Iwan2go

Our accounts are with Bank of America, and I usually use BNP Paribas in France to withdraw cash without a fee. I can't tell from their website if they only have corporate banking in these two countries or not. Anyone know if BofA has an alliance with someone in the Czech Republic or Austria, and if not, what banks do you use for cash withdrawals (and what's the fee, if you remember).

Thank you so much.

janisj

>>. . . and if not, what banks do you use for cash withdrawals (and what's the fee, if you remember).<<

The bank in Europe won't charge you any fees. BofA is the one that will charge you fees (I don't bank w/ them but last time I traveled w/ a BofA customer the fees were $5 per ATM transaction)

adrienne

I use a credit card from my credit union. The CU does not charge fees, the European bank does not charge fees, Visa charges a 1% foreign transaction fee.

socialworker

I just happen to have a copy of the B of A paper that they give out at the bank for Partner Banks that incur no fees (may be the same as website, not sure....) and for Germany they have Deutsche Bank, which may also be available in the countries you mention.

Iwan2go

Thank you. I looked and there are no Deutsche bank offices there. Oh we'll, I, guess I will just use whatever bank I see. Thanks!

Mimar

So is the Bank of America as your charity of choice? Or do you just like giving away money?

With the availability of online banking, it's not necessary to be physically near your bank or credit union. And your deposits in a credit union are insured. We've done business with one credit union for almost 40 years, only been in the place about 4 times.

For traveling it's a good idea to carry credit and debit cards from different accounts. Just in case one account gets blocked. Also, warn the bank/CU when you will be traveling. So they don't block your card when you make a charge or a withdrawal from Europe.

Iwan2go

Actually, I do all my banking online, unless I'm depositing checks in the ATM. I order some foreign currency (online) before we go, and use the ATM for cash needed when overseas. I do recall that $5.00 fee when my son was in Florence, thanks for the reminder and I'll get larger amounts less often, if needed. When we went to France, Spain, Italy and the UK I used the partner banks of BofA so there was no additional fee. So I was asking if anyone knew about Czech Republic partners that aren't shown on the website (so I don't need to call them). I'm not charged anything by BofA for any accounts, so I don't get the "charity of choice" reference.

We used to have a credit union account but don't have one any more, now that my husband is retired and there's no automatic depositing into those accounts. It was fine.

I use Capital One credit card because no additional fee is added - and by the time we return from this trip I'll have about 100,000 points, so $1000 will be refunded to my credit card account. Yay!

I already let everyone know our travel dates, but thanks for the reminder!

Happy travels!

Ackislander

I have not found a BoA correspondent bank in Central Europe, to answer your actual question.

Iwan2go

I'm back, and for anyone who wants the info, we used the KB bank in Mala Strana, on the square. For 2000 CZK, we received $101.18, and were charged $5.00 by BofA and another $1.01 by their bank. In Vienna, we used a different bank to get 400 euros/ $521.91 and were charged $5.00 by BofA and another $5.22 by that bank.

nukesafe

Robbers!

Mimar

The $5 is outrageous. The conversion fee -- charged by BoA, not by the banks in Europe -- is a very reasonable 1%.

nukesafe

I had four accounts with Bank of America which I closed when I realized they were ripping me off by charging me for the "privilege" of using my own money. My local bank make makes no charge for me using my debit card overseas, and Capital One adds no charges for using my credit card overseas. In today's electronic world it costs them zip to conduct these transactions, so the charges are pure greed that plays on the uninformed and lazy.

