METRO BANK: The foreign travellers' bank... Problems using the card abroad

 

Thursday November 15

Metro bank's current account charges zero commission when you take money out of a cash machine abroad - and give the best possible exchange rate.

But if you're thinking of using them a warning: they let us down in China when the cards wouldn't work - and woeful customer care staff effectively said "you're on your own".

Metro offer great rates when you take money out abroad as they are trying to grow their customer base.

By banking with them typically you will save around 10 per cent on foreign currency. In the USA, $1 will cost you 60 pence with Metro Bank but it might be 66p if you use another provider. Obviously, this quickly adds up to a big saving.

Metro seem to be offering a great deal but in Beijing we were left stranded when cards refused to work in cash machines run by three major banks.

After ringing their customer care in the UK at extortionate cost, the unhelpful staff brazenly insisted there were no problems with our card.

They also said they are not aware of any difficulties with their debit cards working in China or any other countries.

However, I'll repeat the point - we used the card in cash machines run by three banks and it didn't work.

After that all transactions were blocked for the day.

This left us stuck with just £20 in our pockets to pay for accommodation and food.

Metro Bank, who open branches seven days a week, pride themselves on being different from other banks.

And they are "different". Because as soon as I used my NatWest debit card it worked without any problems at all.

At 4pm Chinese time, their staff insisted they would launch an "urgent" investigation. Eight hours later at midnight (4pm in the UK) they finally rang us back and woke us up to offer some unhelpful advice.

The whole saga meant we lost almost a day of our trip phoning for help, then sitting by the hostel phone waiting or a call back. Obviously we would rather have spent the time exploring Beijing.

And if we hadn't packed another bank's debit card we would have been stranded.

Subsequently, without help from Metro, we did find a bank their cards work in.

If you're determined to get a Metro Bank account for holidays, make sure you take other cards with you.