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[alserrod]

Just now, 9265359 said:

 

Not if you have a Santander account, even a non-Spanish Santander account, when withdrawals are fee free and with no exchange rate loading.

 

 

I agree

I have a Santander bank account in Spain.

They operate in Spain, UK, Portugal and Poland (in Europe, plus other countries in America).

 

If you go to a foreing ATM and you ask for money it is not a withdraw but a shopping where you have to pay the fee.

Santander doesn't apply their fee to their own cards.

 

In other words. Last summer I was in Portugal. If I used my Santander card in an ATM and asked for money I had a new operation in my credit card balance but without any fee.

 

Anyway, I would recommend to ask your bank.

In most of them there will be no differences

 

 

[9265359]

13 minutes ago, alserrod said:

If you go to a foreing ATM and you ask for money it is not a withdraw but a shopping where you have to pay the fee.

 

That isn't the case with UK banks - all cash withdrawals are treated as cash withdrawals irrespective of where they are made.

 

The difference is that the T&Cs of the accounts might allow for a fee to be charged by the bank and will specify the basis of the exchange rate used, and those fees and exchange rates might be different whether it is a cash withdrawal or a purchase, and also differs between credit cards and debit cards.

 

Thus you can have both a fee charged by the bank for making a cash withdrawal from foreign ATM plus a fee charged by the ATM itself and if you are not careful and exchange rate 'fee' as well.

 

As for the fee charged by the foreign ATM, the bank makes clear that is nothing at all to do with them - I have an account with First Direct and they are explicit that they make no charges for foreign ATM withdrawals but they are very clear (and it is my experience) that most foreign ATMs still impose their own fees and those fees vary wildly.