colonna

For Bank of America customers who have been using Paribas, Barclay's, and Deutschebank for no-fee ATM withdrawals, those days are gone.

Quote: "There was fee restructuring to ensure pricing of products and services align with the value we provide to you and to align with other financial institutions." The $5 ATM fee will be waived at Global Alliance banks, but as of last November 8, the 3% fee applies and appears separately on one's statement.

Wish I had known about this before I left home, I would have followed the wise ones to a credit union. Any other ideas? Does Capitol One give you fee-free withdrawals overseas?

adrienne

Does this mean that there is still a $5 charge plus the 3% charge and is there an additional 3% charge for foreign transaction fees?

colonna

The $5 is for ATMS that are not part of the Global Alliance (the Alliance includes Paribas, et al, as far as I understand it, so no $5 fees there); the 3% is the foreign transaction fee.

bilboburgler

"There was fee restructuring to ensure pricing of products and services align with the value we provide to you and to align with other financial institutions."

Love the marketing BS

takemewithu

I'm a BofA customer, sad to hear that one of the few remaining free service they used to offer to customers is now gone. And, even back then, it's not really totally "free" because they add a small margin to the official conversion rate.

I will open another savings or checking account with ATM withdrawal privileges at another back for our international travels. Does anyone have any suggestions which bank still has "free" ATM withdrawals that's well linked in the PLUS or STAR system?

Alec

Charles Schwab?
http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/...ecking_account

xyz123

This is something I haven't been able to get and please forgive me if I seem naive. Bank of America restricts you for "free" cash withdrawals in Europe to certain "global partners." You can open accounts with many institutions which have no such restrictions easily enough. Why would anybody restrict themselves to using a bank such as Bank of America with its fee structure aligned to being a den of thieves? Open up a cash management account with Fidelity, for example. They provide a debit card with no fees for withdrawals from any bank in the world and will rebate the fees banks charge their non customers who have the gall to use their machines. Done.

Christina

Maybe because they like B of A for other reasons, did that never occur to you? I can't imagine anyone choosing a bank solely based on ATM withdrawals in foreign countries, which most people only do a few times a year, if that.

I don't have a B of A account because I don't like that bank for lots of reasons and they aren't even convenient where I live. But people choose banks for a variety of reasons.

Michael

I use BofA because of its convenience: I have a local branch where I can have a safety deposit box and I can talk to a representative face-to-face. It has a good national network for when I travel (but no branches in New Orleans).

When I travel, I use my credit union account which charges me just the 1% Visa conversion fee on the credit card and the ATM card. Unfortunately it does not have safety deposit boxes, and for people like us who prefer to operate in a cash economy, the reimbursement of fees would not cover the number of withdrawals we do per month.

xyz123

Maybe I was unclear and I apologize if I was. My point was meant to be that you need not stick to BofA as your sole bank. I find their fees on withdrawals from ATM's to be reprehensible myself when it is so easy to open up another account for use in travel. They make it seem how wonderful it is that you can use ATM's in specifric banks in several different countries and not be nailed with a $5 fee or whatever it is for having the audacity to want access to YOUR money. I understand people may find BofA convenient for every day banking and I did not mean to exclude them from your use in all things but rather to be aware there are alternatives when travelling that can save you money. Whether it's worthwhile to do so is a matter, of course, of personal taste.

DeborahAnn

We have BofA but several years ago opened a Capital One online Money Market account to use for funding our travels. We can use this ATM card at an ATM anywhere that has a Cirrus symbol without any fees for bank or currency conversion.

colonna, Thanks for the notice of the BofA ATM policy change. I'll certainly being using my BofA less now that they added the conversion fees and I'm lovin' my Capital One account even more Deborah

ira

I use CapitalOne and https://www.acuonline.org/home/home for CC that do not charge a foreign transaction fee.

I have a Schwab ATM cad that will pay all "out of network" fees.

Both are free.

bvlenci

I don't think most people travel enough to justify tying up money in an account used just for travel. If you pay with a credit card as much as possible, you don't need to make many ATM withdrawals. If you withdraw $1000 worth of euros, a 3% fee is $30. If you do that in 3 withdrawals, which cost $5 apiece, that's another $15. Even if you double or triple that, in terms of a European vacation, it's not worth considering.

If you find a bank that doesn't have these fees, you can be sure that they're robbing you in some other way. There are no altruistic banks.

Michael

<i>I don't think most people travel enough to justify tying up money in an account used just for travel. </i>

How much money do you think is tied up in a credit union account with no minimum fee? I've been embarrassed by not having cash in Switzerland, marched to an ATM to pay for the hotel room in Germany, and have eaten in large establishments in Germany that do not accept credit cards.

<i>Even if you double or triple that, in terms of a European vacation, it's not worth considering.</i>

That can be said of any expense--what's another 10€ for the room, or the meal? Why not rent a bigger car, it's only another $5 per day. It all adds up. And why should I encourage the bank's gouging when I know that most of those fees are pure profit? My credit union does not charge those fees and I am sure that like any other financial institution, it cannot run in the red.

On the other hand, once I'm on the road, I rely on my habits and do not keep track of my expenses.

xyz123

In the types of banks being referred to here, there is no minimum balance required. So I keep $1.01 in the account and just before I travel, I move my estimated cash requirements (usually $25 or $30) to that account and make the ATM withdrawal but more often than not (but it is country dependent and yes there are some countries, unfortunately, where cash is still king such as Holland and Germany), I return home with the money I withdrew from the ATM still in my wallet. Last year I spent 3 weeks in Europe, visiting London, Paris, Barcelona and a 10 day cruise from Barcelona. I made a €30 withdrawal from an ATM in Paris and still had the two £10 bank notes in my wallet from my last visit to the UK the previous year. Guess what? When I returned home, I had the €30 and £20 still in my wallet not once having to pay cash for anything not once. And believe me, I don't go to really expensive places for the most part.

Such is 21st century life!

Michael

<i>In the types of banks being referred to here, there is no minimum balance required.</i>

The thread started with BofA fees, and it requires a minimum cash deposit in the account and/or direct deposit to avoid monthly fees on the account itself.

The much mentioned no fee Capital One card seems to have an annual fee attached to it.