Daughter Doing Semester Abroad in London-Which Bank to Avoid ATM Charges
Jun 12th, 2012, 05:34 PM
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Daughter Doing Semester Abroad in London-Which Bank to Avoid ATM Charges
Our daughter will be studying abroad in London for a semester this coming school year.
We would like to minimize the ATM and other bank-related charges she incurs.
Should she open a bank account with a local bank once she gets there? Is there a U.S. bank that is more accommodating? Suggestions? Ideas?
Thank you in advance.
We would like to minimize the ATM and other bank-related charges she incurs.
Should she open a bank account with a local bank once she gets there? Is there a U.S. bank that is more accommodating? Suggestions? Ideas?
Thank you in advance.
Jun 12th, 2012, 05:54 PM
#2
Bank of America is a partner of Barclays - so there are no fees as long as she sticks to Barclays machines.
The other possibility if you aren't a BofA fan, many credit unions have very low fees, some don't charge at all.
The other possibility if you aren't a BofA fan, many credit unions have very low fees, some don't charge at all.
Jun 12th, 2012, 05:55 PM
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How about a credit union? Mine gives me six free ATM withdrawals per month without a charge, but every credit union has different policies. The British ATMs don't charge you a fee for using your ATM card, last I checked (which was 2005 in London, but I've never been charged to use my ATM card in Europe). The only charge I pay is a 1% currency conversion fee - passed on from Visa.
Jun 12th, 2012, 06:15 PM
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My daughter and I have a joint credit union account we use for travel. We don't use it for anything else, but either one of us can make deposits or fix any problems while the other person is out of the country. When DD spent 6 months in Spain, she took ATM cards from two different credit unions. Her college account was frozen (her fault)and required her to appear in person to reactivate the account (impossible since she was out of the country). She was glad she had a back-up card and a credit card or two.
Jun 12th, 2012, 10:07 PM
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Will daughter be making any regular payments like rent or utility bills? If so she'll need a British bank account unless she's willing to spend time queuing.
If not the simplest solution is a US based account as it makes it easy for you to feed money to her either regularly or on an emergency basis.
She also needs a backup in case she mislays one card somehow.
If not the simplest solution is a US based account as it makes it easy for you to feed money to her either regularly or on an emergency basis.
She also needs a backup in case she mislays one card somehow.
Jun 13th, 2012, 12:25 AM
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kybourbon's suggestion of the joint account is excellent and worked really well for us when our daughter studied in Edinburgh. The difference between a joint account and her own account in BoA or a credit union is your ability to make deposits and solve problems from the US end. ky just said this, but I can't emphasize it enough.
Instead of giving her a big sum all at once, you can make monthly deposits just the way you might give her a monthly check at home. Expenses abroad, both the differing costs of ordinary items and the new temptations, make money management difficult even for very responsible people, especially at first. It's like looking at one's own credit card statement after coming back from a trip nand figuring out where it all went.
Instead of giving her a big sum all at once, you can make monthly deposits just the way you might give her a monthly check at home. Expenses abroad, both the differing costs of ordinary items and the new temptations, make money management difficult even for very responsible people, especially at first. It's like looking at one's own credit card statement after coming back from a trip nand figuring out where it all went.
Jun 15th, 2012, 12:17 AM
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For traveling I use an ATM card from a Capital One Direct Banking Money Market Account.
No ATM fees, from a UK bank. I don't use it in the USA where banks do charge for a withdrawal from a different bank's card (I don't live near any Cap One brick/mortar banks).
Looks like new customers can't sign up as I did. This blog has the most helpful information I've found so far .. http://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/...ng-direct.html
What I have has worked wonderfully for me. Following the link to ING Direct from http://www.capitalone.com/directbanking/?dest=/bank does not show me an equivalent product. Not that I can figure out at the moment, anyway. Sorry.
No ATM fees, from a UK bank. I don't use it in the USA where banks do charge for a withdrawal from a different bank's card (I don't live near any Cap One brick/mortar banks).
Looks like new customers can't sign up as I did. This blog has the most helpful information I've found so far .. http://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/...ng-direct.html
What I have has worked wonderfully for me. Following the link to ING Direct from http://www.capitalone.com/directbanking/?dest=/bank does not show me an equivalent product. Not that I can figure out at the moment, anyway. Sorry.
