ATM's at CDG
 

Hi,

Just wondering if there are easy access to ATM's at CDG upon landing and which ones to use that are reliable and/or connected to reliable banks in Paris. Need money for taxi into the city. From there, I realize I have many choices for ATM's once in Paris.
Thanks

Yes, there is easy access, they are on the wall in hallways. You have no choice about which ones to use, I believe there is a contract with only one company having ATMs at CDG--it used to be HSBC, perhaps still is. I don't know what you mean about which ones are "reliable". Do you mean mechanically? It's a major bank, I'm sure they work most of the time. All banks operate the same in Paris for ATMs, which means you get your money and the exchange rate is up to your personal bank, not the ATM. The ATM itself doesn't charge you fees, banks in Paris don't do that. I presume you can regcognize a bank ATM from one not affiliated with a bank? I have never actually seen that latter at CDG so I don't know if there are any, but you should stick to bank ATMs everywhere.

The post office in CDG has its own ATM.

Thanks Christina. I thought the exchange rate was determined by the local bank whichever country you are in and NOT your home bank??

Gpeters, the ATM at CDG will determine the exchange rate but as long as you use an ATM connected to a bank you will not be charged a fee for using the ATM however you could and probably will be charged a fee by your bank at home (the bank where your a/c is and where you will take your money from). Do check with your bank regarding their fees.

LoveItaly,

That is what I thought also concerning who establishes the exchange rate namely the country you are in presently in. Thanks for your prompt response. My wife and I love Italy also.

VISA/MCard determine exchange rates: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...ange-rate.html

ATMs disperse cash only, they do not determine exchange rates. French bank ATMs will never impose fees of any kind. The Poste or post office at CDG will have its own ATMs because in France, la Poste is a bank. Otherwise the airport has a contract with HSBC to provide ATM machines.

The currency exchange is handled by large clearing houses such as Cirrus (owned by Visa) or Pulse (owned by Mastercard) which link the cash distributed by an ATM to your bank and your account. The exchange rates themselves are mid market rates given to institutional traders. For this service, Pulse or Cirrus keep 1% of the transaction. Some US banks add additional fees to the currency conversion fee but other US banks do not so it pays to shop around.

Here is a link to the various terminals at CdG http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/S...G/T1/T1_CDGVAL
You can click on the terminal where your plane lands. Then pull down the Services menu and click on Cash Dispensers, which will show you the ATMs in your area on a projection map. Some of the dispensers are Post Office branches. HSBC claims to have 23 ATMs installed, all of them apparently in other places than I usually look. Print a copy of your map to help you find your way.
Reliable? HSBC is one of the world's biggest banks, although that is not such a reassuring status after the 2008 melt-down. This link http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/e...k-cdg-orly.htm shows the location of the bank's two staffed offices. I wish I had known this the time an HSBC ATM at the airport coughed out a crinkled and partly torn 50€ note. No shopkeeper or barman would accept it and certainly no bank. Smarter now, I would immediately find the nearer HSBC office at the airport, with my receipt, to request a replacement. A costly lesson.
By the way, in my travel experience, HSBC sets a lower limit than many other banks on the amount that can be withdrawn at one time. This can always change, of course.
Keeping track of how much it costs to exchange money is the first step to becoming an international financier. After long and costly lessons, I think I can summarize:
International exchange rates are set by supply, demand, and other worldwide factors in the currency markets. Visat/MC and their affiliate clients play these rates and by the time it all gets down to the consumer, guess who pays?
In the case of my bank, operating with MasterCard, the wholesale rate -- which newspapers publish or you can see at the invaluable tool www.xe.com -- is charged for foreign exchanges abroad, plus 2 1/2 percent, which is how they make their profit. On top of that the bank imposes a service fee, as much as $5 a transaction depending on where in the world the money is being withdrawn and what arrangements the customer bank may have with partner banks running the machines. Banks in Europe apparently do not impose their own service fee.
"Grey market" machines in bars or stores, not operated by banks, may put a knife to your throat with their fees. That's true back home too.
Any bank can compete by offering better fees to draw all your banking business and there are plenty of posts on this forum debating the merits of various brands.

This is all interesting, but I like to take some Euros with me from the U.S. for the first day. I feel much less stressed doing that, whatever the cost!

You are confusing exchange rates (which have absolutely nothing to do with ATM machines) and transaction fees. Read Sarastro's and Southam's posts to get accurate information.

It will be hard to miss the ATMs at CDG.

The ATM machine does not determine the exchange rate and I don't know what that means about it varying by the country you are in. Read Sarastro's post et al. about it being determined by the exchange network which the ATM uses, which is international and there are only a couple that all banks use, as that is the correct situation.

Actually, I have found the limits for withdrawals at HSBC ATMs at CDG to be pretty high, higher than expected. It's not a problem at all. I took out 670 euro from one at CDG, as I had to pay an apartment deposit in cash.

We had trouble with the first two ATM's we found. We finally found one that worked for us. There weren't that many around and it took lots of time just trying to get some transportation money. Next time I will go with a little local currency. As Sue4 said, much less stress!