when you use the card at an ATM, which is where Supercard v1 was a winner.

[Fred Bloggs]

I thought that an ATM withdrawal starts to accrue interest as soon as you make it, though. So you need to pay off as soon as possible, not just when the bill arrives.

I'm not saying that it's not a good deal, but you will incur interest charges of some kind when you use the card at an ATM, which is where Supercard v1 was a winner.

Yes, the v1 Supercard was terrific as it could be used with AmEx and cash withdrawals were free. v2 is IMO, hopeless.

With Clarity you start to accrue interest from the day of cash withdrawal. I pay it off the next day by transfer on line from my Lloyds account, but even if left a few days, the charge is trivial.

[missinggreenfields]

Supercard

PIN was never accepted anywhere over the summer. First three times I used the card, it said the PIN was wrong and then locked the card. Worked fine for swipe transactions, but I had to try to explain in my stumbling French that the chip didn't work properly any more (I think the phrase is "le puce ne marche pas" if anyone needs it in the future!). When I came back, I rang support and they asked if I had tried to change the PIN (you can't) and that they would have to escalate it to the technical team. A month went by, no action, so I rang in - they had no record of my previous call and said that the only thing they could do would be to send out a new card. I'll try it again this weekend when I'm away and see if the PIN works on this one.

Got rejected once at Cafe Nero, but so did my Revolut card and my Clarity card so I suspect that it was their reader rather than the card. Apart from that it was fine.

Revolut unlocked my girlfriend's card eventually but they asked for proof that she owed money for rent first though!

[Spoiler]

Just got confirmation that my Monzo card is on the way, so not too long to wait for it !

[SuperLooper]

Got a letter today informing me that Supercard is shutting down. Oh well.

[squarepeg]

If a card doesn't work on the Essex express it's not worth bothering with.

[Fred Bloggs]

Got a letter today informing me that Supercard is shutting down. Oh well.

The 1st generation card was fantastic. But the second iteration was always doomed in my opinion. It just didn't offer enough to differentiate it unlike the 1st gen card.

[mikedefieslife]

The only good thing about the latest Supercard was that it came with free insurance. It was out of date before it even came out, as the likes Revolut and Monzo had surpassed it, with touchID login, instant notification of purchases (sometimes even before the till had printed a receipt), in app customer service amongst other things.

The absolute cheapest credit card to use abroad is the Creation card, followed by Halifax Clarity. Obviously the latter has a far stronger reputation. Both being credit cards offer Section 75 protection, but you need to be careful if relying on this with foreign purchases. Despite the HL ruling, some banks still play silly buggers when comes to paying up under S75 on foreign spending.

Monzo is probably the best prepay (soon to be standard debit) card to use abroad, followed by something like Metro Bank for Eurozone spending, and Revolut worldwide.