Jun 15th, 2012, 05:23 AM
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Scotlib - that great Cap One checking account is no longer available for new customers as of June 1st. I have the same account which I have often recommended here, but alas it is no more. I called Cap One and was that existing accounts would see no changes for 12 - 18 months. After that...??
Jun 16th, 2012, 03:33 AM
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Thanks for the info, DebitNM!
It surely is an "Oh, drat!" My Cap One money market account actually pays a bit of interest at the moment, way more than my local bank's accounts.
hmm, I have access to TD Bank--kmbp's suggestion. Maybe I will have to take a look at the available products.
It surely is an "Oh, drat!" My Cap One money market account actually pays a bit of interest at the moment, way more than my local bank's accounts.
hmm, I have access to TD Bank--kmbp's suggestion. Maybe I will have to take a look at the available products.
Jun 16th, 2012, 04:40 AM
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Daughter was abroad in France for four months.
We had Schwab investment accounts so we were able to open up a a Schwab bank account for her that my husband could fund back home. Debit card with them can be reduced to a penny, so it then acts just like an ATM. (And by the way, Schwab was WONDERFUL for reasonable wire transfers to landlord). Withdrawal fees up to $45 are refunded monthly. We never were out a penny.
We created both Cap One type of bank accounts, too. These were joint accounts. I am so sorry that one of them has gone away.
Do make sure she has a couple of credit cards. Our daughter used a no foreign transaction fee CapOne most of the time, but she also used her American Express because that was the only thing that worked for Velib bike rentals in Paris.
Two other cards we now have in our overseas "arsenal" are the Andrews Credit Union Global Trek Visa, which is chip and pin, and a Chase Sapphire Preferred. No foreign transaction fees for either.
Too bad we did not have the Andrews Global Trek last year. It would have allowed her to use the automatic machines in the Metro. To buy her monthly Metro pass, she had to get to the specific individual in any station who was in charge (invariably their system was down or that person was out to lunch).
We had Schwab investment accounts so we were able to open up a a Schwab bank account for her that my husband could fund back home. Debit card with them can be reduced to a penny, so it then acts just like an ATM. (And by the way, Schwab was WONDERFUL for reasonable wire transfers to landlord). Withdrawal fees up to $45 are refunded monthly. We never were out a penny.
We created both Cap One type of bank accounts, too. These were joint accounts. I am so sorry that one of them has gone away.
Do make sure she has a couple of credit cards. Our daughter used a no foreign transaction fee CapOne most of the time, but she also used her American Express because that was the only thing that worked for Velib bike rentals in Paris.
Two other cards we now have in our overseas "arsenal" are the Andrews Credit Union Global Trek Visa, which is chip and pin, and a Chase Sapphire Preferred. No foreign transaction fees for either.
Too bad we did not have the Andrews Global Trek last year. It would have allowed her to use the automatic machines in the Metro. To buy her monthly Metro pass, she had to get to the specific individual in any station who was in charge (invariably their system was down or that person was out to lunch).
Jun 18th, 2012, 05:23 AM
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You are all wonderful!! Such great information and some things we surely would not have thought of on our own.
We'll definitely get a joint account and now I see I have options other than Bank of America (not a fan). Thank you all so much!
We'll definitely get a joint account and now I see I have options other than Bank of America (not a fan). Thank you all so much!
Jun 18th, 2012, 08:07 AM
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JMK--We really tried to make BOF work. I've actually had good experiences with my airline-related BOF Visa, but the bank experience was just horribly bad.
Basic problem?: I could not get PIN numbers to use the ATM cards! They kept saying the PINs had been issued and reissued, but nothing ever arrived here. Since I don't have a branch near me, I could not trot in and just straighten this out. In fact, one of my frustrations was that no representative could understand that asking me to travel 100 miles to the nearest branch wasn't logical.
After weeks of this nonsense--and after having such success with Cap One and Schwab--I gave up. I shifted the monies in the two accounts we created to pay off my VISA credit card and then closed both BOF bank accounts.
Two weeks later the PINs came.
Basic problem?: I could not get PIN numbers to use the ATM cards! They kept saying the PINs had been issued and reissued, but nothing ever arrived here. Since I don't have a branch near me, I could not trot in and just straighten this out. In fact, one of my frustrations was that no representative could understand that asking me to travel 100 miles to the nearest branch wasn't logical.
After weeks of this nonsense--and after having such success with Cap One and Schwab--I gave up. I shifted the monies in the two accounts we created to pay off my VISA credit card and then closed both BOF bank accounts.
Two weeks later the PINs came.
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