We don’t go to the UK that often and I’ve just been online on CA and see I’ve racked up at least 20e, maybe 30e of frais carte UE hors zone euro. The biggest over 6e and that for, I think an 85e shop at Lidl. I feel very stupid I had no idea the fees would be so high! We used our UK account a lot if the time thank goodness but it’s probably empty now. How do I avoid this issue in the future?
Use a WISE card
3 Likes
Thanks Jane, I’ve heard you all talking about them but never thought worth considering, I shall look into it before we go back in June for my step neices wedding!
Ditto this - you can hold balances in a range of different currencies from Aussie Dollars to Japanese Yen - obviously GBP and EUR are going to be the most useful - and exchange money between them at a competitive rate at the drop of a hat, via the app or website.
Helpfully, if you are in (say) the UK and make a GBP purchase on your Wise VISA card, your GBP balance will be debited first (avoiding currency conversion costs) and your EUR balance only used if you run out of GBP.
Wherever you are it works like any other VISA debit card, in shops, online and at petrol stations etc.
While it’s not an account that’s “wise” to keep large amounts of money in since it isn’t underwritten by Government banking guarantees, it’s easy to top up from your local bank account whenever needed (again done via the app or website).
You can also earn a useful bit of interest on your balances if you wish - at the moment I get 2.61% on my Euro balance and 4.2% on my GBP. Technically the capital is at risk with this but Wise are a well-established and well-funded company so the risk is very low in my estimation, and as mentioned it’s not a place to leave thousands of Euros lying about.
2 Likes
Remembering that French residents need to declare and pay tax on this (despite being taxed in Belgium)
Yes of course - also for UK residents, if you receive over £1000 a year in interest on your savings.
Is this story yet another Brexit bonus?
Another Wise fan here.
I also find when travelling it’s increasingly handy/necessary to have a card saved on my phone for Apple Pay (eg if I have only minutes to get a train or coach ticket).
I didn’t want to put my main bank card on the phone but am happy to save the Wise card as no one can spend more than what I’ve loaded on it.
For online purchases, too, I mostly only use the Wise card. Again because no one can spend more than the balance.
I must confess I opted out of the interest payments because I can’t be bothered declaring it in the French tax return.
Use cash…
Which costs money to exchange, which somewhat defeats the point.
Cash? Are you kidding?
Last summer I arrived at a station in Alsace and it was unmanned. A train was due in a few minutes. The ticket machine was working but I couldn’t see the screen because the sun was shining on it.
I was at Montparnasse station last winter and it was impossible to use cash. Or even cards. None of the ticket machines were working. My eyes lit up when I thought I’d found the ticket office but in fact they wouldn’t accept card or cash payments. You had to buy the ticket yourself on your phone, and the staff were just there to guide you through the process.
Likewise at Gare du Nord in November I needed an RER ticket for the airport. All but one machine was out of order so there was a huge queue for that (mainly discombobulated tourists who were taking ages). And the queue for the manned counters was endless.
All this finally convinced me of the benefits of having a card saved on the phone so I can quickly buy tickets myself without having to pull out my physical card in a busy public place and start punching in the long card number, etc.
I used Wise in Krakow just before Christmas and was very happy with the exchange rate.
If it’s empty, will you close it or simply put some money into it for your next visit?
1 Like
I used to use Moonpig to send card until brexit and now CA charge interest on every transaction so don’t do it any more, more out of protest than anything else and we just now video each other or send messages as post has got too expensive.
can’t see why it should be.
Long before Brexit, if using a UK(sterling) card in France there was always a charge… it’s the different money systems that’s all.
In those long ago days, we used Travellers cheques and the UK card only if desperate. 
I always used my CA debit card before without any charges for many things from the UK especially M&S but I honestly feel its a brexit thing like all the changes in banking that came in and closure of non-resident accounts slowly. Even the premium bond lot got in on the act.
I think after the many threads and conversations on SF around retaining or trying to open a UK bank account when non resident the answer is a no brainer
1 Like
well, it’s obviously not that simple or there wouldn’t be talk of using a WiseVisa card (or have I missed the plot).
do you mean you used your Credit Ag (euro) card when visiting UK? I’ve certainly seen some UK M&S shops with 2-prices, clearly marked: Sterling/ Euro … 
In what way? You can still hold premium bonds as a French resident.
Perhaps you were being ironic (or do I mean sarcastic?), but no it’s a “UK deciding not to join the Euro bonus”. 
Banks do very nicely out of currency exchange fees. Firms like Wise also make money from it but offer more competitive rates.