The kind folks on this board had pretty much convinced me that I could stop worrying about not being able to use my ATM in Paris. Then yesterday, the lady who is tutoring our family in French said that last time she was in Paris, the banks/ATMs had a withdrawl limit of 200 Euro PER WEEK. Is that true?

No, that is not true. In fact, it borders on the ludicrous.

My own U.S. bank sets a DAILY limit, but all it takes is a phone call to get that limit increased before a trip if I so wish.

Hi missy,

She is off by a factor of ten.

The limit at most ATMs in Europe is set by *your* bank, although I did run into a couple that decided that 250E was as much as I needed.

test

Ira and StCirq have it right. It's at least that much per day!

Here's a money saving tip. Ask your bank if they have a partner bank in France. If they do you can use their ATM's without fees. Our bank had partner banks in the UK and France. No ATM fees! Also make sure your card uses a four (not five)digit code. Five digit codes are problematic!!!

My bank has no partner bank in France, and I have never, ever been charged an ATM fee.

Keep in mind the daily withdrawal amount is per business day. For my bank that means one "day" is 2:30pm (USA time) on Friday until early morning the following Monday. If that Monday is a holiday in the USA, then it's not until early Tuesday morning.

I never had a problem with my bank.
Although it was not in France, I once took out 600 Swiss francs at one sitting to pay my week's rent on an apartment.
In Paris, I have taken out 300€ at a time with no backtalk from the ATM.

I am little paranoid, however. I have one account I use just for trips, foreign and domestic, and therefore I carry two ATM cards. I have never had any trouble except once in a remote Swiss village where the only bank was Cirrus network and I was Plus.
Traveler's check to the rescue, even if I did get socked with a 5% fee.

missypie:

Not true. I was in Paris in September and took out €300 on one occasion.

Have a great time in France!
Jennie

French banks do have limits for their customers. I have a Crédit Agricole account, and when cashing a check other than in the region where I have the account, I was told that there was a 300 euro limit per week. But this was completely unrelated to my ATM card whose limit is dictated by my American bank.

Just got back from Paris. The MC machine at the hotel desk was out of order and we were leaving before the repair person arrived. My husband zipped around the corner and withdrew 500 euros with no problem.

You might want to check with your bank to see what limits it has. That might be more problematic.

Enjoy your trip.