Cheques.

[WINKIE]

We normally carry travellers cheques when on holiday,simply for the security aspect.Is it possible to cash these in the village.I know that they are going out of fashion,does anyone know any other means of not having to carry cash around.Been advised to bring all our spending money in Euros.

[D@G]

From memory there are 2 or 3 places that will change travellers cheques in the village, I'm sure somebody will be along to confirm.

An alternative though is the preloaded credit cards. The benefits are they are safer than carrying cash, you know the rate when you load it up so you won't get a rubbish rate like the cash machines give you, small transaction fee (usually €2 per transaction for cash) etc. have a look here:-

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/prepaidcards/

[Jules]

We have never had any problems taking all cash (always have a safety deposit box). Cheques can be changed at various places including Marias shop (newspaper shop). If you are staying in a hotel they will probably change them for you as I believe San Stefanos Travel do as well.

[WINKIE]

Thanks to you both folks,very much appreciated,cheques it is then.

[Jimbo]

Winkie - you have two safes in your wardrobes at Little Prince. Might cost you a few Euros for your week. Much less hassle to take cash.

Agios Stefanos is actually a very crime-free place. We've never had any problems with cash. The only real crime is Albanians and Italians stealing boats from the harbour!

[Lesley]

Jimbo - not sure whom stole my ole man Aris' boat from the harbour but it never turned up either wrecked or dumped........that was 2 years ago, hence no home caught & served fish these days.... 

[Cerys]

As previously mentioned San Stefano Travel do indeed cash both euro and sterling travelers cheques as well as exchanging sterling notes for euros. For those of you who don't have access to a safety deposit box in your accommodation we also rent safety deposit boxes. The pre-loaded cards are great in theory, however not all restaurants, bars etc. in San Stefanos accept card payments so it's always better to check first. Also, the pre-loaded cards are susceptable to the same charge as a credit/debit card when used, i.e. 2-5% transaction charge so in the grand scheme of things they may end up costing you more. 

[D@G]

As previously mentioned San Stefano Travel do indeed cash both euro and sterling travelers cheques as well as exchanging sterling notes for euros. For those of you who don't have access to a safety deposit box in your accommodation we also rent safety deposit boxes. The pre-loaded cards are great in theory, however not all restaurants, bars etc. in San Stefanos accept card payments so it's always better to check first. Also, the pre-loaded cards are susceptable to the same charge as a credit/debit card when used, i.e. 2-5% transaction charge so in the grand scheme of things they may end up costing you more. 

Just to pick up on the bolded Cerys. Most cards will only charge €2 per cash transaction. Meaning point of sale transactions (restaurants, shops etc) are free from any charges whilst using a cash machine will cost €2 (which is a little over 0.5% if withdrawing the maximum €300).

[Waspman]

By far the best and cheapest way of spending money abroad is by the "no load/commission" credit card, but only if you pay the balance off in full every month.  With this type of card it's far cheaper to spend on them (tavernas and supermarkets) than withdraw cash and spend it.

It's likely that you will only get one of these cards if you have a good credit rating and are the type who does not go into debt, otherwise it's the pre-paid card to go for.

The current best at present is the Halifax Clarity Card, you don't have to be a Halifax customer to apply for one.
There is no foreign exchange fee worldwide and there is no cash withdrawal fee, unlike most other cards, however you will be charged interest from the date you withdraw the cash (the same as all other cards) but fairly low interest at 12.9%, so set up a direct debit to pay it off in full every month.
There are extra benefits if you have a Halifax Reward current account

There are a couple of others which are nearly as good if you have them, Post Office (£3 cash withdrawal fee), Nationwide (£2 cash withdrawal fee) and Santander Zero (no cash withdrawal fee) but no fees on any of them if using in tavernas or shops.

A lot of pre-paid cards have start up fees, ATM withdrawal fees (FairFX is 1.5 € for each withdrawal), inactivity fees (both My Travel Cash and Travelex charge a £2 monthly inactivity fee once a card has not been used for 12 months. FairFX and Caxton FX do not)

Another thing to remember is if the retailer gives you the choice of paying  in £'s or euros, always choose euros or you will lose out.

Last year only one of the several tavernas and supermarkets would not accept any type of card, The Beachcomber.

In 2012 I was getting about 0.05 to 0.06 euros above the San Stefanos exchange rate, food for thought.

[Cerys]

Although the UK supplier of the pre-paid card may state that there are no charges, the Greek banks processing the payments certainly do charge the vendor for accepting the payment thus incurring the small transaction charge. It has always been this way when guests have chosen to pay by debit or credit card and the Greek banks see no difference in paying via a pre-paid card.   

[dibully]

We have always taken cash and used the safe were we stayed never had a problem we know last year a couple of people we spoke to tried to get money from the machine near Thomas Bay which wasn't working

[Waspman]

Correct on pre-paid cards maybe Cerys, but on the no load/commission credit cards I have mentioned they do not incur charges in Corfu, unless the retailer (taverna or shop) advises you in advance in which case you can decline the transaction.  I have only had one occasion where a taverna (The Nafsika) wished to incur a 2% surcharge, I declined. On other occasions the retailer has absorbed any bank charges.

[loftyscot]

There is a small charge charge collected by the credit card company on all Mastercard/VISA/Amex/Diners Club transactions irrespective of whether the cardholder is using a debit/credit/pre-paid/no commission cards.

So for example, if you pay €1, the merchant will received something like 99.5 cents with the payment scheme collecting 0.5 cents before it settles with the merchant. This is called the 'Interchange' and is subject to ongoing monitoring by worldwide regulators to ensure the card payments schemes do not abuse their market dominance.

The small fee is in effect the cost the the card issuing comapnies and the merchants have to pay to maintain the payment scheme infracstructure.

The attached Mastercard link provides more details and it shows that in certain situations the prepaid card is more expensive for the merchant to process than a normal credit card. So although a good dea, on the face of it, for the holiday maker , not so good for the local SS businessman which this forum so loves to support!!

http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/whatwedo/interchange/Intra-EEA.html

An interesting topic and one which paid me well for 8 years :-)

[tonyco1]

I agree with Jules - San Stefanos is 99.9% crime free.
We have taken cash for the last 15 years now, with the safe - it is more convenient in every way.