Lily

Going to France in 4 days and am in a panic. Recent postings suggest using a pin-only debit card (without the Visa logo) for safety's sake. Been there, done that already, having had the logo removed after my card was stolen and my account promptly clean out. My card now is a straight ATM on the PLUS system, not a check card. But now when I look for ATM locations on my itinerary, I can only find them through a VISA/PLUS search. Is my plain old card going to work?

Bob C

Yes it will work, the key is the PLUS. In france you will be looking for an ATM that is in the PLUS system. It can be VISA/PLUS or just PLUS, so long as it says PLUS or any other system that shows on your card.

Lily

Merci, Bob C.!

Donna-Sue

Just did some research on the ATM in Europe issue. My bank said the following: only 4 digit pins will work and they have to be numbers not letters (no letters on the keypad); only ATMs with the PLUS sign will work; my bank puts a $3 surcharge on each withdrawal; and last but not least - notify the bank that you will be using the card overseas before you leave. If you don't, the bank will put a freeze on the account when withdrawals are attempted from an area far from your usual haunts. I wonder if this last one is the reason why some people have trouble withdrawing cash from foreign ATMs.

Mara

Hi Lily<BR>I have used my ATM card (not debit, nor VISA/MC)with the CIRRUS logo in Paris and Nice with no problems. You should learn the numbers if you think of your PIN in letters as the keypad has numbers only. My particular bank has never even charged me a fee even though I was out of network. You should have no problem at all. ATM's are all over the place.

Alyssa

I'm going to be in Provence at the end of the month & was planning on using my ATM card instead of travelers checks. Just curious--why is it a problem to have a Visa debit card? Wouldn't theft be a concern with any card? Also, can I count on finding ATMs in smaller towns like Bonnieux & Seguret?

Suzy

The problem wiht the theft of an AMT-tpe Visa or mastercard is that the illicit purchases come right out of your checking account and can leave you high and dry and fundless, whereas a regular credit card account you get to review the statement and challenge it before paying. Even though the ATM situation might get straightened out fairly quickly, you're in trouble in the meantime.

Christina

I think, in addition to last point (which is a real problem), that the biggest issue is that debit cards can be used without PINs, unlike ATM cards. That is the biggest security issue, it seems to me. I actually find this rather astonishing that they allow this and kind of wonder why -- other machines require PINs, so why shouldn't those that take debit cards? I've never used one as a debit card, but I think I"ve heard that you don't need a PIN to use it that way.<BR><BR>I have had problems using my ATM card in Europe and it definitely was not because they wouldn't allow it due to unfamiliar locations, because it was random, some days and places it would work, some it wouldn't; also, I do tell my bank, anyway. It never worked in Austria, for example, even when the ATM was on my network. ATM cards can not work in certain European ATMs for reasons that you can't control or predict, really. Odds are you'll find another place where it will work, although I did have to leave Austria for it to work on that one trip.

ttt

Relating to ATM's, what is the French term(s) for ATM? All of my language books tell me how to ask for everything except an ATM machine. Thanks in advance.

r

I just returned from a month in Europe and solely used my ATM card- no traveler's checks. It worked out very well but I will give this one bit of advice: In one small town the two available machines rejected my husband's card but not mine-- cards were from the same bank, same kind of straight ATM card with loads of cash in the accounts. But in the next town his was fine. In Toledo I went to 5 different machines before I found one that didn't tell me that my bank denied my access. The moral is: don't give up or panic if you get rejected. Just go to another machine.