I will be taking to Germany/Switzerland a debit/ATM card(checking account) from a Credit Union. My credit union has no fees and told me that the only fees I would be charged for taking $$$ out would be from the bank over in Germany/switzerland I would be using.

Does anyone know if Deutsche Bank (I'm assuming they are all over Germany) charges any fees for taking money out?

Thanks!

I don't think any European bank charges a fee for using their ATM. There are independently-operated ones (inside McDonald's <i>z.b.</i that charge exorbitant fees for the convenience factor.

I only use ATMs that are attached to banks (and during business hours if possible, in case of a glitch) to avoid the rip-offs.

I believe you will be charged a fee unless you are a Bank of America account holder. I *think* they are partners...

You will indeed most likely be charged a fee. BoA and DB have some sort of agreement, though, so you might luck out should you be a BoA customer and using their card.

Hi K,

European banks do not charge for use of ATMs.

Watch out for private ATMs that do.

Good to know European banks don't charge fees! I was once a member of BoA ... but no longer am. I decided to go the credit union route with no fees.
Now that I've got that cleared up .. on to looking for a Visa credit card that has a low fee as well (possibly from the credit union as well).

Is Credit Union really the way to go? I've been reading much on this topic lately and it seems that it is.

Thanks again for everyones help!!

All Banks in Germany charge a fee for taking out money from an ATM.

There are only two exceptions:

(1) You have a a bank account at the same bank

(2) You Bank has a cooperation with the Deutsche Bank. The Deutsche Bank has a cooperation with the following banks:

Bank of America (USA)
Barclays (United Kingdom)
BNP Paribas (France)
Scotiabank (Canada)
Westpac (Australia)

All fee's in Germany are published at the front side of the ATM. Avoid taking cash with a credit card (VISA, Mastercard), as these cards are charged with higher fee's than debit cards with Maestro symbol.

To (further) clarify this: It is simply <i>not</i> true that German Banks do not charge any fees upon the use of their ATMs.

They do - and those fees are indeed substantial. There are exceptions, though, and that is when your own bank co-operates with the bank whose ATM you use. However, this has to be verified. Otherwise you will indeed be charged!

I misspoke.
Sorry.
I stand corrected.

Interesting.

We used our credit union issued ATM card in Germany in February 2005. We made withdrawals in Wurzburg and Bamberg and we were NOT charged a fee of any sort, neither from our credit union bank nor the German bank that owned the ATM machine.

P.S. Both ATM machines were in the train station. I do not recall which bank they were affiliated with unfortunately.

Ira,

with all the helpful advice you are giving here as one of the stand-out Fodorites IMHO, I hate to correct you - but still... ;-)

That's funny. I don't ever recall being charged a fee using my ATM card in Europe?

We weren't charged any fees either--has something changed recently. Or do the German Banks have arrangements with our New Windsor State Bank, too?

The only currency exchange overhead I've ever been charged (England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands) is the $1 that my card issuer assesses for a cash withdrawal.

Maybe it's a &quot;network affinity&quot; kind of deal - like Cirrus and Star in the US.

Ok, so maybe I don't have this cleared up. lol ... I guess I will find out when I go to use my credit union ATM card.
I will certainly keep an eye out for any charges.
Thank you for all the feedback!

hi katzen,

why donīt you ask Deutsche Bank by email?

http://www.deutsche-bank.de/index_e.htm

I use my VISA check card for all my ATM transactions. I don't ever recall being charged a fee. I have disabled the VISA portion of the card. I don't want to go thru the hassle of having lost it and someone picking it up and wiping out my checking account using the VISA/signature. If lost, it would be worthless to someone without the PIN. I know you will eventually get the funds restored, but I don't want to have to go thru the &quot;eventually&quot; thingy.

In fact, I don't even think my bank charges me the 1% transaction fee that VISA &amp; M/C charge their customers.

Great suggestion hhildebrandt! I was on their site the other day looking around but wasn't able to find any information. I have sent them an email and hopefully will hear back soon.

I will keep you all updated.
Thanks!

Just for the sake of accuracy in terminology (not that it probably matters):

The networks (Visa/MC) assess their member institutions (banks, CUs, etc.) what is called an &quot;International Service Assesment&quot; of 1%. The institutions usually pass this through to their cardholders, but not always. Two of my cards (Schwab and Smith Barney) do not, and evidently many credit unions don't either.