Bank of America / Barclays ATMs

Old Apr 25th, 2006, 07:25 AM
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Bank of America / Barclays ATMs

Having recently returned from a trip to England / Scotland in March, I thought I'd give a tip to those planning a similar excursion.

Bank of America has an agreement with Barclays Bank in the UK, wherein there are no additional ATM fees for use of their machines. This is very handy for we BofA customers, and the exchange rate is very reasonable... even a bit less than that for using a BofA credit card. But there are a few things to keep in mind...

First off, while Barclays Bank owns the Woolwich Bank, the agreement does not extend to Woolwich ATMs. I found this out only after I was in Scotland, and could not withdraw any cash. The agreement only applies to ATMs specifically showing the Barclays logo, not all of their affiliated Banks. (Woolwich is very proud of their 'owned but independent' status... I found it quite inconvenient.) So, if you are going to Inverness, take plenty of pocket cash... the nearest Barclays is in Aberdeen. Barclays is all over England, but rare in Scotland... I don't know about Ireland.

Second, even if you are efficient enough to call BofA before your trip and inform them that you will be using your Debit Card overseas, you will still want to get a phone number that will reach BofA from the UK. No human actively checks the computerized flags on ATM accounts, so your card will still get frozen after your first use.

Best bet would be to use the card at the Airport and pull out cash for a day or three, then call BofA from your hotel that night to make sure a human being un-flags your account. Then you should be able to use the card by the next morning.

The important thing is to remember that the call before you leave is not enough... your account will still be frozen until you call them back and confirm you are in the UK. With my Visa Debit Card, the ATM service was frozen, but I could still use it as a Visa at retailers and restaurants.

Hopefully this will save someone a bit of trouble and consternation. It didn't ruin my trip, but it made for a bit of inconvenience and teeth-gnashing.

Enjoy your trip
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 07:32 AM
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Is the freezing of the ATM card a new policy? I never had that happen to me.

cw
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 07:47 AM
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And it has never happened to me either and I use my BofA ATM caard all over the UK at Barclay's and in France at BNP Parabis, as recently as Feb/March
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 07:47 AM
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"I found this out only after I was in Scotland, and could not withdraw any cash. The agreement only applies to ATMs specifically showing the Barclays logo, not all of their affiliated Banks."

Are you saying that banks in Scotland do not accept ATM cards except from its own members?
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 07:56 AM
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I've never had problems with my BA debit card either. I call before I go.

I think the OP means that he didn;t discover until he was in Scotland that he couldn't withdraw cash from the Woolwich. Any bank in the UK will allow you to use your ATM card, without a fee, but your own bank may charge you for using an out-of-network ATM. With BA, you don't pay a fee if you use Barcalay's ATMs.
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 08:11 AM
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All of my comments are specifically in reference to the BofA/Barclays agreement. The only banks I tried to deal with were Barclays and Woolwich.

I had gotten the impression from checking the Barclays website that, since they owned Woolwich, the agreement would be honored. Such is not the case according to the Woolwich Bank Manager I spoke to in Inverness. I could use their ATM, but a fee would be charged... possibly from both banks.

Some people don't mind paying the fees... they are small in comparison to the cost of the trip. However, having done my research I had simply resolved to do this trip 'fee-free,' and so I didn't want to break that resolve.

So far as the ATM-freezing is concerned, this was my first trip using the Debit Card in the UK... all I know is that it happened to me. Two of the posters say "I use mine all the time in the UK..." which means that the Bank would not consider your transactions out of the ordinary. For those of us who do not travel so much, the Bank looks at such transactions as potential problems. It is all relative to previous usage.
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 08:22 AM
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Actually, nobody said anything about "use mine all the time in the UK".
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 08:32 AM
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There are no Barclays Bank ATMs in Northern Ireland either - so you can't use your BOA card to withdraw cash without charge.
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 11:32 AM
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Also, can I reconfirm that the BA/Barclays agreement does NOT extend to Barclays branches outside the United Kingdom? For example, I cannot get my fee waived if I withdraw cash from a Barclays branch in Rome, correct?
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Old Apr 25th, 2006, 01:34 PM
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BofA sure gets some of the worst customer service/support comments. They don't seem to be very "client friendly." Travel should be about enjoying yourself, not checking for approved ATM branches/logos! I'd consider another financial institution, rather than having to look for specific ATMs anywhere in the world!
 
