French / Spanish supermarket cashback

[RayS]

Does anyone know whether these supermarkets offer cashback as some UK brands do ?
I've had a look on the web but found no definitive answers, only some 2010 answers saying some French ones do but charge 1% on it. This would still be quite a good deal.
Welcome any information (and the appropriate words too would be helpful )

 

[HomerS1]

You do need to be careful. if you are using a uk bank card they will give you their exchange rate which is awful.

 

[VicMallows]

We have overwintered in Spain for the last 2 years. A large proportion of our food shopping was in the (nationwide) DIA chain. They have a 'Club DIA' card which unlike most gives you worthwhile immediate savings on various items in-store. Some of the items are more-or-less permanent; others vary week-by-week.
To rub-salt-in, if you DO NOT have a card, the till receipt lists what you would have paid with one ....and then adds back in the relevant discount at the end!!

I only discovered how to get a card (a rather long-winded application form in Spanish) towards the end of our last stay, but estimate I would have saved about EU 50.00 this year. (I will certainly get one next time).

 

[Raywood]

Most supermarkets will have a cash machine with an English option. I would tend to use that for the better rate of exchange and the fact you will be able to get a lot more out of them.

 

[VicMallows]

I obviously misunderstood the OP and thought the question was about loyalty cash-back schemes (like Tesco) hmy:

AFAIK, cash-back is only ever available on DEBIT card transactions, and with most overseas debit card transactions on a UK bank you will incur a charge around 3% anyway. I believe some people do use a fee-free CREDIT card overseas to draw cash from ATM's, and then immediately make a transfer to the account to clear the balance....but that takes a lot of management!

I personally have a foreign debit card which charges 1% whether for purchases or cash withdrawals, and that works best for me.

 

[RayS]

Thanks everyone. In 17 years of wintering in Spain I have not encountered a supermarket with an ATM but that's maybe because we don't go near big cities. Several now offer the choice of paying in Euro or GBP which as someone said is hoping to get you to pay in GBP as their exchange rate is none too good. The good old Nationwide cash reward credit card ( probably no longer available) still seems to be the best option.
Good news todays is that 1 euro is now around 86p rather than around 90 - as someone said 'every little helps'

 

[Jaydug]

I've been over-wintering in Spain for a lot of years and also haven't used a credit card abroad for a similar time. During the past years I used a Nationwide debit card which gave an interbank exchange rate for European withdrawals. When they stopped that perk, I transferred my account to Norwich & Peterborough who gave a similar transaction rate. But then they too closed all their current accounts, just keeping the mortgage business running. When they closed down I moved my current account once again, this time to the Metro Bank. They also give customers a transaction free exchange rate at inter-bank rates. The average exchange rate throughout the winter on my withdrawals was 1.35. Since I withdrew around €3000 it saved me around 55 quid compared with what it would have cost on my Caxton Euro card.

 

[Gafferbill]

Do you mean you received an exchange rate of 1.35€ to the £ ?

......I only managed around 1.12€ courtesy of the Brexit vote

 

[Jaydug]

Do you mean you received an exchange rate of 1.35€ to the £ ?

If only!! A slip of the finger. I should have typed €1.135...