Overseas ATM Transactions - Interesting Results

[trippin_the_rift]

As an update from an old thread about selecting the card type overseas (http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...tips/selecting-account-type-atm-uk-19477.html)

I recently did some testing in Singapore and saw surprising results.

- Cash advance from Mastercard, the only extra was a $2.50 "cash advance" fee (I had the account in credit specifically to test this so there would be no interest charges)

- Selecting Savings/Cheque, there was a $5 O/S ATM fee plus an additional 2.5% ($5 in my case) in foreign transaction fees.

What is even more interesting is that the foreign exchange rate was better when using a cash advance rather than my savings account.

Is there a cheaper way to get cash overseas? $2.50 flat fee seems good to me.

 

[serfty]

...

Is there a cheaper way to get cash overseas? $2.50 flat fee seems good to me.

Probably; What bank did you obtain the Mastercard from?

• Wizard Clear Advantage Master Card (Fee Free)
• Nab Gold Banking (Need 5K per month through it)

One thing to watch is the Foreign Currency exchange rate used, both the above tend to be at or near the cross rates.

 

[pn01]

I asked CBA about their charges on Fri and it's 2.9% + converted rate for CC and 2% + converted rate for EFTPOS card. They couldn't tell me much on how good their converted rate was though so I'm none the wiser.