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ATMs & Credit Cards: Minimizing Fees

Throughout Europe, cash machines and credit cards are the standard way for American travelers to change money or pay for services. You get a much better rate than with traveler's checks but you do pay a fee, usually to your hometown bank or to your card issuer. And ATMs may not be as good a deal, as some overseas ATM vendors and US banks add a 2 percent or so fee to each transaction. How do you minimize fees when using ATMs in Europe? Are they still the best way to change money? Also, any comments about minimizing extra credit card foreign currency conversion fees?

Please Note: ATM and Credit Card fees change frequently. Contact your bank or credit card company for exact, up-to-date information before your trip.

I want to add my comments! 

Bank of America Warning
We are just back from a month in Europe. Before we left, my wife called Bank of America to advise them of our trip . She told them the dates and countries we would be traveling in and that she might make some unusual withdrawls with her ATM card. The first time she went to use her ATM card, to withdraw 300 Euros in Munich the screen said, "Your card is rejected, contact your bank." When we got back she called Bank of America who proudly said it was her fault because although she had told them there would be unusal withdrawls the amount she had tried to withdraw was larger than her established pattern of withdrawls and they therefore had disabled her ATM card and the person she talked to could not reset it. When reminded of the fact that they had been advised of the anticipated unusual ATM activity, the reply was that their system had worked perfectly and it was all her fault.

Fortunately my ATM card is with another bank and things worked out. Had she been by herself it would have been quite another story. Don't let Bank of America ruin your trip.
Irv Usner
Beverly Hills, MI  USA   06/05/2009

ATM skimmer fraud
Change your PIN! Change it very frequently when travelling! My husband used his ATM on a business trip to Amsterdam two weeks ago. Over this past weekend, three thousand dollars was taken from our bank account using his PIN. The transactions occurred in Amsterdam, at the same location he used the card, then the next day in Bucharest, home of notorious ATM skimmer rings. This is the first form of identity theft we have experienced and we are so very fortunate that our credit union is going to credit us for the lost funds. The mega banks likely won't provide that level of service.

Our peace of mind in using ATMs for cash in Europe is gone. We have used the same card in dozens of countries and I guess our number was up. The only way I can see to prevent this fraud is to use ATMs inside banks as these machines are not likely to be tampered with.
frequent flyers
Sequim, WA  USA   06/01/2009

ATM cards are the way to go in Rome
Just got back from Rome and using an ATM is definitely the best way to exchange money! We made the mistake of taking mainly cash to exchange (as I was afraid we might have issues with ATMs)and there was a flat fee of $68 (or so) for each transaction as "commission"

My brother traded in $1000 at an exchange place and only received 650 Euro. On the other hand, I used an ATM to take out 160 Euro and it only withdrew $228 from my bank account... much better deal!

In the future, I would just use my ATM card and skip taking cash altogether. I had talked to my bank about using my card abroad and had no issues using it (I did two withdrawals while there)
Jeni <email>
Beaver Dam, WI  USA   05/31/2009

Schwab: Europe
2009-05-09: Just spoke to Schwab to understand limits for my Schwab Platinum Check Card.

Agent indicated $1000 daily limit and even indicated that some ATMs may require that you pull $300-$400 multiple times in a day to reach even that limit.

Double check and make sure card is activated before you go (mine wasn't).

She also gave me the option to disable automatic fraud alerts for 14 days...as she pretty much guaranteed that a lightly used card suddenly being used in Europe would get shut down and require a phone call to start back up.

Very excited to have a 0% fee card (besides VISA 1%)..and any ATM fees rebated.
PacketBoy
Milton, GA  USA   05/02/2009

atm converting
I heard from paypal that they don't charge a conversion fee if the ATM does the converting. I wonder how to tell how you know which atms do the converting.
Greg
Santa Fe, nm  USA   04/01/2009

ATM fees and how to save
Capitol One's Credit Card and their Debit Card (tied to your checking) BOTH charge 0% on foreign exchange fees and ATM usage. You will still be subject to whatever the local ATM owner wants to charge.

Here is a site that lists all of the banks, credit unions and broker accounts and what percentage they charge: http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange Note that there are several who charge zero percent, but it appears that only Capitol One works in the broadest areas. While I'm not selling Capitol One, I do want to see them succeed and benefit by giving travelers a break, and for just "not being greedy" as so many folks in the financial world are guilty of nowadays!
Richard Davison <email>
Reedsport, OR  USA   03/30/2009

Visa fee description by Visa
Visa sets their foreign currency exchange rates a day in advance. It is published here: http://www.corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp More information on exchange rates from Visa is here: http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/exchange_rates_faq.html and Visa's chip and pin response is here: http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/european_travel_tips.html
Chip
IA  USA   03/09/2009

Go Fee Free with Schwab
Just to add to what Tom in Orlando and Josh in Seattle mentioned, along with a Schwab One Investor Checking Acct, Schwab now offers an "Invest First" Visa credit card with no foreign transation fees. I'm going on a six-week Europe trip and plan to use my Schwab Visa CC and ATM card for totally transaction free travel. (I'm also carrying along my Capital One Mastercard as a back-up and notified all of the above of my travel plans ahead of time.)
Michael
San Francisco Bay Area, CA  USA   03/03/2009

ATMs
Check with your bank to see if they have partnered up with any banks in the location you're visiting. I did that for Paris, and found ATMs all over Paris that charged me no fee at all.
Marilyn
Charlotte, NC  USA   02/03/2009

Worst conversion quote ever!
I received a personal worst conversion quote at an exchange booth at Heathrow - 28 percent! They felt that their guarantee to buy back unused pounds at the sell price was worth it. I didn't, I hope you don't. Stick with your ATM cards.
Chip
IA  USA   01/13/2009

Debit Cards
Martin, it would be nice to know what your problems were. My son and DIL recently completed a five month honeymoon from Japan to Germany using only a WAMU debit card with no problems and only a 1% currency conversion fee. I was surprised how smoothly things went especially in areas like Thailand, Camobodia, and Malaysia.
Frank P <email>
Centennial, CO  USA   01/11/2009