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If you are jetting off on your summer holidays you could unwittingly lose a chunk of your holiday spending cash to fees charged by your debit or credit card provider for overseas spending.

Big banks – such as Lloyds, TSB and Halifax – can charge as much as 2.99 per cent on every ATM withdrawal and purchase you make abroad.

But it’s not too late to slash the cost of your holiday spending – even if you’ve left it to the very last minute. 

You can get fee-free spending with cards and bank accounts that can be opened quickly.

The debit or credit cards will be available to use on your phone in minutes or arrive in the post within a couple of days.

Money Mail – with the help of two experts – has picked out the best accounts and cards you can get in time for your holiday.

The best exchange rate

The exchange rate that most people get when using a card with fee-free spending abroad is the Mastercard or Visa rate, set once a day at a fraction above the European Central Bank rate.

Mastercard rates tend to be ever so slightly better than Visa rates, according to investment platform Trading 212.

But Trading 212 offers a prepaid card that comes with an even more generous rate. It uses the interbank rate – the real exchange rate banks use to trade currencies with each other.

Visa or Mastercard rates tend to be 0.2 to 0.3 per cent higher than this.

In reality, this is unlikely to amount to a huge saving unless you plan to spend large sums abroad.

Rachel Springall, financial expert at rates scrutineer Moneyfacts Compare, says: ‘This is more a “pennies” difference for anyone comparing the interchange rates.’

As an extra benefit, Trading 212’s card offers 1.5 per cent cashback on most spending, capped at £15 a month and you can apply for it within Trading 212’s app.

You will need to open a Trading 212 Invest account, which offers stocks and shares Isas and cash Isas but you do not have to use these products to get the card. Once you load money up to Trading 212, you can spend it overseas.

The best for speed

Starling’s bank account comes with fee-free spending and cash withdrawals abroad. It uses the Mastercard rate.

You must apply for a Starling account in the bank’s app. The account will usually be opened the same day, once Starling has performed its checks, which include you scanning ID and providing information about your income and tax status.

As soon as the account is open, a virtual card will be available in the cards tab of the Starling app. 

This card can then be added to your Apple wallet if you have an iPhone, or Google wallet if you have an Android. It can then be used to make contactless payments with your smartphone or smartwatch.

Starling’s physical debit card typically arrives within five days.

Digital rivals Monzo and Chase also use the rate set by Mastercard, but Andrew Hagger, from independent information website Money Comms, picks the Starling card as ‘it is quick and easy to apply for, there are no fees for using outside the UK and no confusing ATM withdrawal restrictions – a great travel card to pack with your passport’.

The best credit card

The Halifax Clarity credit card can be used for fee-free purchases.

You will not pay fees above the Mastercard rate that this card uses if you pay the balance off in full each month.

If you don’t, you will be charged the card’s APR of 23.9 per cent.

You can withdraw up to £500 a day when abroad using the card, but avoid using any credit card for cash withdrawals abroad as you will be charged interest.

Halifax charges interest on ATM cash withdrawals at a rate of 23.9 per cent even if the statement balance is paid in full.

Ms Springall says: ‘Halifax has one of the best travel credit cards on the market, so it is a popular choice for customers looking to avoid paying unnecessary transaction fees when they make purchases or cash withdrawals.’

The best for customer service

First Direct offers fee-free spending and cash withdrawals abroad using Mastercard’s rate. It also comes with a £175 cash sweetener if you switch your main current account to it through the Current Account Switch Service.

To use this service, ask First Direct to carry out the transfer and it will arrange for your payments and balance to be switched over from your old account.

Club Lloyds also offers fee-free spending with its debit card, but this account has a £5 monthly fee unless you pay at least £2,000 into the account each month.

Our experts pick First Direct thanks to its customer service, which is especially valuable if anything goes wrong when abroad. First Direct has a 24/7 customer service phone line.

The account can be opened on the same day you apply. You will receive a virtual card in the First Direct app, which can be added to Apple or Google wallets and used for contactless payments. A First Direct debit card will arrive in the post within five days.

First Direct’s sister brand HSBC also has a Global Money Account. This is not a bank account but a currency account where you can exchange and hold different currencies in an app. 

The average time taken to open one of these accounts is 63 seconds, HSBC data from the last six months shows.

There are no fees for purchases or cash withdrawals abroad and you can hold up to 18 currencies in the app.

The currency account must be opened on HSBC’s mobile app. Once it is open, you will receive a digital card which can be added to Apple Pay or Google Pay. A card will then arrive around five days later.

The best for cash withdrawals

Cash is still king in some countries – and you may find you need to withdraw some to make payments or to make budgeting easier while on holiday.

Chase is our experts’ pick for a card with no fees for cash withdrawals abroad. It does not charge fees on card purchases made abroad either.

The account can be opened in the Chase app and will typically be up and running on the same day. Chase performs a soft credit check to confirm your ID which doesn’t affect your credit file.

As soon as the account is open, you will receive a virtual debit card. A physical debit card will arrive within five working days,

You can withdraw up to £500 a day from cash machines, capped at £1,500 abroad within a month with Chase’s debit card.

It beats Monzo’s account, which also offers fee-free spending abroad and on cash withdrawals. 

But if you are holidaying outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), with Monzo you can only withdraw up to £200 every 30 days without any fees. After that, it will charge 3 per cent.

If you were withdrawing £500 in cash outside of the EEA, you would pay £9 in fees.

If Monzo is not your main bank account you can withdraw up to £400 every 30 days fee-free in the UK and Europe and pay 3 per cent on the rest. You would pay £3 to withdraw £500.

Ms Springall says: ‘There are a handful of current accounts that will not charge for withdrawing cash, such as with Chase or Starling Bank, neither of which charge an account fee or have minimum funding requirements.’

moneymail@dailymail.co.uk