How we calculated the total charges for each provider

High street banks

The published charges from these high street banks for a standard current account have been used to calculate the total charge. These can be found here:

In addition to these charges, we have included the card scheme premium above the interbank rate. To quantify this premium, we've taken a basket of 8 currencies (EUR, USD, ZAR, AUD, THB, CHF, NZD, JPY) and calculated the difference between the daily card scheme benchmark rate and the average interbank rate (where we define average as the mean of the high and low rates for the day). In Q3 2024, the average card scheme premium equated to 0.55%.

It is worth noting that although Starling and Monzo charge no fee for standard transactions, customers do get charged the card scheme premium.

To quantify this, we've calculated the average card scheme premium for high street banks (see above). 

For Monzo, we have also included the ATM surcharge that would apply in the US. For Revolut, we have included the 2% ATM surcharge above £200, the 1% weekend surcharge, the 0.2% midweek spread and the 1% fair usage premium for spend over £1000.

Travel money products

The published charges from these travel money products have been used to calculate the total cost where possible. Where the terms don't make the rate or spread available, we have used website rate calculators and failing that, talked through with customer services operators. 

The products are based on standard free-of-charge accounts but take no account of upfront charges for cards, inactivity fees, etc. For credit cards, no monetary value is associated with the potential negative impact on a customer's credit rating of withdrawing money from an ATM.

For the Halifax Clarity card, charges are calculated as the applicable card scheme premium at 0.38% and the rate of interest that applies immediately to cash withdrawn from an ATM. This has been calculated based on a mean average of the quoted representative APR range at a monthly 1.801%, assuming the balance is paid in full one month after the withdrawal.

For Curve, we have included the 2% ATM surcharge for withdrawals over £200, the 2.5% surcharge that applies to spend over £250, and the 1% surcharge for spending at the weekend outside EUR and USD.

For Caxton FX, we have assumed a pre-load of GBP converted into USD at the enhanced exchange rate which would apply to a $2k load. Note that in the scenario where GBP is loaded onto the card and not pre-converted to USD, an additional charge of just over 0.5% would apply, based on the quoted 2.49% charge and the card scheme premium.

For Fair FX, we have assumed the use of a Dollar card, pre-loaded using GBP converted into USD, at the rate spread quoted using the live rate calculator. We have also included the £1 ATM surcharge applicable to the dollar card. For the Fair FX everywhere card, with GBP loaded and not pre-converted to USD, a surcharge of 1.4% would apply, but Currensea were unable to establish the base rate spread over Mastercard which would apply to the transaction.

For Travelex’s money card, we have assumed a top-up directly into the required currency. The travelex exchange rate premium over interbank is not reflected in their terms&conditions, and is changed at fixed points during the day when they re-fix. From a sample of dates in September 2024 across EUR, USD and CHF averaged 2.6%. We have not included the initial 2% fee for GBP top-up, the 5.75% fee for non-preconversion, the fee for removing unspent balances, and the dormancy fee.

For the Post Office Travel Money card, we have assumed a top-up in GBP with a commission charge of 1.5% and spend in USD attracting a cross border charge of 3%. We have also included the ATM withdrawal charge. For pre-conversion, Currensea were unable to establish the rate spread from the terms and conditions or the website. Rates supplied via customer services on the phone indicated a similar premium versus interbank would apply on a non-promotional basis.