jaynor56

My son will be studying abroad for a semester, in London. We just found out that his bank, Wachovia (soon to be Wells Fargo) will charge 3% every time he uses his ATM card for a purchase and 3% plus $5 each time he withdraws from the ATM. Seems exorbitant. Does anyone know of a bank that does not charge such high fees? I am contemplating opening another account but I dont have a lot of time. Any help would be appreciated.

spaarne

My credit union has no fee for foreign ATM withdrawals. My Cap 1 credit card has no foreign transaction fee.

Cash machines in England do not charge a fee for withdrawals.

Christina

Actually, the 3% foreign transaction fee isn't that uncommon it seems to me. My bank does that, also, and I think a lot of them do now, although they didn't used to. the $5 fee is much higher than my bank, though (mine is around $2-3). I think B of A charges $5, also.

I don't know how you can use an ATM card for a purchase or what that means. IF you mean it is a debit card, I don't have one to compare, but it doesn't surprise me at all that it would charge 3% on that if it charged 3% for cash withdrawals. Lots of credit cards charge 3%, so it's the same thing.

Mimar

I have 2 credit union accounts. Both charge only the system 1% for withdrawals abroad. No fees. Ditto for credit card charges. I'm a great fan of credit unions. They're not for profit, unlike banks.

I believe with a Bank of America account you can withdraw from Barclay's ATMs with no fee. Don't know about the conversion rate.

I do think ATMs are the best way to go for your son while he's in London. In the UK bank ATMs have no withdrawal fees. The fee is tacked on by your home bank in the US as you have found.

Christina

FYI, there are a couple banks without those fees on ATM cash withdrawals, but I'm not up on all of them as I don't have any since my bank is Capital One. I think Charles Schwab brokerage has some kind of checking account that gives you an ATM card without those fees, but I don't know the details (or whether you can get one without having a brokerage acct with tyhem or what the minimums may be, etc.).

Capital One doesn't charge foreign transaction fees on its ATM/debit cards, in any case, although I don't recall what their flat fee may be on the ATM withdrawal. SO if you have a Cap One bank near you, that would be an option.

jaynor56

Thanks to all of you. There is a local branch of Bank of America and Cap 1, I think, near us. My son is already on his way to both banks to check things out. We may just open a new account for him..it might be the best option. And yes, Christina, I misspoke. I meant using his debit card for purchases. Sorry for the confusion.

kayd

Last I checked, PNC Bank imposed the 3% on debit card purchase transactions (same as it does for credit card transactions), but only 1% for use of the same debit card to withdraw cash at ATMs. There seem to be infinite combinations of ways banks treat international purchase and ATM transactions.

kayd

Oops, sent too soon. Meant to add that even within the same bank, different terms apply to different types of accounts -- higher fees for basic accounts, no fees for larger minimum-balance accounts.

travelerjan

Jaynor, I do not believe that Capital 1 has a "bricks & mortar" presence, I believe it is only online. You do not tell us where you live, which would help. If you are in an area served by TD bank, that's one of your BEST answers. Here's an "ATM basics" that I posted some time ago:

The Foreign banks that own the ATMs do NOT charge a feee for their use. Here are the fees as I have experienced them in 11 trips to Europe:

Interbank Currency Exchange Fee -- this is the fee that Visa/Mastercard levy (their involvemnt makes this all possible) for changing dollars into Euro/Swiss francs/ whatever. This is 1% I believe. Most banks pass this on ... the only one I hear about that "eats" this fee is the online bank, Capital One. This is built into th exchange rate they give you.

Your bank transaction Fee -- this flat fee used to average about $3 per transaction, now some banks charge $5.

Your banks "greed" fee -- Many banks now ALSO charge a percentage (!!!). When Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo last year, it began charging 3% in addition to $3. This means that for getting $300 worth of Euros, my bank would charge $3 + $9 = $12. Larceny!

As a result, I now have a TD (formerly Commerce Bank) account I use just for my once-a-year trip to Greece. It charges NO "greed" fee nor ANY transaction fee abroad for up to 10 transactions per month... as a frugal traveler, I never withdraw money that many times (since I can obtain up to $750 per withdrawal). I also use as back-up my Credit Union account, with similar provisions.

Of course I could even avoid the 1% currency-exchange (Visa/MC) fee by getting a Capital One account ... and since I withdraw about $2500 for a month-long trip, this would save me about $25. I'm not sure it's worth it, since I favor "bricks and mortar" banks.... easier to confront them if you have an issue (and I've heard wails about Cap 1). But that's just me.

Here's a website listing ATM charges AND C-C charges for many local & natl banks: http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...d_Credit_Cards

You will note that Bank of America charges same fees as WACHOVIA... compared to TD.

