Barclays launching USD and EUR wallets

1

I read an article last night that Barclays are planning to release USD and EUR wallets to current accounts in the UK.

So you can use your normal card to withdraw USD/EUR overseas I assume without charges.

So I bit like Revolut/Transferwise where you can have another wallet in another currency.

But not confirmed is the exchange rate they will use. This will be a big factor.

I guess they are trying to keep up with our digital fintech friends as they are losing customers.

Anyone know more?

I’m a Barclays client so an extra USD wallet may be handy although I do use Revolut and Transferwise already.

2

I have similar with my existing Barclays International account, seperate accounts in GBP, EUR and USD. It is very expensive to use, hence one of the reasons I migrated to Transferwise and Revolut.

3

Yes I looked at that a while back. Really not worth it when we have all the digital options out there for no fee.

This new wallet product is apparently going to be available for normal current account users.

4

I don’t see how this can be any better than Revolut, unless Barclays uses an interbank FX rate, which it won’t.

The real killer would be if a card issuer of points-earning credit or charge cards such as American Express decides to offer multi-currency settlement on a single card in the same way that Revolut offers multi-currency balances on a single card. In other words, offer for postpaid what Revolut offers for prepaid. Only Amex could make this really profitable because it’s not subject to the 0.3% EU cap on interchange fees, at least not on its non-cobranded cards.

5

If AmEx kill the 2.99% I will abandon my Revolut card tomorrow :sweat: no offense Revolut

6

If my Halifax Clarity Credit Card offered Interbank Exchange rates as opposed to offering Mastercard exchange rates I would do the same !

Luckily there is no foreign exchange fee with Halifax Clarity, and up to 56 days to repay, but Revolut beats on exchange rates (weekdays).

https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/clarity-card/

7

I don’t think the clarity is too much worse than Revolut tbh

Granted if you’re a metal sub and outside of Europe often enough - it’s definitely worthwhile using the Revolut card

1 Like
8

You are right, it’s just I watch every penny lol !

At the weekend Clarity would win hands down. Although I also have Nationwide Visa which is ‘fee free’, so depending on the country I could use either at the weekends. Most of my travel is outside of Europe. I made a tidy profit on the Revolut 1% cashback over last 12 months.

9

You’re forgetting one important benefit of Revolut, namely the ability to choose your FX rate. I used orders (“auto-exchange”) to do the FX when the market reaches a rate of my choice. Amex offers no such ability, so even if they remove the 3% fee, you’d still be stuck with a low GBP/USD rate of 1.2111 this week for example, rather than having sold GBP/USD at above 1.2500 last week.

10

I thought Forex trading was against terms and conditions and would get your account suspended and money frozen ?

I was talking about purchasing goods and services in a foreign country with a card purchase.

11

Auto-exchange isn’t something you can rely on last minute though, you have to plan in advance and keep the money around sitting until it hits a preferential rate :slight_smile:

12

No, that’s not true. It depends on the reason for your trade. If you’re trading speculatively, i.e. buying and selling in order to make a profit, then that’s not allowed. But trading in one direction with a view to spending the bought currency is allowed and is the purpose of the product.

2 Likes
13

Absolutely. But that’s the way to use Revolut most effectively. As FX is my profession, it’s the way I use it.

2 Likes