One of the most regularly recommended credit cards for international travel is 28-Degrees. The attraction being the absence of fees and charges. However, in July a fee was introduced for paying the account by any means other than the 20-Degrees own online payment method.
I have had one of these cards for 10 year and have always paid by B-Pay, setting up the payment in advance, as soon as I receive the Statement. This is now attracting a fee, it is small, but it is still a fee! The 28-Degrees online payment is a direct bank transfer, with NO date function, it happens immediately!
This account has suddenly become unattractive to me!
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That’s annoying. We’ve got a Travel Money Card guide on site which we’ll update soon, we’ll keep an eye for those hidden fees!
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This is also happening to the interest free Go MasterCard - $0.95 for every online payment you make unless you use their direct debit system. This is on top of your $4.95 per month fee.
@JodiBird, when the Travel Money Guide is updated on the site, could you please post back here, along with a link?
TIA.
Allan
I agree with you about the fee now being charged by 28 degrees to pay by other means. I rang to complain about the unjust fee, but all I was encouraged to do was set up the online payment method. I expressed I was not keen to take that payment option. The fee was reversed only this time. We are not being rewarded for our loyalty nor for paying on time. It is such a disappointment that the convenience to use this card is no longer viable nor attractive for me either.
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Affirmative, we’ll post the link here when it’s ready.
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and GEMVisa has now too
Its a form of extortion to increase the probability of people forgetting or being unable to make the ‘free’ payment and incurring a late charge ‘profit’
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Regarding the Travel Card
What do you all think of the STA travel Cash card?
http://www.statravel.com.au/cash-card.htm
3.2 You can load funds in a number of ways: with cash at STA Travel Stores, by BPAY and at our discretion by
using a debit or credit card, subject to satisfactory security checks - simply follow the instructions at the
Website.
Any experiences?
Will the credit card top ups be a cash advance?
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Hi saxnix:
The particular card I have a problem with is a ‘credit card’ used to buy things over the counter in shops. However, I do have a ‘cash card’ as well, because the 28-Degrees credit card added a fee (another one) to withdraw cash. So I set up a ‘travel cash card’ with the NAB to allow cash to be withdrawn at a ‘cash machine.’ I chose NAB mainly because it is the bank I use and any money I transfer into the account is done through my normal account login, and it is instant. The only ‘fees’ are built into the currency transfer rates, it is a little low, but this is compensated by the shear convenience.
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Also note that 28 Degree’s own internal payment system gives users the ability to pay your card balance using anyone’s BSB and Account Number. There are no checks, so the responsiblity is on you, the card holder, to ensure that you have the authority to deduct money from the BSB/Acct number that you use in the “Pay your account” option.
I believe this is extremely dangerous and sets an Australian Precedent in that consumers can trigger payments from a Bank Account that is not owned by them.
I have raised this with both Latitude/28 Degrees staff and the financial ombudsman and it is 100% legal… Scary Stuff - i will not be giving my bank account details out to anyone knowing that facilities such as this are available and 100% legal.
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A month behind the curve, it reads as if when someone steals your account details to pay their card, it is between you and them, with 28Degrees taking no liability. If a company blindly accepts an authority they should have full liability if they accepted a “forgery” and are notified. Reality is that there is only so much checking that can be done, but liability should be on the company, and then your bank should be required to instantly reverse any stolen funds as they would with a dodgy credit card charge, pending investigation. You might clarify this with APRA and then if it is a problem in law, go to your MP to suggest it be fixed. It also seems the perp c/would be prosecuted for fraud by the company or bank.
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Update on 28-degree Master Card.
have now set up auto payment for 28-Degrees. This avoids the B-pay fee and gives me confidence that the payment is made on time. I now make sure there is enough funds in the account i pay from by transferring that amount from the interest account into the day-to-day account.
While this works, I am still annoyed that there is a fee for using B-Pay!
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We’ve recently updated our travel cards review, including a side-by-side comparison of all cards.
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Here’s our latest review revealing the best travel money cards, be sure to check it out if you’re planning a trip 
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ING is surely not one of our big four, but t if you play their ‘game’ they have no forex or offshore fees, ATM rebates on the debit card, and a similarly endowed ING credit card if it is linked to an ING transaction account. After a ‘test drive’ in Germany and the UK the xrates applied are not bad (for Australia), either.
It removes the magic, the fees, and the complexities of travel cards as I see it. Pity ING appears alone in providing such an account benefit. I just use my ING debit card to withdraw local currency at an ATM and am good to go, or use it as a card.
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