My husband is in Paris and trying to use the the Bank of America savings account ATM card to get money out of that account. According to him, the ATM screen does not give him the "Savings Account" option to withdraw money. Therefore, he gets a message "card not accepted". Is this possible?
It does not sound right.

Your help is appreciated

European ATMs do not give you the option of withdrawing from your savings account, only from checking.

Tom

sure it's possible, I think most ATMs in Europe don't allow you to take money out of savings, only checking. Are you saying that you don't have any money in your checking account, only savings? That's really bad financial management, but all he has to do is go online or call or something and transfer funds.

Thanks to both!

Christina,
We do have money on both checking and savings. The bank advised us to have the savings and gave us an ATM to use while in Europe.

Your bank advised your incorrectly. Speak to your branch manager upon return so she/he knows you are not satisfied with the level of customer service.

I too was recently given incorrect info from my bank regarding daily withdrawal limits. Not a big deal, but incorrect nonetheless, and disappointing especially since I specifically asked to have the limit raised to pay for apartments in cash upon arrival. No need they said - the daily limit is $1000 per card. Wrong.

I still have accounts at Bank of America because it is so convenient to where I live. Long experience, however, has taught me to NEVER believe anything they tell me, especially when it involves overseas banking. I accept what they say, check again, and then act on their advice; but always have backup options.

Many uncomfortable moments on the phone from Europe, trying to get something straightened out has left me deeply skeptical of the training (or lack of it) provided to their staff.

You have learned the hard way what many of us know from bitter experience. B of A will clip you any way it can. 3% charges on credit card transactions, $5.00 per swat if you do not use their affiliated banks with your ATM cards, arbitrary canceling of ATM cards and the issue of debit cards (no customer consent), and generally bum advice all around.

Like I ask: What are the correspondent banks in Europe where I can use my aTM card without being socked a surcharge?
Well dumb looks are free. Then there is a softshoe shuffle to cover the fact they don't have the slightest idea about the subject.

My favorite one, however, came several years ago. I needed to send money to Canada to secure a reservation. Credit cards not accepted nor could I talk them into accepting an American dollar check and holding it until I got there. If I did not show up, they had my name on a legal obligation to pay. All my suggesting and asking did no good: Canadian money or no deal. So I asked my local BOA branch folks if there was a way to handle it. Their reaction in effect said: Whats the problem? Canada uses dollars just like we do.

I finally made a swap of US dollars for Canadian dollars with a colleague of mine whose family lived on PEI.
I put the Canadian money in an envelope and sent it off.