Euro withdrawal from an ATM in Europe with a US account

[Yankee123]

I hope my question makes sense. I have posted this in the Italy threads also out of curiosity and I was wondering if any one here has an answer.

 

Reading the threads for money withdrawal, it seems to make sense just to withdraw money from the ATM in Europe. The ATM's seem to give you a better exchange rate.

 

Assuming you have a bank account opened in the US (for example, Citibank, Chase, Wachovia, Bank of America etc.) my question is, doesn't your bank charge you some kind of international fee's for withdrawing money out of the country? This is with the assumption that you withdrew money from your bank, meaning that you have a US Citibank account and you withdrew money from a Citibank in Europe.

 

Assuming you don't find your bank in Europe and just go to any local bank's ATM machine in Europe, doesn't both the local bank in Europe and your bank in the US both charge you some withdrawal fee?

 

Thank you in advance

[Sauer-kraut]

Last year I used an ATM in Mallorca and thought that the fees weren't *that* bad. Yes my home bank charged their normal "the machine you used wasn't in our network", it didn't seem to me that there was a foreign transaction fee unless it was all tied in to one service fee and I honestly can't remember if the Spanish bank withheld something.

[MrsK2008]

I have withdrawn money from ATMs in other European counties with my US bank issued ATM card, and yes you do get a better exchange rate and probably better fees. I would contact your bank and ask them what they charge for a fee if you withdraw from an ATM outside the US. I would also let them know that you plan to do this outside the US so they do not think your card was stolen.

 

I know certain banks in the US you will have pre- order Euros a week in advance and the airport exchange desks charge a lot on the fees. My DH had trouble exchange US dollars for Euros in Ireland (Irish bank), so I would recommend using ATMs overseas if you need cash immediately.

[Carnac767]

I travel to Europe for a living and using the ATMs there is the only way to go. You get a far better exchange rate than with any other method of exchange.

[MATHA531]

Every bank has its own policies regarding fees associated with ATM withdrawals either domestically (assuming you're in the USA for purposes of this discussion) or internationally. Therefore you have to check with your bank on its particular policies and fees.

 

Some banks do not charge for withdrawals from an international ATM, others may charge as much as $5. One bank, Bank of America, has a list of banks that it doesn't charge for ATM withdrawals from while it charges a fee for others.

 

As far as currency exchange rates, the two major shared teller networks are cirrus and plus owned by mastercard and visa. Mastercard and visa charge a 1% fee on top of the interbank rate for currency exchange. Fair enough, they do the exchange and have to guard against huge (although rare) swings in exchange rates. Some banks pile on and charge an additional 2% fee on top of the mc/visa fee. As far as ATM withdrawals, most banks do pass along the 1% mc/visa conversion fee. Some banks may eat that although I'm not sure which ones do.

 

The good news is that if you use a bank ATM outside the country where the ATM card was issued, the bank you have the audacity to use its machine, by rules of the shared teller networks is not allowed to charge you a fee. Thus if you're in Italy and have a USA account and use an ATM of an Italian bank, they are not allowed to charge you the withdrawal fee many US banks impose on their non cardholders (although there are some banks that eat that fee).

 

So, nopbody can give you the low down on every bank. Check with your bank on their individual policies regarding ATM withdrawals.

[Yankee123]

Thank you for the great responses. Yes I am in the US, and we will be cruising this summer out of Rome.

 

I will be calling my banks and find out which one works best.

 

Thank you. ATM's it is for this trip. We have traveled to Asia and the Middle East, and over there, it has seemed to be better to exchange currency at a money exchanger outside the airport, normally in the city somewhere. Each country is different and we will try something new this time.

 

Thank you all again

[quercus alba]

Capital One has no transaction fees.

 

(Thank you CruiseCritic for this gem of information last year before we cruised to Europe!)

[mobster75]

Some banks do charge a heftier "international transaction" fee for withdrawing cash abroad. To make it worthwhile, avoid withdrawing small sums. Take out 100-200 euros at a time.

 

Italy has a really modern and expansive ATM network; youll have no issues beyond the same you might find in the US - like finding a machine out of service. Most ATMs are multilingual too so you dont have to figure out what the choices are. Ive withdrawn money in Italy many times w/o a problem.

 

Btw, even if your US bank existed in a foreign country, its still considered to be a separate, foreign bank by banking rules and same fees would apply.

 

 

Sent from my mobile phone.

[sjbdtz]

Make sure your PIN number is no longer than 4 digits.

 

Many in the US choose 6 digit pins, but Euro ATMs can't handle that.

 

 

 

You may need to change your PIN before going, and once back. Probably not a bad idea, in any event.

 

 

 

.

[MATHA531]

Make sure your PIN number is no longer than 4 digits.

 

Many in the US choose 6 digit pins, but Euro ATMs can't handle that.

 

 

 

You may need to change your PIN before going, and once back. Probably not a bad idea, in any event.

 

 

 

.

 

Not true anymore...long since fixed although it might be helpful to remember the key pads do not have any of the usual letters.