Citibank to charge 3% at foreign ATMs
Oct 17th, 2006, 04:17 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Citibank to charge 3% at foreign ATMs
Just received my Citibank statement which included this unpleasant little tidbit:
"Foreign Transactions (Point of Sale, ATM and other transactions) -
Effective 12/2/06, we will impose a transaction charge equal to 3% of the transaction amount (including credit and reversals) for each transaction (US or foreign currency) that you conduct outside the 50 U.S. or P.R. other than cash withdrawals at Citibank ATMs, which will not be subject to a transaction charge."
So much for getting great rates at ATMs
"Foreign Transactions (Point of Sale, ATM and other transactions) -
Effective 12/2/06, we will impose a transaction charge equal to 3% of the transaction amount (including credit and reversals) for each transaction (US or foreign currency) that you conduct outside the 50 U.S. or P.R. other than cash withdrawals at Citibank ATMs, which will not be subject to a transaction charge."
So much for getting great rates at ATMs
Oct 17th, 2006, 04:24 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 25,035
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A 3% charge for credit card use isn't so unusual, but for an ATM witdrawal, that stinks. You might consider opening a credit union account for your travel funds. My credit union only charges $1 per foreign w/d. Then use your Citibank ATM card for emergencies only.
Oct 17th, 2006, 04:26 PM
#4
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 22,986
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You don't need to change banks. just open an account with a bank or credit union that does not charge the fee and leave the account dormant except during travel periods. That's what I do; BofA is more convenient in the U.S. while my CU is more convenient in foreign lands.
Oct 17th, 2006, 04:40 PM
#7
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 22,986
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
P_M,
I am aware that they have partner banks, but they are not always available. BNP is 25 km. from my house in Périgord, and I do not recall seeing many partner banks in my travels in Portugal and Spain. But Scotia bank was available in Guadalajara and Zacatecas.
I am aware that they have partner banks, but they are not always available. BNP is 25 km. from my house in Périgord, and I do not recall seeing many partner banks in my travels in Portugal and Spain. But Scotia bank was available in Guadalajara and Zacatecas.
Oct 17th, 2006, 05:53 PM
#9
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,974
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
>>"other than cash withdrawals at Citibank ATMs,"<<
I have encountered quite a few Citibank ATMs in my travels, so maybe you shouldn't deep-six them too hastily. You could check on their website and find out where their overseas ATMs are located before you decide.
I have encountered quite a few Citibank ATMs in my travels, so maybe you shouldn't deep-six them too hastily. You could check on their website and find out where their overseas ATMs are located before you decide.
Oct 17th, 2006, 06:05 PM
#10
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just checked on Citibank's website, specifically for the countries I will be traveling to this summer. France (but only Paris) and Italy (no Citi ATMs in Rome, only private banking) figure into the equation, but none in Switzerland.
Oct 17th, 2006, 07:06 PM
#13
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 36,842
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also BofA does not have partner banks in Italy, Spain, or Portugal. While there may be branches of some of their partner banks there, withdrawals are subject to fees when the partner bank branch is not in its "native" country. For example withdrawals from Deutschebank in Italy is subject to a fee from BofA.
Oct 18th, 2006, 12:24 AM
#14
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,997
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Read the fine print! One note says that if you don't use the card it will not be reissued. Another allows a $500 cash withdrawal per day but also $1,500 of PoS charges. Hence a possible daily loss of $2,000 if card is misused.
Oct 18th, 2006, 12:55 AM
#15
The fun thing about the ATM's at Citibank on the Champs Elysées in Paris, is that I have never been able to use one of them in about 2 years. Even though they have about 6 machines in the vestibule, they always display "service temporarily unavailable" whenever I want to try one, in the middle of the business day. Perhaps they are in service at 2 a.m.?
Oct 18th, 2006, 02:16 AM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Apparently the "new 3% charge at non Citibank ATMs" doesn't tell the whole story. According to Citibank's website, we get hit with a 1% charge when using a Citibank ATM!
