ATM Problem in Spain
 

My folks are in Spain and had a problem using an ATM today. Their ATM card worked fine in Portugal a few days ago. Today they tried to use the ATM at their hotel and received an "Access Denied" message.

Is there anything in particular that may have caused this to happen? I know they notified the bank prior to the trip that they would be out of the country.

They have the ATM linked to their money market account, not a std checking account.

I suggested they try a bank ATM, rather than a "generic" hotel ATM. Any other ideas, suggestions?

Many ATMs in europe work only on checking accounts. Is theirs a check writing money market account - or just savings? If the latter - they may continue to have trouble.

This can just happen randomly at all kinds of ATMs that aren't your own bank, for all kinds of reasons. In this case, there are a couple unusual things they are doing that could be the problem, but who knows. First, using private ATMs rather than bank ATMs (they can charge a fee, also, can't they? bank ATMs won't). Second, having an ATM card linked to a money market account. The only thing to do is try a different ATM.

bank atm's charge a fee if you do not have an account in THAT bank or sister bank.
no way to avoid it.
all atm's here i have seen are connected to some kind of BANK.

hope they get it figured out.
what a problem.

both my cards didn't work in budapest last day.. except fortunately at hotel. don't know the problem. can really mess up trip.

It happens all the time and doesn't necessarily have <b> anything whatsoever </b> to do with the reasons cited in the above posts.

The simple answer is usually to take the card and try it in a different ATM.

Intrepid is correct.

Somtimes it is just a glitch.

Sometimes the bank's server is offline.

((I))

Heck - as the others say it could be anything. Did they try to use the ATM in the morning? If so - it could have been during the US system's early a.m. offline period.

This is a international network issue, according to my bank (Wachovia) possibly related to the PLUS system.

I arrived at the Madrid airport and immediately searched out an ATM machine. I received &quot;Your Bank Has Not Authorized This Transaction&quot; message and it spit out my card. Thinking it may be related to that paticular machine or bank, I tried another ATM tied to a different bank and received the same message . EVERY single ATM in Spain, from Madrid, Salamanca, Sevilla, Toledo, Granada and Marbella rejected my attempts to withdraw cash from my CHECKING account. I called my family back here in the states to check with my bank and they were told that they receive several complaints a week from people who's cards will not work in Spain.

My ATM card worked fine in Portugal. No problems at all. Luckily, I was in Portugal after three days in Spain. Before leaving Portugal to return to Spain, I got out my limit of funds to tide me over.

Then across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco. ATM card worked fine there too. You'd think of the three countries, Morocco would be the one with this issue, but no. After a week in Morocco, back into Spain.

Thinking it may have been a glitch that had been corrected, I tried several more times to use my ATM card in Spain, but to no avial. My PLUS network ATM card WOULD NOT WORK in Spain. No matter what bank ATM machine I used, no matter which city.

When I returned, on regular bank business, I stopped into the branch manager's office to inquire and he told me it was a known issue, but he had no idea why or if it will be fixed.

I've used my ATM card in England, Scotland, Italy, Greece, France, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji with no issues. I've always been in the &quot;use your ATM card when you arrive&quot; camp and always kinda snickered at all these &quot;ATM vs. Travelers Checks vs Exchanging cash before you leave&quot; questions, but now, I'll always have at least a minimum amount on me for arrival because you never know what may happen.

Keith

&gt;I'll always have at least a minimum amount on me for arrival because you never know what may happen.

Keith &lt;

A good idea.

((I))

That's kind of interesting, Keith, when did you do this? I just wondered because I have only an ATM card and it is on the PLUS network (it is not on CIRRUS), and I had no trouble at all using it in ATMs in Spain last year. I used it in both Seville and Madrid several times. Mine is not a debit card, but only ATM and only has PLUS or STAR on the back of it (I'll admit I don't know what STAR is, having never heard of it, but PLUS and CIRRUS are the big ones).

I always take TCs as backup myself because I'm a cautious person and get them free at AAA anyway, so it's no cost. If I don't use them, I just put them in my bank acct. or use them at the grocery store after I get home (I do not get them in euro as others advise, but I don't agree with that advice). I don't want to be stuck using a credit card for cash advances, and I've had various problems with ATMs enough to never trust totally in them for my entire vacation. Nothing quite as dire as you, but occasional problems (in fact, I did once have the similar case that I could not use my ATM card anywhere in Austria for reasons I never found it).

I know a lot of people make fun of TCs on here and say how horrible they are, but they don't bother me and I don't do things where most people have problems with them, like try to use them directly as cash.

Christina, I think in my case, it was an unlikely combination of several issues..... none alone would have caused my problem, but combined made for an uneasy start to my holiday.

