UK Santander bank account

TOM AND BARB · Post by **TOM AND BARB** » Thu 15 Jan 2015 13:35

Hello,

Hoping someone will know the answer to this :

Apparently anyone with a UK Santander account can draw money out of a Spanish ATM up to 350 euros per day with no charge because Santander is a Spanish bank and make this special concession to its UK customers.

Q : Has anyone done this ?
Q : What rate do they give on the day ?
Q : Do they give the inter-bank rate at the time ?
Q : Do they give a lower than inter bank rate to compensate for not making a charge ?

Thanks

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Fri 16 Jan 2015 17:39

I'd like a definite answer to this.
It would be great for us as we spend a lot of time in Tenerife.
However, I'm pretty sure you have been misinformed and that the two Santanders (UK and Spain) are completely independent of each other.

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Fri 16 Jan 2015 21:44

polremy wrote:I'd like a definite answer to this.
It would be great for us as we spend a lot of time in Tenerife.
However, I'm pretty sure you have been misinformed and that the two Santanders (UK and Spain) are completely independent of each other.

How so independent? The Spanish one owns the UK one. Though God knows whether that gives you a good deal on ATM withdrawals: you could try asking them.

Zen · Post by **Zen** » Sun 18 Jan 2015 02:23

I used my UK Santander card in Barcelona just before xmas and in France as well around this time. I've looked and both uses had a similar charge- £1-99.
The rate was fairly good for that time I think- 1.25 euros to the pound. It was the same in both countries. I think its treated as any other UK card in Spain as far as I can tell.

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Sun 18 Jan 2015 11:09

Zen wrote:I used my UK Santander card in Barcelona just before xmas and in France as well around this time. I've looked and both uses had a similar charge- £1-99.
The rate was fairly good for that time I think- 1.25 euros to the pound. It was the same in both countries. I think its treated as any other UK card in Spain as far as I can tell.

As I recall, the rules were changed in the UK a while ago so that any charges for overseas use have to be made explicitly: the exchange rate you get is that used by the Visa/MasterCard central clearing house, which is essentially the middle market rate. This assumes that you pay in euros, and refuse the option to pay in sterling which is increasingly offered. It is received opinion that you should choose to pay in euros, and I always do, but I have never bothered to do the sums.

The recent roundup here - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel ... rd-charges - suggests that Santander charges a min £1.99 on non-UK withdrawals using a debit card (which jibes with Zen's experience) but waives this if you use Santander ATMs. Charges for using a credit card are higher, and apparently not waived.

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