"If you use your ATM/Debit Card to get cash in the local currency at any ATM—Citibank or non-Citibank—then there is a foreign exchange fee that totals 1% of the transaction, in U.S. dollars. For example, if you withdrew 100 Euros at an ATM in Italy, and the value in USD was $125, then the 1% fee would be $1.25. This exchange fee is also applied when you use your ATM/Debit Card to make purchases overseas."
I had started banking with Citibank because I perceived them to be "global." I guess that's not really true. 1% isn't going to break me, but it does add up on top of the unfavorable rate against the dollar. Plus the most important ATM when going to a country where you don't have the currency is the one at the airport, and I've never seen a Citibank machine there.
I do have a credit union account that I use only for travel. Time to call them and see if they've changed their policy too...
"If you use your ATM/Debit Card to get cash in the local currency at any ATM—Citibank or non-Citibank—then there is a foreign exchange fee that totals 1% of the transaction, in U.S. dollars. For example, if you withdrew 100 Euros at an ATM in Italy, and the value in USD was $125, then the 1% fee would be $1.25. This exchange fee is also applied when you use your ATM/Debit Card to make purchases overseas."
I had started banking with Citibank because I perceived them to be "global." I guess that's not really true. 1% isn't going to break me, but it does add up on top of the unfavorable rate against the dollar. Plus the most important ATM when going to a country where you don't have the currency is the one at the airport, and I've never seen a Citibank machine there.
I do have a credit union account that I use only for travel. Time to call them and see if they've changed their policy too...
Oct 18th, 2006, 04:31 AM
#18
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 25,035
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I was in Portugal earlier this year and as already stated there were no partner banks of B ofA. In that situation I use my credit union ATM card which only charges $1. Always good to have a Plan B. 
Oct 18th, 2006, 04:45 AM
#19
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And people wonder why I call the activities of some of these banks near criminal...
Banks have a right to charge us when they provide a service....since the foreign currency conversion is done by the shared teller networks, there is no service being provided by Citibank in this regard....when the debit reaches them, it has already been converted...it doesn't matter if it was done in New York, London or Timbuctoo for that matter.
Of course, since the banks control the consumer protection agencies in our country, we can't expect them to do something to stop this gouging and ripping off of their customers, now can we.
Just the latest example of the near criminal activities of Citibank to charge us for services it most assuredly does not provide.
Banks have a right to charge us when they provide a service....since the foreign currency conversion is done by the shared teller networks, there is no service being provided by Citibank in this regard....when the debit reaches them, it has already been converted...it doesn't matter if it was done in New York, London or Timbuctoo for that matter.
Of course, since the banks control the consumer protection agencies in our country, we can't expect them to do something to stop this gouging and ripping off of their customers, now can we.
Just the latest example of the near criminal activities of Citibank to charge us for services it most assuredly does not provide.
Oct 18th, 2006, 05:18 AM
#20
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 36,842
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm not going to defend banks from "criminal" charges, but xyz, my previous offer still stands. I'll send you a few thousand dollars to hold for me while I travel Europe. And then you can make those funds available to me 24/7 while I'm traveling there, and you can give me my own money but in local currency instead of the US currency I gave you. Since it costs nothing to do so, you'll do that gladly for me for free, right?
I really don't mind paying a little for the privilege of being able to access my own money, and to get it in a local currency whenever and wherever I want -- I think that's a wonderful service. And I do realize that banks are in the business of making money, regardless of whether you think it "costs" the bank anything to provide that particular service. There's more to their costs in providing services than just paying a fee to someone to do the currency conversion. Even their computers and machines they use weren't given to them for free. They do have to pay for those, you know, as well as pay the people who work there.
I really don't mind paying a little for the privilege of being able to access my own money, and to get it in a local currency whenever and wherever I want -- I think that's a wonderful service. And I do realize that banks are in the business of making money, regardless of whether you think it "costs" the bank anything to provide that particular service. There's more to their costs in providing services than just paying a fee to someone to do the currency conversion. Even their computers and machines they use weren't given to them for free. They do have to pay for those, you know, as well as pay the people who work there.