Old Apr 25th, 2006, 01:45 PM
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Interesting question, Barkinpark. I do know that BofA did not charge a fee when I used Deutschebanks in other countries besides Germany (including Italy) and they did not charge me a fee when I used BNP in Spain (I'm assuming that is a French Bank). The Barclay's question about other countries is a little different, since it involves three currencies instead of the usual two.

And add me to the list who have never had their account frozen when visiting a foreign country. In fact, I never notify BofA about leaving the country at all, and have never had a problem using my BofA ATM card. I DO notify my credit card companies however.
 
Old Apr 25th, 2006, 01:55 PM
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Sandi, there are a lot of considerations in which bank a person uses. BofA comes through for me on the vast majority of those reasons. I have no reason to change my banking (a number of accounts which tons of advantages) because they might charge me a couple of dollars after I went to a non partner ATM more than twice in one month (two are free for me regardless).

From some of the reports we've gotten here, there are a lot of people who think their bank charges them nothing for ATM withdrawals, but they seem to get a much less advantageous rate, so I wouldn't be so quick to leap.
 
Old Apr 25th, 2006, 01:59 PM
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When I found out BoA will chg me US5.00 for every atm txn in Italy, I went and opened small chkg acct with credit union. They charge nothing. I was also chgd foreign txn fee on my Citibank A/A world card so that puts them out of the picture as well. Thanks all for info.
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Old Apr 26th, 2006, 03:13 PM
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Neopolitan:

It is good to hear that you were not charged a fee when you used your BA card at a BNParibas or DB ATM machine within the Euro zone but outside the respective home countries of these banks. May I ask when this happened? (I hope BA has not changed the rules since you last traveled.) The reason I ask is that I tried calling BA to ask this question and, of course, the operator has not idea of what I am saying. I called again (by being put on hold for another 20 minutes) and still did not get an answer.

Merci.
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Old Apr 26th, 2006, 08:14 PM
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You can send email via the secured email service on BofA site. They do reply your emails, and if their responses are not clear you can complain and they will response with apologies. I use secured emails all the time - much more convenient than calling, and I have a written records.

As for the BofA network, Scotia Bank told me it applies in Canada as well as in Mexico, ditto, no international withdrawal fee of $5.00 if you use BofA card at Scotia. Though on BofA document, Scotia is for Canada.

To the person critizes BofA, these days, only very small banks and credit unions do not impose international withdrawal fee / and foreign currency conversion fee ...

All the major banks do, from BofA, to Citi, to Chase, to Wachovia, to Wells Fargo ....

Citi used to not charge if you do it at Citi ATMs which are literally all over the places around the globe, Asia, Europe, South America ... They just started charging now.
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Old Apr 26th, 2006, 08:17 PM
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I am aldo among those whose cards were never froze when using aboard. I never informed the banks nor the credit card issuers.

I used the cards in China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Caribbeans, never have any problem.
I may add, except for Canada, each country was either a first time visit, or a long long time since the last visit.
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Old Apr 26th, 2006, 11:17 PM
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scotsman-
thanks for the good advice. ANd for letting us know what to do IF a card is frozen!!
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Old Apr 27th, 2006, 09:44 AM
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Clarification. Woolwich ATMs in Scotland are part of the Barclays/BoA Global Alliance. ATM use with BoA card at those branches are fee 'free' transactions.

I can state this works with certainty. I used my BoA ATM card at both Woolwich and Barclays ATMs throughout Scotland in early April. All transactions were fee 'free' and at near the same exchange rate (dependant on day - very good rate all the time). I also verified this to be the case before I left earlier this month with Barclays via EMAIL to be sure of this.

Given the OP could not use the BoA card at all to get cash at a Woolwich bank, . . . I tend to believe that there was some other issue involved (like a frozen card, or a down communication line back to the states). The ATM card should have worked regardless of if they were part of the alliance or not, . . . however, if they were not part of the alliance, then the additional BoA transaction fees would be added on.

Also, . . . I called BoA before I left to make sure they knew I would be in Scotland, . . . and no issues or ‘freeze’ placed on my card. I did get calls from one of my CCs thought, even though I pre called before I left. The operator mis-coded the note originally.

Just wanted to clarify this post with my experience for Woolwich.
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Old Apr 27th, 2006, 10:06 AM
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Barkinpark, to answer your question, it was summer of 2006 when I was using the BofA card at partner banks out of their own countries.
By the way, though, my BofA advantage account also allows two free ATM withdrawals per month in addition to the free ones at all partner banks.
 
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