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Well that went down like a lead balloon!! I thought it may be useful! 

No, unfortunately you haven't won $16 trillion on the Nigerian lottery and nor have I found a new Fasttech discount code  However, for those of you that don't know already, there is a way to save money on any purchases you make that aren't in GBP.

At the moment I have my Barclaycard (Visa credit card) linked to my paypal account and I was looking at my statement which is often full of paypal payments or other subscriptions in USD. I noticed 2 things.

1) I was being charged a transaction fee for any purchases not in GBP.

2) The exchange rate used was pretty poor.

It turns out that nearly every bank or credit card will load the exchange rate 2.99% in their favour and will also charge you a transaction fee, proportionate to how much you spend. This includes cards such as American Express.

Here's a small screenshot of part of my Barclaycard statement when Visa's exchange rate was $1.56 to the £:



As you can see, the exchange rate used by Barclays was 1.52 when the Visa rate was 1.56 and I was also charged the transaction fee of £2.79. Pants eh?

So I was wondering whether there was a way of saving money, not only the transaction fee but also of getting a better exchange rate and it turns out that there is!

The answer? Halifax Clarity Mastercard. So I went ahead, applied for one and it popped through the door a few days later.

Here's a screenshot from my first purchase using the Halifax card:



Now you'll have to take my word on it the £3.43 listed was for $5.36. So the exchange rate used by mastercard was $1.563. No exchange rate loading by Halifax and no transaction fee either.

Looking back at Mastercard's exchange rate when I made the first purchase of $146.07, had I used the Halifax card, I would have paid a total of £93.45 instead of £96.17, saving me £2.72. Not much? No, not a great deal but when I total up all my transactions not in GBP it will make a big difference.

With the Mastercard, the currency exchange rate is Mastercard's rate, not Halifax, not anyone else:

www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/


Just to add, when you link your credit card to your paypal account, at the payment stage you will see a screen which allows you to select between paypal's exchange rate and your card issuer's exchange rate. Your card will more often than not have a better rate than paypal's. Here's a picture uploaded to a site which shows you where this conversion option is. I will link to this site in a moment:



You want to check the Mastercard exchange rate and also Paypal's and compare them. Choose whichever is in your favour. This site from where the above picture was nabbed explains it better and gives an example:

www.thebackpackr.com/paypal-currency-conversion-which-should-i-choose/


tl;dr? The simple version: Check if you're getting ripped off by your bank/card issuer when you make purchases in a foreign currency and fix it, if you are in a position to, by using a different credit card.

I have been told that the Post Office Mastercard works in a similar way to Halifax' Clarity but I cannot confirm this.

You all may already know about this and I may be preaching to the choir but I hope this has been helpful for someone!

LOL, I was joking too!!  Sense of humour is difficult on a forum!!

I agree about the hypnotherapist.  Some people are receptive to it and some people's brains just say no!

I can edit the coughing out if you like

LBC Petrie Hosken - discussion on smoking and e-cigarettes, 15th June 2013.

I've edited this to exclude irrelevant conversation. Total length 1hr8mins. Download is 27MB.

If you want to have a listen, you can download it here. It's worth a listen as Petrie Hosken, the presenter, has been a vaper since January and has completely quit analogues. She's also cynical about the MHRA decision. Would be amazing if she could help the cause as she's quite passionate about the subject

www.dropbox.com/s/edq2ubu04iukvlt/LBC%20Conversation%20-%20Petrie%20Hosken%20-%20Smoking%20and%20E-Cigarettes%20-%2015th%20June%202013.mp3

Thanks to blownupdolly and elfish for making us aware of this show

Are we any nearer to having a sticky containing links to relevant media discussion and information?

Blownupdolly I've looked through LBC tweets and it was Petrie Hosken's show on 15th June.  She's quite cynical about the MHRA and their motives.   I'm part way through editing the podcast so that it only includes the conversation relating to smoking.

Can a mod please confirm that it's OK to upload it to dropbox for anyone who wants to listen to it?  I'm assuming it will be OK as there are loads of youtube clips of LBC that have been uploaded for years and haven't been taken down.

Thanks everyone. Lots of information to consume and cogitate over. Keep the ideas coming though; they're very helpful