ATM Machines
 

I have 2 ATM cards for 2 bank accounts

I have called both banks and advised i will be going to Europe.

Account 1 can only be used at machines with the Maestro, Cirrus & Interac symbols

Account 2 can only be used at machines with Plus or Interac symbols.

I will be in London, Paris and various cities in Italy. Does anyone know if these symbols are revalent (don't want to run out of money and not have access to machines)

Interac is irrelevant; you will only see it in Canada. Maestro/Cirrus are the Mastercard networks. Plus is the VISA network. All bank-owned machines in Europe will have at least one these symbols, many will have all.

Cirrus or PLUS bank cards work just fine all over Europe. I have yet to have a problem anywhere (these are very common networks associated with mastercard and visa respectively).

Hi again harrowgirl. I posted a reply to your other post of the same name. I am guessing you are having problems finding your old post, so reposted.

If you click on your own name (in blue), you SHOULD see all of your previous posts. Very recent ones don't always show up. Try it a couple of times and it should work.

As I said in your other thread, I have used my Canadian bank card all over the world and have never had it rejected, even by machines wihtout either the Plus or Cirrus stickers on it.

Cirrus and Plus are certainly valid. One tip though I learned in Spain was if one even if one machine does not accept the transaction for some unknown reason, try another one close by, it'll probably work and you can put the anxiety medication away!

Just want to second the above post - when one ATM continued to refuse my card, I just walked around the corner to another one and the transaction went through immediately. Admittedly, the first time this happens you might panic! I also make sure I carry both a MasterCard and an Visa.