ATM withdrawal limits
I recently read an article that stated that the ATMs in Italy limited withdrawals to 250 euros. Can anyone verify that? I am traveling there in Novemebr and plan to use cash for everything. I was in Spain and France this summer and did encounter a few ATMs that would only dispense 300 euros at a time. Most had no limit except what my bank allowed.
Stephen
Fort Mill, SC USA 9/21/12
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Some ATM's will limit your withdrawals so that the machine doesn't run out of cash. But if that happens, all you have to do is find another ATM. The only limit that really counts is the "daily withdrawal limit" set by your own bank.
Have found that ATMs in heavy tourist areas especially on the weekend have the $250 limit in Italy. However, the ones attach to the banks do not. That was last year. It could have changed. It is Italy.
If you choose an amount above the amount that the particular ATM machine your are using will dispense (for example, you request 300E and it will only give out 250E) the machine will just say "no." It doesn't tell you that you have asked for too much money. You may think something is wrong with your card, or your bank, or that ATM machine. Try again, requesting less money. This happened to us in Manarola in the CT. It was a problem because we needed cash to pay for our room. We didn't realize that we just needed to ask for less money. But we did figure it out eventually.
Usually there is a transaction limit of 250-300 euros. However, there is no limit to the number of transactions you can make. If you need to take out 1000 euros and your bank has that limit set to your card you can then make 4 transactions at the banks in Italy to get what you need.
Donna
We have hit limits on machines ranging from 250 to 500. The number of transactions allowed may vary. But just to get around any potential problem we always have two sets of cards under two separate accounts. This gets you around some of the tranasaction fee limits if you have that problem but also protects you against problems you might have if you need to close out an account due to a lost card, theft or another problem. On one of our trips an ATM machine ate our card. We didn't feel comfortable using that account anymore so we closed out the account and used the other account. We also always travel with 2 cards per account. There are two of us so we each keep one.
I just returned from Italy this week and used ATMs in several different areas. Most of them allowed me to enter the amount I wanted and it looked like 500 Euros was allowed.
Be sure to tell your band that you would like your limit raised if you need to withdraw a large amount. 500 Euros would be about $600 US.
Like Francis, I returned from 25 days in Italy 2 days ago and withdrew 350E from ATM machines all over the country and never was turned down. That 350E is just below what my daily withdrawal limit is using a debit card from my credit union.
I have 2 checking accounts in Italy with 2 Italian banks. Standard daily limit for most bank is at least Euro 500. With the Maxiprelievo service (MaxiWithdrawal) I can withdraw up to Euro 2000 in one shot, I just have to pre-book the withdrawal online first.
I don't use my US based account for withdrawals anymore (too many international transaction fees), but your US bank might be the one which sets a lower limit, certainly not the Italian one. Try 500 euros, first. If it denies, try lower amounts. For sure my wife withdrew 300 euros in July in Florence from her Chase US based account.
Before I leave the US, I have Bank of America raise my daily limit to $1000. Then I use their affiliate, BNL Bank, wherever I go in Italy. There are no transaction fees and I easily take out 600 euros at a time.
Hello Stephen
What says Donna is correct. I asked a office bank in Vernazza and says
All depending daily withdrawal limit of your bank . If you need 1000€
Can you make 4 transacdtion of 250€ (limit daily in Italy)
have a great time
giacomo from vernazza
Celeste-
Is BNL an easy to find bank? We have BOA and didn't know you could do ATM without fees. We are going on a 12d cruise in May 2013 with 4 stops in Italy. I really don't want to bring a huge amount of euros with us and pay the fee to pick up at our small local branch.
Catherine, BNL is Banco Nazionale del Lavoro, it has branches in every city you will probably visit.
BNL an easy to find bank?
Yup.
They're everywhere. almost.