ATM Withdrawals for the UK and Europe
 

I will be traveling in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Italy. Does anyone know which national banks of each country charge the lowest/most reasonable ATM withdrawal fees and are the most reliable (you get your card back and the loot)? Does anyone know the Euro/GBP limit of a withdrawal in one transaction? And lastly, if the limit were 500 Euro for a withdrawal and one desired 1500 Euro; can you withdraw the 500, pull your card out, and do it again two more times at the same location as long as you do not go over your banks ATM daily limit?
I use the Visa Check card with a 4 digit PIN. Has anyone had any problems with that?
Any advice, help, humor, or otherwise would be greatly appreciated...Thank you, Rich

No banks in Europe charge anything at all to withdraw money from your US bank account via their ATM's. The only charge you will receive is one that your own bank might charge. Check with them to see what they charge. Meanwhile ask them if they have partner banks in Europe so that if you use those banks, your bank won't charge you anything to use the partner ATM.

I can't answer you questions about a Visa Check card. Four digit pins are the norm, however.

In theory if there is a limit on what you can withdraw (whether imposed by your own bank or the bank you're using) you can only withdraw once on a given bank day. However, we ran into machines in Europe where they imposed a limit, but we could immediately withdraw a second amount at that same limit immediately after withdrawing the first one, so go figure.

Check with your bank. Mine will let me withdraw $500 <b>per day</b> on my card (about 400 Euro), and my wife can withdraw the same with her card -- same bank checking account.

If you need 1500 Euro, you might want to do it over a 2-day period. ((b))

Hi,

Your checkcard has daily withdrawl limits however, that can be modified by simply calling your bank. Be sure to do that anyway to let them know you'll be traveling out of the country (you don't want your account to be frozen).

I traveled to Italy last year and used Deutsche Bank (sp) ATMs because my bank had a partnership with them. Therefore, it cost me nothing.

Good luck to you and have a wonderful trip.

Luttrell,
To answer your questions:
1. European banks do not charge for ATM withdrawals.
2. Just like the U.S. each bank sets the transaction limit for each machine. They can vary by 300% (in my experience)
3. Yes, the ATM only sets a transaction limit, you can reinsert your card and withdraw until you reach your bank's daily limit.
I am sure the above applies to Italy and I believe it applies to the rest of the EU.

Just a tip from a recent trip this week to Paris, the ATM machines were down all around the city for about 2 hours and I was frantic to get cash to pay the cab to the airport. Luckily I had some travellers cheques stashed for an emergency and could cash those. Technology is great until it doesn't work. Have a back up plan. I never anticipated this and no one ever that I knew who travelled to Europe encountered this. The bank managers were puzzled as French citizens also were having a difficult time and the police came to ATM machines to see what the problems were with people upset.

Actually, in the UK you will find many private ATMs that DO charge for use--I believe one group of ATMs is known as The Link. They're the ones you see near pubs (or even in them), inside some stores, etc. We avoid them so don't know what the exact charge is, so suggest you do the same.
Re Belgium, if you reach your limit on the MisterCash/Bancontact ATMs (600 euro per day, I think) and your card allows more than that, you could try the Citibank machines. They are on a different system.
Our British bank has the quirk that it will only allow a certain max (say 400) and it doesn't matter whether it's &pound;400, $400 or 400 euro--400 is the most we can withdraw.

To add to Elan's post, I would say bring $100 with you and only exchange it if you absolutely have to. And don't let yourself get to the point where you have no local currency on you before looking for an ATM. I try to stay 75-100 euro ahead.

Luttrell, your questions can't be answered definitively, because every American bank and every European bank has different rules.

So don't rely on anything you read here that worked for someone else. It may or may not work for you.

I carry 100 USD for emergencies rather than exchanging any that I don't have to. If I get to a destination where the ATMs are down and I can't ride to the city on a credit card, I can always get enough local at a <i>Bureau de Change</i> to pay my way there. I've never had to.

First call your own bank and ask about the daily ATM withdrawl limits and international transactions fees.

Secondly while I mainly rely on ATMs, I always have 100-200 USD stashed in the back of my wallet for emergenies when I travel.

We had no problem in Austria, Germany, Czech Rep., UK, France and the Netherlands using our America-based Visa ATM card with a 4-digit pin. We were never charged any fees by the ATM bank itself. Do check with your bank to see what they charge to exchange the dollars. Our credit union doesn't add anything.

