Taking your cards with you when you travel outside the UK means you won’t have to rely on just cash.
But on this page we’ll help you understand the fees and charges you might come across.
You may have to pay a fee to buy things or withdraw cash from cash machines in a foreign currency. These are the 3 charges you need to know about:
There's usually a fee to convert the currency if you use your card outside the UK:
If you pay in the local currency, there may be a fee added to the cost. The fee will be a percentage of the value of what you're buying.
With the HSBC Global Money Account1, you can order a debit card and there are no HSBC fees for using it to make payments outside the UK. Other non-HSBC fees may apply.
For other HSBC accounts, there’s a fee of 2.75% for debit cards and 2.99% for credit cards. The total amount is converted to pounds sterling when the transaction is debited to your account.
If you choose to convert to pounds sterling at the point of sale, the conversion rate is set by the merchant. Fees can often be high so in most cases it’s cheaper to pay in the local currency. Then either Visa or Mastercard will do the currency conversion at their current rate. You should always have the right to select which currency to pay in.
If you choose to pay with a Global Money debit card, it will automatically give the most up-to-date exchange rates and avoid dynamic currency conversion fees.
If you use your card to withdraw money from a cash machine, there's often a separate fee on top of the one for converting currency.
There are no HSBC fees for using a Global Money card to withdraw cash outside the UK, although other non-HSBC fees may apply.
There's no cash fee either for using your debit card to withdraw money from a cash machine outside the UK if you’re an HSBC Premier customer.
For other HSBC accounts there's a cash fee of 2% (minimum £1.75, maximum £5) on withdrawals using a debit card. With a credit card the cash fee is 2.99% (minimum £3).
You can find out more about the pros and cons of using your card or travel money outside the UK.
If you use your credit card to pay for things outside the UK, or withdraw cash, interest charges will apply in the same way they do at home.
Your bank statement will show details of your international transactions, including a breakdown of any charges.
It should include:
1 Global Money is only available in the latest version of the HSBC UK Mobile Banking app. You’ll need to have an eligible HSBC current account. This excludes our Basic Bank Account, Appointee and MyAccount.