Once you've chosen the bank(s) with the lowest charges, here are 4 prudent actions:TIP #1-- Go to your bank, tell them you're going to be withdrawing in Europe; watch them put it into the computer record.

Tip #2 -- Have daily withdrawal ilmit raised; its often $500 but they'll raise it to $750 or more, if you ask. Not that you need this amount every day ,,, it just means u won't have to use an ATM as often.

Tip #3-- It's not a bad idea to stay away from free-standing ATMs, use one that's part of a bank AND during banking hours, in case u goof

Tip #4-- if a couple is traveling, each person should have a card on each account.

BigRuss

Two words: Cap One. Very low fees -- they waive the 1% forex fee, I think, and no per withdrawal charge. Best you'll get from a major bank. We had no problems with them and all I have is an internet account and ATM card.

For credit charges, he should get a Cap One card. Most Visa/MC will charge 2-3%, AmEx charges 1% but isn't quite as useful in Europe.

goddesstogo

We opened an UK bank account at Barclay's International in London (next to Harrods). The minimum you can put in is $5000 but then your son can withdraw money with his Barclay's card at no cost. He can do it when he's there.

Also, when my friend's daughter was studying there her mom did one of those 'pre-loaded' Visa cards for her and just topped it up as necessary. That seemed to work pretty well.

avalon

Bank of America has no withdrawal fees if you use Barclays in UK or BNP Parabis in France. You might get him a British Airways credit card. They do not charge a conversion transaction fee on purchases

ellenem

HSBC has branches in the US and in the UK.

alanRow

"HSBC has branches in the US and in the UK."

HSBC has branches all over the world BUT it doesn't mean that you can use a card from country A in an ATM in country B without charges.

My advice is to find a good bank local to you and use that - it means you won't have to have the full amount of money in the account at the start of the stay and can trickle the money into the account on a regular basis - or a lump sum if there's an emergency.

That's assuming that your son won't be doing paid work in the UK for which a bank account is needed

ellenem

My HSBC card never charges me ATM withdrawal fees anywhere at any bank. Foreign exchange fees are another thing.

Christina

There are HSBC banks around where I live in Maryland, but they do charge various fees unless you have a Premier account (which I think means having a lot of money in the account). They charge $1.50 for ATM withdrawals if not at an HSBC bank and they charge a 3% foreign transaction fee (this is a quote from their US website):
<<If you effect a transaction with your Debit MasterCard®, ATM card or your MasterCard® or Visa® Credit Card in a currency other than U.S. dollars or effect a transaction in U.S. dollars outside the United States, ... Currently the currency conversion rate used to determine the transaction amount in U.S. dollars for such transactions is either a government-mandated rate or a wholesale rate determined by Card Associations for the processing cycle in which the transaction is processed, and is further increased by a percentage established from time to time by us (currently 3%).>>

janisj

"<i>My son is already on his way to both banks to check things out.</i>"

Unfortunately many bank staff know absolutely nothing about foreign banking/ATMs/conversion rates/fees, etc. And when they don't know they sometimes give out really crappy info.

Lots of good advice above. IME the best options are either a credit union (many have very low or no transaction fees), Capitol One, or BofA (but ONLY when using Barclay's ATM. Otherwise BofA charges $5 per transaction)

I have no personal experience w/ HSBC- but if ellenem is correct that would also be an option.

Mimar

But ellenem (any relation of Emimen?) implies that HSBC does charge a foreign currency conversion rate over 1%.

To the OP: what you want to do is avoid any ATM fee and minimize the conversion rate -- to 0% of the interbank rate if you can.

And janis is right. You really can't trust the word of the average bank cashier or branch employee about banking abroad. It's a pleasant surprise when you find somebody who knows what they're talking about. Rather go to the bank's website or call the home office.

ellenem

I've never withdrawn money from another HSBC bank in a foreign country, so I don't know their policy when withdrawing from one of their own branches. For all my withdrawals, whether domestic or foreign, from other banks, my HSBC card has never charged me a transaction fee (like the $5 charged above by BofA). This was true in the past for both premier and non-premier customers, but I haven't checked the current policies. I suggested HSBC simply because one can find actual HSBC both in the US and the UK, so one would hope there would be an ease of relationship between the branches. However, the OP will have to do the research and read the fine print.

Christina

BTW, just saw someone say they didn't think Cap One had real banks, that they were solely online. They certainly do have real brick and mortar banks, my bank is Cap One and there are many of them around where I live (in Maryland, and in Virginia and I suppose DC). I think they have a lot of banks in some other states, also (Texas, as I recall).