I know you can minimize the percentage of the "bite" by withdrawing large amounts of cash, but why get bitten at all?

janisj

It doesn't seem that the local banks charged you anything. All fees are from BofA.

alanRow

<i>I looked and there are no Deutsche bank offices there.</i>

Wouldn't matter even if there had been as the "offer" only applies for ATMs in the country where the bank is based - in this case Germany

Christina

This is the problem, most people don't even understand their bank statements. That extra fee was the trasaction fee markup, and was not charged by the ATM bank, it was charged by B of A or at least whatever network this transaction was done under. I don't understand how one could read their bank statement and think it was the other bank charging it, but I don't have B of A and don't know how they are notating it on their bank statement. I did used to have a bank that charged 3 pct on ATM foreign transactions, but there wasn't anything on the bank statement to imply or claim it was the other bank charging it. Any ATM flat fee for a non-network withdrawal would probably be itemized separately as a separate line item.

I've used ATMs in Prague quite a few times and no Czech bank has ever charged me, I think that isn't even legal by various international banking agreements. IN fact, in the US, you can see on ATMs that are not your own bank, a statement will come up and say that they may charge you $2 or something for a withdrawal if you are not their bank, UNLESS you are from a foreign country, then they can't charge it. I think this is the same international banking agreement in US and Europe.

Iwan2go

Christina, it was noted on my online statement as "0100 04/22 #000858767 WITHDRWL KB ATM MALOSTRANS PRAHA 1 FEE". Made me assume that this was a fee from said bank. However, when I clicked on the fine print below, another screen popped up and it did indeed explain that it was a BofA fee. So I paid $5.00 plus 1%.

I hear you all about anger/frustration/whatever regarding Bank of America, but honestly, I've had them as my bank for 40-odd years and have not personally had a bad experience. There are lots of branches near me and where we travel, our children have had accounts linked to ours when in college so we could easily transfer funds, I can get foreign money online without any trouble, and we are not charged any fees on any accounts (I assume this is because of a high total balance on all accounts).

I understand your comments - I say the same thing to a friend who uses an exchange booth at the airport when he arrives (for example, I paid $1.31 to his $1.48...egads). I just have a different attitude about it, I guess, and while I hear you, it just isn't worth it to me to change. But who knows, someone else may want to change, and that's their prerogative.

Thanks for answering the original question, all!

Iwan2go

Meant to add that for us, this is the first time we've not had a Global Alliance bank (i.e., one affiliated w/BofA, so no fees) in traveling. There are affiliates in all the countries we have visited or intend to visit in the future (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Canada, Belgium, Portugal, Germany). To change banks for one trip, with fees that were a whopping total of $17.44, was not worth it to me - so that's why I didn't.

Just adding this info in case it is relevant in making a decision for someone else, who plans to go somewhere I'm not planning on going.

Andrew

I just got back from Belgium (and Luxembourg and France). Based on advice I received here, I joined the Andrews Federal Credit Union just before I left and got a Visa card (with chip) plus an ATM card and a savings account. Both cards have no currency conversion fee, and there is no ATM fee at all for using the ATM card over there. Plus, unlike my primary credit union, there is no monthly limit to the number of withdrawals with the ATM card before incurring a fee. That meant I was able to pull out only the Euros I thought I needed that day. I came home with less than 6 Euros in my pocket, which is less than I arrived with.

This Visa card is supposed to be "chip and pin" but it was treated as "chip and signature" everywhere I used it. I used it in a few Paris metro ticket machines and no PIN was asked. I think the chip does help, though; the word "chip" was printed on every receipt I signed. I imagine I could have used a magnetic strip credit card in most of these places, but I think the chip made it easier for the person charging the card.

I live nowhere near the Andrews Credit Union in Maryland. I joined after taking 30 seconds to join the American Consumer Council first, something the credit union directly suggests you can do to join. I was able to fund the new account simply by visiting my primary credit union and transferring some funds nearly instantly via shared branch banking (free). Or I could have funded it with an online banking transfer. I still don't know why people stick with regular banks...

Iwan2go

Andrew, I think that the chip and pin or chip and signature card sets that card apart and sounds very good. Thanks for sharing and for explaining the process so clearly, and perhaps I will look into it for the next time!

Yostwl

USAA has a true chip and pin credit card. Charges only the standard VISA/MC network 1% foreign exchange fee when you use it for purchases overseas.