NatWest has revealed that Brits are collectively losing £17m due to this one error. The bank has warned that holidaymakers are losing money by spending money in pounds abroad.
By choosing to pay in local currency, it works out cheaper, say NatWest. After recognising this mistake many Britons are making, the bank has launched a new travel card to help customers spend in euros rather than using their card which will incur added fees when used abroad.
MoneySavingExpert, Martin Lewis, said the top travel card is the Chase card. He suggested using a “specialist card” that doesn’t add a non-sterling transaction fee.
He said: “The top debit card is the Chase card, which gives you the same near-perfect rate the bank does and one per cent cashback on spending in the UK and abroad.
“Or, as a credit card, it’s actually the Barclaycard Rewards Card that gives you a quarter of a per cent cashback and perfect rates abroad.”
According to NatWest’s research, the £17m figure is expected to be lower than the actual amount Brits lose as it only accounts for the top five spending categories. These are ATM, accommodation, restaurants, duty free and groceries.
While abroad, holidaymakers are often given the option to pay in pounds or in euros, with many mistakenly choosing the pounds option. The exchange rate for paying in pounds is often far worse than paying in local currency and having the sum converted by your bank.
For every transaction carried out as part of the research it was found that it is always cheaper to pay in the local currency.
The research concluded that Poland tops the table for the highest spend carried out in pounds rather than the local currency (77% of spend value), this is closely followed by Turkey (73%) and Sweden (68%).
Spain is the most popular destination, with one in five transactions taking place in the country.
Hazel Harper, International Payments NatWest said: “There’s one simple trick to saving on your family holiday when you’re abroad and it’s by always choosing to pay in the local currency. Our research found that it could be up to 13% more expensive to pay in pounds which makes a big difference to the cost of a family holiday.”
