Banking Question
 

I'm looking to change banks ... I'm currently with Wachovia. I'll be gone for over 3 weeks later this summer and am looking for a bank that is 'great/low fees' to use in Europe while traveling. We will be using debit card for cash withdrawal from ATMs and for making purchases in the stores/restaurants & paying our hotels.

Does anyone have any great experiences with Bank of America or PNC Bank? We are also looking at the Navy Federal Credit Union. We'll probably join the Navy FCU anyways .. but like to have another bank. The Navy FCU does charge a 1.00 fee for using another ATM ... I haven't checked on their conversion fee for using a debit card. Bank of America doesn't charge anything if for withdrawing cash from an ATM that is part of the global network .. but they do charge a hefty 3% for using the debit card to make purchases at retailers/hotels. We are staying in 12 hotels ... so the 3% adds up.

Any great experiences of using one of the above while on travel. We will be traveling in Germany, Switzerland and France.

Thank you in advance!

Are you anywhere on the East Coast (NY, NJ, PA). Commerce Bank doesn't charge a fee to use another ATM (the other ATM's may charge you a fee), and there is no conversion fee if you use your ATM card in Europe to get cash. I've just been there, done that, got the t-shirt. :-)

I would call Navy Federal and ask them if they charge a conversion fee other than the $1 fee to use another ATM. European ATM's won't charge you anything. I would also ask them what their daily limit is. $1 per transaction is not bad if you can make a $500 withdrawal a day.

USAA has a M/C that will give you 1 and 1/4% cash back on all charges. They do charge a 1% conversion fee for your purchases/transactions overseas.

This is not personal experience, (and my Stateside experience with Bank of America was less than optimal) BUT my cousin was just here and uses B of A. Evidently, before she left the states, she called them for a list of partner banks throughout Europe where she could withdraw money with no transaction fee. If their services in the states appeal to you, then perhaps this helps. :) Good luck!

Transaction fees are one thing, but I understand that BofA charges 3% conversion fee, and I'm not sure that that is above the 1% VISA/Mastercard conversion fee or not. ((b))

Thank you Budman and MacPrague!
Budman, I live in VA so I'll check to see if there is a Commerce bank around. I will also have to check with Navy Federal. I do know their daily ATM withdrawal is $400/per day and their debit card daily limit (for purchases) is $2500 per day. My husband and I each would get a card ($400 each daily I think) so I don't think the $1 would bother us so much ... it's the conversion fee I need to find out about.

I just spoke to someone at the Navy FCU and she told me that if I were to use my card abroad I would be charged a 1% conversion fee for both ATM withdrawal as well as making purchases at a retailer/hotel. I would not be charged anything on top of that for Visa. 1% flat rate for both.

I know at Bank of America I can take cash out with no fees at the global network partner .. but the conversion fee when using the card to pay for purchases is 3%, which is a killer!

They do have some branches in Northern VA. What I like about them is free checking (If you have a balance of $100), free bill pay (only my wife writes checks), and open 7 days a week with Lobby Services.

http://bank.commerceonline.com/infor...VA-Fairfax.cfm ((b))

oh great thanks budman! I will look into this next!

I did contact PNC ... they charge 1% conversion fee for using the debit card at a merchant .. and $2.50 for every ATM cash withdrawal. Daily cash withdrawal is $500 and daily amount for purchases is $3000. Everyone I have spoken too has mentioned the banks in Europe charging a fee. There have been a few mixed threads on here about this ... I've read the banks in Europe charge you a fee for using their ATM and I've read that they don't. It may possibly depend on the 'global network' thing.

I spoke to a very nice lady at Commerce. Very helpful. She confirmed what budman said ... they charge no fees for using your debit card to get cash or for using it at a merchant .. the daily cash withdrawal is $300 and their daily limit for purchases is $3000. Commerce seems the way to go ... and they are opening branches left and right down here. Thanks for the info Budman!

Katzen, one thing about their VISA Check Card (ATM Card). When I go to Europe, I disable the VISA portion of the card. If I somehow lose the card or it gets stolen, I didn't want anybody to find it and use the VISA portion to drain my checking account. It would be worthless without the PIN. Commerce said they would refund the money, but it would take several weeks and would be a hassle, and ruin my vacation. I understand BofA will refund the money right away, but not Commerce.

Also, they raised my limit to $500. So, that's $1,000 a day with my wife & me making withdrawals from the same checking account. I also tested it while in Switzerland in order to get the cash to pay for the Apartment.

I just use it as an ATM card to get cash, and use my USAA M/C for charges.

I don't know that I would look to closely at daily ATM withdrawal limits in making your ultimate banking decision. I say this because when I told Wachovia I was going to travel in Europe and wanted a higher daily withdrawal limit, they raised it to $800/day. This was a few years ago and they never lowered it after that initial trip. I don't remember if the $800 was their amount of choice or mine, but it was certainly no problem to get it raised.