We did have a minor glitch in Czech Rep when we needed enough cash to check out of the hotel (they didn't accept plastic). We had not planned in advance by storing up enough cash on-hand, and when we went to withdraw at an ATM the day of departure, we encountered the limit our own bank imposes of just $300/day per account. Even with two different cards drawing on the same account, we couldn't get more that day from the one account. Luckily we had another account we rarely use and could get another $300 from it. With cash we already had, this barely covered our hotel bill. So, as someone already said, be sure you have a back up plan. We were just lucky I'd brought along the ATM card for the account we never use, and fortunate there was cash in the account! Live and learn.

Also, our daughter's ATM card wouldn't work when she went to London on her 8th grade trip, because the money in her account was in savings, not checking. Most ATMs in Europe don't give the option of drawing money from savings, so be sure you don't make this mistake.

&quot;Luttrell, your questions can't be answered definitively, because every American bank and every European bank has different rules.&quot;


Robespierre, I hope one of the things you suggested the poster not &quot;listen&quot; to here, wasn't the idea that no European banks charge for ATM withdrawals. That was not a personal experience idea, but a cold fact. If you want to, you can spend a few days calling a couple thousand European banks to get a first hand answer, but it will be time and money wasted. I can assure you that NO European bank charges for ATM withdrawals. That was the main question the original poster was asking. It was answered correctly.

That's pretty picky. Luttrell asked the following questions:

Does anyone know which national banks charge the lowest..
...and are the most reliable...
...the withdrawal transaction limit...
...can you do multiple withdrawals...
...any problems with 4-digit PIN...

Only the answer to the first part of the first one is &quot;yes.&quot; The rest are as I stated.

Sorry, but when I read your response:
&quot;Luttrell, your questions can't be answered definitively&quot;, I guess I missed the part where you said &quot;SOME of your questions can't be answered definitively&quot;. Next time I'll try to read between the lines. Again, I apologize.

Last week, on arrival at Heathrow airport I withdrew 50 pounds at an ATM. I realized that I should have taken out more, so went back to the same machine (there were 3 others to choose from). On my second attempt, I must have pressed one wrong key, and the screen reported &quot;we have retained your card. Contact your bank, and the police at 0800....&quot; Needless to say, neither piece of advice was useful. I finally went to an adjacent Foreign Exchange kiosk and presented my credit card to get as much money as I thought I might need. A good exchange rate, and no commission, to my great surprise.
However, I was charged an 18% interest charge back home - no big deal for 8 days.
I guess that in the future I might need to prepare some &quot;back-up money&quot; before I leave home.
Certainly losing my ATM card is something I hadn't remotely foreseen.
Hope nobody else has that experience.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;
I can assure you that NO European bank charges for ATM withdrawals
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

but roughly half of all &quot;ATM&quot; machines in UK charge a fee for withdrawals.

Be aware that your daily limit might refresh at midnight US time rather than local time.Be aware also that some banks regard a sudden withdrawal abroad as a &quot;suspicious transaction&quot; and freeze the account.Best to inform them before going.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;
I can assure you that NO European bank charges for ATM withdrawals
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

but roughly half of all &quot;ATM&quot; machines in UK charge a fee for withdrawals.


That may be true, but if one is foolish enough or careless enough to use a &quot;pay&quot; type ATM in a grocery or a convenience store instead of one at a bank, surely they expect to pay a fee -- just like using one at the 7-11 in the US. Obviously I was talking about the standard ATM machines either inside or outside nearly every bank in the UK or Europe, mainly one every block or two in most cities.

For sarah and others reading...

Having your ATM card eaten at a kiosk machine could really ruin someone's plans if they were counting only on ATM withdrawls to fund their vacation!! Glad you had a Plan B to follow.

Some suggestions:

- figure out how much you want before you begin the transaction. especially if you are traveling thru pounds, euro, swiss franc, etc. it might be confusing when you're on the spot.

- use an ATM connected to a bank when possible so you have recourse inside should something go wrong.

- always have more than one method of obtaining cash. I take an ATM card, two credit cards, a good sum of US cash to exchange in an emergency, and if it is a long trip sometimes even travelers checks.

Thank you very much for the info...I will make sure my son has plenty of loot in his account so we will have a back-up if needed. And, make my withdrawals from banks...that are open....plan ahead...Thanks All......Rich