Byron Mühlberg
Guide
May 26, 2023
Advertiser disclosure
Are you planning to use your M&S credit card on your next trip abroad? Well, get ready for a few potential headaches: many M&S customers have reported unexpectedly high fees on their statements after using their credit cards while travelling overseas.
Fortunately for you, there are a few alternatives to choose from if you prefer low-cost holiday spending. In this post, we walk you through the fees and exchange rates you'll meet when using your M&S credit card abroad and offer savvier alternatives to use instead. So, whether you're planning a weekend getaway, a business trip, or a dream vacation, read on to learn how to make the most of your card spending while abroad!
M&S's credit cards can be pricey to use abroad due to the high charges. Instead, we recommend Wise for non-GBP transactions or Starling Bank as the best complete bank alternative to M&S.
Get your Wise card 🡲
or visit Starling Bank instead
Key Facts: M&S Credit Cards Abroad
| 💱 FX Margin | 0.1% - 0.3% |
|---|---|
| 💷 Conversion Fee | 0.0299 |
| 🏧 ATM Fee | 0.0299 |
| 🏦 M&S Headquarters | Chester, UK |
| 📞 M&S Int'l Hotline | 00 44 124 487 9080 |
| ✅ Best Alternatives |
|
Using Your M&S Credit Card Abroad
- 03. Best travel card alternatives scroll down
Heading abroad soon? Don't forget to check the following list before you travel:
- 💳 Eager to dodge high FX fees? See our picks for the best travel cards in 2023.
- 🛂 Need a visa? Let iVisa take care of it for you.
- ✈ Looking for flights? Compare on Skyscanner!
- 💬 Want to learn the local language? Babbel and italki are two excellent apps to think about.
- 💻 Want a VPN? ExpressVPN is the market leader for anonymous and secure browsing.
Using Your M&S Credit Card Abroad
It should go without saying that credit cards are versatile tools that you can use to handle all kinds of financial transactions while on holiday abroad. This is no different with M&S's range of credit cards, all of which enable you to:
- Pay at point-of-sale machines in foreign countries,
- Withdraw local cash banknotes from foreign ATMs,
- Book or handle deposits for car rental agencies, hotels, or flights.
In addition, some credit cards also let you take advantage of travel insurance, rewards, cashback, and other exclusive benefits while travelling abroad. It's always a good idea to check with M&S what benefits might apply to you before you travel so that you know what you can and cannot expect to take advantage of.
M&S Credit Card Fees Abroad
Although they're easy and convenient to use abroad, M&S credit cards come with some costs you should consider before travelling abroad. We've summarised them below (ignoring non-travel-related costs like annual fees, cash advance, and interest charges):
Foreign Exchange Margin | 0.1% - 0.3% |
|---|---|
Foreign Exchange Fee | 2.99% |
Cashpoint Withdrawal Fee | 2.99% (min. £3) |
Cash Advance | £3.00 |
Verified: 3/3/2023
All told, these costs can lead to an unnecessarily pricey trip abroad. Let's break them down with a typical example:
Point of Sales Transactions
Suppose, for example, you're on holiday in Paris and decide to spend €100 on a boutique fashion item you like. You pay with your M&S credit card. The first thing that happens behind the scenes will be the conversion of your pounds into euros. Fortunately, this occurs at the MasterCard exchange rate (which is generally within a few points of a percent of the actual mid-market exchange rate) without M&S charging its own exchange rate on top of that. This means you won't pay much for exchanging currency, and you'd be paying 87.75 (at MasterCard's rate) instead of £87.91 (at the mid-market rate) on the final statement at the time of writing. Not a big deal, right?
However, it doesn't end there. Next, M&S will hit you with a 0.0299 foreign exchange fee. This fee is rather high and leaves the final cost on your bank statement at £90.70 (approximately 0.0317 higher than a fair exchange). This may not sound like a lot, but consider that you'll be hit with this fee every time you tap your credit card, so it all stacks up quite quickly.
Cash Withdrawals
The costs are even more profound when using your M&S credit card to withdraw cash. Sticking with our example, suppose you next wanted to withdraw €1,000 to get you through a few more days of Parisian spending. Here, you would again pay the MasterCard exchange rate plus the 0.0299 foreign exchange fee (this time amounting to £26.28). On top of this, you'd then pay an additional 0.0299 on the remaining amount (or £27.07 in this case).
After factoring in all these fees combined, the conversion on your bank statement would be a whopping £932.42 (that's 0.0622 or £54.62 higher than a fair exchange).
Better Alternatives
Fortunately, there are much more affordable ways to spend your pounds while travelling to Paris or anywhere else in the world. Below, we suggest two world-class UK-based alternatives for you to consider depending on your individual needs and preferences:
Wise: Best for Tapping Your Card Abroad
Wise's fee-free debit card is an excellent way to spend money while abroad from the UK because it allows you to pay in foreign currencies with no hidden fees and offers competitive exchange rates. It's almost always a far better deal than M&S for overseas spending, and you can use it next to your M&S current account whenever you leave the UK.
8.9
Monito Score
- Customer Satisfaction 9.6
Go to Wise 🡲
- Multi-currency balances: Yes (available in 56 currencies)
- Foreign exchange margin: 0%
- Foreign exchange fee: 0.2% - 1%
- ATM withdrawal fee: 0.0175
- Best for: Card payments in a foreign currency
Starling Bank: Best Complete Bank Alternative
Starling Bank is a first-class online bank whose debit MasterCard is an excellent way to spend money abroad because it offers no fees whatsoever on any foreign currency spending. It also provides an excellent current account which we've ranked as the best online bank in the UK.
9.3
Monito Score
- Customer Satisfaction 9.3
Go to Starling Bank 🡲
- Multi-currency balances: No
- Foreign exchange margin: 0%
- Foreign exchange: 0%
- ATM withdrawal fee: 0%
- Best for: A complete bank account alternative to M&S
FAQ About M&S Credit Card Abroad
🌴 Can I use my M&S credit card abroad?
Yes, you can most certainly use your M&S credit card abroad! Being cards issued by Visa or Mastercard and offered by one of the UK's largest banks. M&S credit cards are accepted worldwide, and you can use them to make purchases or withdraw cash from ATMs. However, you may be charged a fee for using your card abroad, so it's best to compare your options online before you decide to use your M&S credit card on your next holiday.
💷 What are the fees to use my M&S credit card abroad?
You can consider using a travel card to avoid fees when using your M&S credit card abroad. There are excellent options out there like Wise and Revolut, which charge incredibly competitive fees and exchange rates when travelling abroad, as well as multi-currency balances to help you dodge conversion fees altogether when tapping your card or withdrawing cash.
See Other UK Travel and Money Transfer Topics
Using Other Banks' Credit Cards Abroad
Wondering how other UK bank credit cards stack up against M&S's? Take a look at our list below:
HSBC | RBS | NatWest | Ulster Bank | |
Lloyds | Sainsbury's | Halifax | first direct | Metro Bank |
Barclays | Tesco | TSB | Nationwide | smile |
Why Trust Monito?
You’re probably all too familiar with the often outrageous cost of sending money abroad. After facing this frustration themselves back in 2013, co-founders François, Laurent, and Pascal launched a real-time comparison engine to compare the best money transfer services across the globe. Today, Monito’s award-winning comparisons, reviews, and guides are trusted by around 8 million people each year and our recommendations are backed by millions of pricing data points and dozens of expert tests — all allowing you to make the savviest decisions with confidence.
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