I agree with Budman about Commerce,they are a pleasure to do business with.They offer so many free services-notary,coin counting,money orders ect.

Thank you all for the replies. I'm not too worried about the ATM cash withdrawals as my husband and I each have our own cards so we could essentialy get double out (same as budman and his wife did)... I'm more concerned about the conversion/ISA (visa) fee imposed when using the card abroad. Overall, it's not that big of deal. We are currently with Wachovia ... and just yesterday received a letter from them saying they were closing our savings due to us transferring money out .. we do a lot of back and forth with our savings... and we've been customers for many years .. so was not pleased with that at all .. so decided to do some research on other banks for our day to day banking ... and since we are travlign to europe this summer decided to see what bank overs the best with regards to day to day and travel. Commerce sounds very good at this point. We will also look into the Navy FCU ... as it doesn't hurt to have two banks. Thank you for the help ...

katzen, I would sure recommend that you check out USAA..credit cards..banking services etc. You only have to "qualify" for USAA if you purchase their insurance products..but it certainly seems you would even qualify for that. Best regards.

No one has mentioned capitalone, but I have read that they don't pass on to you the 1% conversion fee levied by the VISA/MC currency exchange service for overseas transactions. All other things being equal, that seems to be the best deal available unless you are willing to go to the trouble of using correspondent banks. They have relationships with some European banks that allow you to use the European ATMs of those banks for the same fees they charge for domestic use. I personally don't want to waste any of my touring time finding a correspondent bank's ATM when there are so many ATMs all over. The scenario I see is finding the correspondent bank's address, hiring a taxi to get there, passing a hundred non-correspondent bank ATMs on the way, and taking a taxi back, spending more on the taxi than what you save using the ATM.

EU banks do not charge a fee for anyone's use of their ATMs; its not altruism, its a law in the EU.

The next level of service are credit unions and USAA, which pass on the 1% fee levied by the VISA/MC currency exchange service, but do not add to it, which is, alas, a common procedure among US banks. Some credit unions have a fee for using an ATM other than their own, and I have seen figures from $1 to $5 reported.

I bank with USAA, and they do not charge a fee for use of any ATM; in fact, they reimburse me up to $15 (I think) a month for any fees charged me by anyone's ATM. I think it is common that US banks charge a fee when a non-depositor uses one of their ATMs; I know non-bank ATMs, worldwide, charge a fee, and so in Europe I suggest anyone stick with bank ATMs.

The final level are those banks that supplement the 1% VISA/MC currency conversion fee, bringing it as high as 3%, and I imagine some of them also charge a fee for using someone else's ATM, as their greed apparently knows no end.

USAA is experienced in dealing with people overseas, very likely because their client base is largely military, so deployments are common. A possible disadvantage to using them is that they don't have a branch in your town; I think they may have no branches at all, so dealings must be via the internet, mail, or phone. I've gotten around that by maintaining a checking account in a local bank, which around here are all offering free checking with no minimum balance and free online payments. This allows me to deposit in my local bank's ATM, then EFT the funds to USAA via the internet. Its also handy to have a local checking account for those now-rare occasions when I have to write a check, as some merchants are suspicious of checks written on out-of-state banks.

So I would say that to save the most, you should find a place that charges no more than 1% for currency conversion, that has no fees for ATM use, and that can handle banking over the internet.

Having said that, I should point out that I think most of us do not spend enough time (and money) overseas that we are going to be enriched or bankrupted by a few fees and percentages on currency conversion. i.e., if I spend $5000 overseas, the 3% conversion fee is still only $150, $100 more than the 1% conversion fee, but I think I would rather spend that on a nice meal than on currency conversion

Thank you LoveItaly and Clevelandbrown. I have heard mention of USAA a few times on Fodors and even from my coworker .. I will have to look into how to qualify. So far out of the banks I've mentioned ... Commerce seems to be in the lead. My husband and I are actually going there tomorrow after work to talk 'live' with someone.

USAA is great. No ATM fees! But, don't you still have to have the military connection to get a USAA account?

You only have to have the military connection to get USAA insurance. Anybody can get their credit card/banking service.

I don't bank with USAA, but I do have their Plat M/C. ((b))

I LOVE Commerce. It is a JOY to deal with them..I had a biiig problem (hotel related, LONG story) with my account that's been taking about a week to get fixed (hotels fault, NOT Commerces). They were so patient with me and so wonderful, some of the best customer service I've ever received. They really do go above and beyond.

Well, I didn't know that.

Go USAA. Their services are great! I have an account at local banks for "walk-in" ability, but don't really keep much money there. All my "real" banking is done via USAA - via direct deposit and the internet. And, given their origin as banking for the military, they are fabulous for money issues when traveling overseas (from the US).