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The Nationwide debit card always gives you the 'Interbank' rate which is higher than the 'tourist' rate which is what you get from Bureau de Change, and with most other debit cards.  In May this year when the 'tourist' rate was 115.00 to 117.00 we were getting 121.00 with Nationwide.  On a £100 withdrawal that could be up to £6 difference.

Today those rates are:

Interbank
€1.2043, $1.5938
http://www.bbc.co.uk...ncy/default.stm
Tourist
€1.1722, $1.5327
http://www.bbc.co.uk...y/1/default.stm

Those cards which say 'No Commission' often only give you the tourist rate - so their commission is effectively the difference between the interbank rate and the rate they quote you.  Some cards even charge a transation fee, and commission on each use of the card which together can take another £5 off what you actually get.

It can make quite a difference to the amount you end up with in your pocket if you don't watch those 'cents' carefully!  That's why I'm on the look out for another DEBIT card which gives the same advantages as the Nationwide, or I suppose a credit card which could be paid off without any interest would also be worth considering.

Quote: Originally posted by Val A on 03/8/2010

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The Nationwide debit card always gives you the 'Interbank' rate which is higher than the 'tourist' rate which is what you get from Bureau de Change, and with most other debit cards.

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I work for a bank and, as you say, the interbank rate (as the name suggests) is the rate that the banks offer to other banks. If the Nationwide card was also offerring that rate, that is the equivalent of a caravan dealer selling you a van for the same price he got it from the manufacturer ie. wholesale .

No wonder Nationwide are changing it...they're missing out on a small fortune in income...