I was in Spain, Portugal and Morocco from April 16 through May 1. Like I said, at every single ATM in Spain, my card (ATM card, not debit or cc) was rejected. I had 70 euro left over from trip to France last year, so that is what kept me afloat for the first three days before I was able to retreive cash in Coimbra.

I actually bank at SouthTrust, but SouthTrust has been acquired by Wachovia. It may have had something to do with the transfer of accounts between the two.

Or maybe I just didn't arrange the chicken bones in the correct sequence during the voodoo ceremony the night before I left..... who knows.....

Bottom line is: My card didn't work. It always has before, in every other county I've been. It freaked me out and if I hadn't had that 70 euro on me, I would probably have had to go to a bank and buy euro using a regular credit card which would have cost me dearly in fees and interest.

Lesson learned.

Keith

Interesting, Keith. I am leaving in less than two weeks for Italy and Spain and, since I had no trouble using my ATM in Italy 3 years ago, was planning to go the ATM route with a small &quot;emergency&quot; stash of TC's as a back up (will have credit cards as well). But after reading your posts I am confused about Spain. If you were going again, based on your experiences would you just plan on TC's for Spain? Any other recent feedback from anyone would be appreciated. I will be solo for the Spain portion so I am a little concerned.
Thanks!

As I will be heading for Spain on May 16, this thread was of interest. I visited the local bank that issued my card, and the first thing they did was enter it into their computer so they'd have a record that I'd be in Spain on the dates specified, or they may have blocked the card out after the first usage.

The manager said it's important that your ATM defaults to a checking, and not a savings acct. (I only have checking at this bank).

Some banks in Spain apparently only recognize a 6-digit password. If they don't recognize your 4-digit password, add two zeros.

She didn't think we'd have any real problems, but if all else fails, have your bank's customer service number with you.

I've used my card in quite a fdew countries in the past with no problems, so am hoping this is just being extra cautious.

I was in Madrid (airport), Seville, Granada, and Barcelona last October and used my ATM (only) card without any problems. I bank with a small, local bank and my card only has the Pulse and Cirrus logos on it.

My S-I-L used his Wells Fargo ATM card and he, too, had no problems. We both had pin numbers with just 4-digits.

Hope you don't have any problems either.

Buena suerte,
Sandy (in Denton)

Thanks sandy and larry. I have already alerted my bank and so will just go with my plan to do the ATM route with some TC's and credit cards as backup.
annabelle

I had posted the original message on this thread when my folks were having trouble using their ATM card in Spain.

They are back now. The problem with the ATM was only with their CU ATM card that was linked to their money market account (not a regular checking account). This problem was also present in France. The bottom line is that it appears their problem was related to the card being linked to the MM account.

They had a backup ATM card linked to their regular checking account. This ATM card worked perfectly in Spain and France.

Keith's experience was different from that of my folks.

I'm going to Spain this summer and I'm kind of worried about this, since I had the same experience in Paris a couple of years ago. I called my bank, they assured me the card would work, but neither my husband's nor mine worked at any ATM, any bank, different days and times. Fortunately I had a couple of personal checks (not TCs) and I got one cashed at AmEx. Probably a horrible rate, don't recall the details, but at least it worked.

Hope we don't have the same experience in Madrid!

I felt the need to register and reply to this post (even though its old). I had the same problem upon arriving in spain. 10 countries later and I have a problem! Tried to get cash out of two atm's and also tried to purchase a metro card with the debit card / pin. First two said wrong pin and last one said &quot;access denied&quot; and another attempt said the bank refused the transaction. I was in a bad situation since I was coming from Switzerland and purposely spent all my francs. I had no money to call the bank, didn't even know their international number and not even $2 euro to take the train to the hotel. Finally I found internet in the airport and I called my bank with skype and they said there was nothing wrong with my card or account. We were both confused until she said that &quot;all it says is you entered the pin wrong&quot; then bells went off in my head.. Perhaps.. no couldn't be.. but maybe, just maybe the key pads are different. Sure enough they are UPSIDE DOWN! In the US and most other counties, 1-2-3 is on top but here in spain its 7-8-9 on top so we're so used to just pressing our pin without looking at the numbers. I finally did enter it and got my money. Thought I would share this. P.s. i have a 4-digit pin

My last 3 visits to Spain BofA blocked my ATM card for suspicious activity EVEN THOUGH I told them I'd be out of the country and would be spending outside my normal habits. I suggest calling your bank, asking for the non toll free number for the fraud or early warning department and carrying it with you at all times so that you can call them collect to have them unblock it (if that is indeed the problem in your particular case). I can't tell you how frustrated I was with BofA. And the worse part is I haven't found a way to call collect from Spain so I ended up using a phone card anyways. But BofA did reimburse me when I returned home and reversed all my international conversion fees which was nice.