Warning over costs of overseas credit
With over five million Britons preparing to flock abroad on their Easter breaks, personal finance experts are urging travellers to be careful in the use of their credit cards to avoid running up extra charges.
Consumer advice group Money Supermarket has predicted an increase in the use of plastic abroad after the court of appeal's recent decision to allow foreign credit card transactions to come under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
However, analysts have identified certain pitfalls that could result in a collective sum of £335 million being run up this year alone due to the hidden costs of payments made overseas.
'Spending on plastic is a popular and convenient choice for many Brits abroad,' said Robert Kenley, head of credit cards at Money Supermarket. 'Yet the costs of doing so if you do not use the right card can far outweigh the benefits.'
Some providers, according to Mr Kenley, slap a foreign currency charge of 2.5 per cent on overseas transactions, while others impose an additional charge of up to two per cent if a consumer uses their card to withdraw cash from a foreign ATM.
Frequently, the heaviest fees arise from dynamic currency conversion, when retailers convert the price of goods paid in their domestic currency into British pounds at their own conversion rate: something not always made clear on a customer's bill.
Travellers can look online for the best advice about terms, charges and conditions for credit card use overseas. | 
