28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/14]

[albatross710]

Re: 28 Degrees Mastercard

just an ordinary westpac atm card linked straight to savings.

I'm with Westpac as well. When I withdraw overseas I get a $5 charge per withdrawal. My theory with the 28 degrees card is that I can make smaller withdrawal and then find myself with less 'local' cash to have to lose money on when I leave the country.

 

[serfty]

Re: 28 Degrees Mastercard

I'm with Westpac as well. When I withdraw overseas I get a $5 charge per withdrawal. ...

You can avoid this fee by using an ATM of a member of "The Global Banking Alliance".

However, the forex free is still a killer.

 

[NT2010]

Re: 28 Degrees Mastercard

My experience with this GE 28 Degrees has not been good at all as far as credit limit is concerned.

In October last year, I applied for the first time, they gave me $3,500 credit limit, I refused to activate the card as I thought that was too low compared to the $10,000 Virgin Money card that I did cancell before applying for this card (I do know I can always BPay and boost the available limit but I could not be bother at the time)

Two days ago, I decided to try again as my circumstances have changed: (1) my income has now increased by up to 15%, (2) I have reduced the number of credit cards from 4 to 1, and (3) I do not have any investment mortgage and almost debt free. But to my surprise, the credit limit given to me is now a huge $2,000!

What interesting is that at the same time and about 10 minutes later, my wife applies for the same card, her credit limit is $8,000. Yes, it is $8,000 and her after tax income is, to be exact, 22.3% of my after tax income. Not really sure how the automatic system can decide that I can only afford to service the $2,000 credit despite having 4 times the income. And my wife has similar total credit on her two other credit cards.

The only difference in the two applications is that I selected and request for $5,000 limit, my wife did not select any set limit!

I should have swallowed my pride and accept the $3,500 last year!

 

[cove]

Re: 28 Degrees Mastercard

Just go partner card with your wife and you will both be ok and she builds a credit history.
We run with one account of $5,000 and both have cards to run off it.
i love pulling 500 pounds out of the fee free ATM over the road from where we stay in London as the exchange rate you get is brilliant compared with others.
We typically BPay $4500 into the card and run the cash advances off our credit balance.

 

[Baysider]

Re: 28 Degrees Mastercard

Just go partner card with your wife and you will both be ok and she builds a credit history.
We run with one account of $5,000 and both have cards to run off it.

This is a great plan and partner cards arrive within a week of request.

 

[Pushka]

Hmm. I have investment mortgages, multiple credit cards and I don't have any problems getting a credit up. Maybe there is something you don't know about in your credit history? Eg something as simple as an unpaid telco account? I am not on a high salary by any stretch. I do use this card quite a lot for overseas purchases and always pay off in full.

 

[marks]

I actually remember reading a Noel Whittaker column (Famous Finance guy who writes the finance books and newspaper columns), how he was using 28 degrees card amoung others. He was complaining that is was only a $3500 card for him as well! He was trialing it in a trip to Europe as was amazed at the fees it avoided.

I've had mine increased which is a fantastic now. The real pain is that bpay is the main way to pay the card and can take 48+hr to get from your bank to GE.

 

[greenfrog86]

Hmm. I have investment mortgages, multiple credit cards and I don't have any problems getting a credit up. Maybe there is something you don't know about in your credit history? Eg something as simple as an unpaid telco account? I am not on a high salary by any stretch. I do use this card quite a lot for overseas purchases and always pay off in full.

GE credit scoring makes no sense... Throughout this thread you will find many complaints of low limits, usually from people with high incomes and good credit history.

Just the way it goes with this card...

Use it for a while and after six months you'll be able to increase you're limit - it doesn't have anything to do with having a bad credit score, it is just how GE operates

 

[MEL_Traveller]

GE credit scoring makes no sense... Throughout this thread you will find many complaints of low limits, usually from people with high incomes and good credit history.

Just the way it goes with this card...

Use it for a while and after six months you'll be able to increase you're limit - it doesn't have anything to do with having a bad credit score, it is just how GE operates

i read somewhere on some bulletin board that people were getting $500 and $1000 limits!

i started off ok on mine... around $6k a d gradually built up through auto six-monthly increases (but I think they have stopped those now?)

 

[cove]

I have never worried about having a $5,000 credit limit on this card. You can work with what they give you in most cases. I still love this card.

 

[tim374]

I started with $4000, auto-increased to to $6,500 then $9,500. Just let it build up over time if you want a higher limit.

 

[get me outta here]

In preparing for my first o/s cash advance, I want to pay in a bunch of cash at the PO (my 'bank' does not do bpay).

Do you know if the PO will accept cash?

28 told me to just take a statement to show the PO and pay in a cheque, but I did not discuss actually real money at that conversation w' them.

 

[GMT]

I don't see why you would have a problem using cash at the PO. It doesn't say 'cheque only' on the statement when paying at the PO, so should be fine.

 

[DeKa]

I don't see why you would have a problem using cash at the PO. It doesn't say 'cheque only' on the statement when paying at the PO, so should be fine.

Agreed. They accept EFTPOS for 28 Degrees payments too
The PO payment fee is $2 I think (charged to your next statement)

 

[Pushka]

Free in a Westpac branch?

 

[Flashback]

Holland is a real pain! A lot of places here won't process your card unless it is Dutch. What is more annoying, I bought the exact same ticket from Rotterdam Centraal from the exact same ticket window 5 days earlier, using a Visa I had.... anyway, the card works fine in ATM's which is the main thing, but annoying when you've run through your cash and just want to pay on card!

 

[DeKa]

Holland is a real pain! A lot of places here won't process your card unless it is Dutch. What is more annoying, I bought the exact same ticket from Rotterdam Centraal from the exact same ticket window 5 days earlier, using a Visa I had.... anyway, the card works fine in ATM's which is the main thing, but annoying when you've run through your cash and just want to pay on card!

Can you try the 'quick-draw method' of swipe yourself before they see the card? Or, is it disabled?
I am sure non-acceptance would be a breach of the store's MasterCard agreement anyway.

 

[Chicken]

I am sure non-acceptance would be a breach of the store's MasterCard agreement anyway.

Shops in the Netherlands don't accept international cards, unless it's a tourist area, and that's still no guarantee.

Free in a Westpac branch?

You cannot pay your credit card at Westpac. This card is from GE not Westpac.

 

[Pushka]

You cannot pay your credit card at Westpac. This card is from GE not Westpac.

You can make ATM fee free withdrawals only at Westpac. That implies a relationship. I'm well aware the branding is GE.

 

[Chicken]

That implies a relationship.

No, it's just ATM agreement. Just like Citibank and HSBC have agreements to access Westpac ATMs, but Westpac don't do anything else for customers of HSBC and Citi.