ATM help
 

We recently got chips in our ATM cards and I was so happy because I thought it would give me more liberty here to get money. However I'm not able to get money out of any of the ATMs here in Paris near the Bastille any bright ideas?
If not, can you tell me where the best place would be to change hundred dollar bills? I fear this is not going to be pretty. Thanks in advance!

On your other thread the basic reasons as to why are covered:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/atm-272983-2.cfm

to top a thread - bring it back to top just type "topping" as an entry and it will bring it back to top - repeating not needed.

Did you notify your bank before you left home that you were going to be in France? If not, your bank is probably blocking your account in case of fraud.

Last year I alerted my bank I would be in France and they blocked my ATM usage anyway because of a clerical error. Fortunately, I had a second ATM card from a different bank which worked fine.

You need to find out the reason behind the non-functionality.

First step is to call your bank. Here are some possibilities, some trivial, some serious.

Temporary:
- Routine issue. Your bank was doing maintenance and would not give you or anyone any cash until they are done.
- Temporary block due to bank suspecting stolen card. Calling bank would remove the block.
- The ATM you accessed happened to reject all or your type of card for many reasons. They usually don't tell you precisely why. Try another time, another place. Use a real bank ATM, such as BNP Paribas.

Permanent - ouch:
- Your card got zapped and non-functional.
- Your card was cloned and your bank totally blocked your card. This is bad. You card is a piece of useless plastic. They need to send you a new card.

Yep. Call the bank, see what's going on.

The change bureau at 59 rue Saint Antoine is probably closest to you.
There is always a commission fee, so be prepared to lose a percentage of your cash.

If you have a true emergency, I'd go to BNP Paribas and ask to make an expensive cash advance. I'd try to avoid this, if possible.

Thanks for the advice, yep a clerical error!