DebitNM

In case no one mentioned it - do not ever [unless an emergency] get cash with your CREDIT CARD!! Very costly - interest, fees on top of exchange rate.

There are several places/banks to get an account that has free ATM. I have a couple and they have no fees at all -- Andrews Federal Credit Union and Cap One are 2 of them

suze

Exchange rates don't vary between ATM machines, one to the next.

Coquelicot

We went to Credit Mutual's ATM, inserted our card, and found they wanted to give us a rate of $1.19 which seemed high to us at that time (September 2015), so we canceled. We walked across the square to Credit Agricole's ATM and got a rate of $1.13755. 200 euros/$227.51. Same day, same card.

Our credit union charges us the 1% ITA on top of that day's euro rate and that's it.

suze

I have never been able to see the rate I was getting while at the ATM machine. That's a very interesting post above!! I never knew the exact exchange rate until I saw the transaction online or received a bank statement much after the fact.

janisj

>>We went to Credit Mutual's ATM, inserted our card, and found they wanted to give us a rate of $1.19 which seemed high to us at that time (September 2015), so we canceled. We walked across the square to Credit Agricole's ATM and got a rate of $1.13755. 200 euros/$227.51. Same day, same card.<<

That would be DCC (which one should <u>always</u> turn down) Otherwise there would be no way for the machine to display a 'rate'. The machine will only be giving you €, and a € is a € and there is no difference in it's value across the square. So yes, IF you accept DCC -- then there is a conversion 'exchange rate' - but that is a very bad idea.

Michael

I believe that if a bank charges its customers a type of fee, it can also charge others the same fee. This is what allows Santander to use DCC when on ATM withdrawals, as reported by some on this forum. It may be that French banks will start doing that too.

Trophywife007

>>I have never been able to see the rate I was getting while at the ATM machine. <<

Yes... the only time I did was at an atm (in the London underground) that "very kindly" offered to charge me in dollars rather than local currency. I wonder how many people fall for that, as they would have made a small chunk of change on the transaction. The £ has really been falling lately.

suze

Oh OK. I'm good. Whew.

greg

>>>I have never been able to see the rate I was getting while at the ATM machine.

This is because the bank has nothing to do with the currency conversion. It is your bank that is calling the shot. This is actually a good new that the ATM is not engaging in the DCC.

>>>We went to Credit Mutual's ATM, inserted our card, and found they wanted to give us a rate of $1.19 which seemed high to us at that time (September 2015), so we canceled. We walked across the square to Credit Agricole's ATM and got a rate of $1.13755. 200 euros/$227.51. Same day, same card.

The point difference, about 4.5% indicates the higher rated ATM is engaging in DCC. http://www.xe.com/currencytables/?fr...ate=2015-09-18, for example, shows that the rate should have been around $1.13.

>>> I wonder how many people fall for that

I suspect that many fall for it to enable the DCC providers and the other participants to continue to engage in this practice. Those fall for it "assume" without doing any fact checking, that they would "save" by being charged in dollars by living in the fantasy land reading the sales pitch and intimidating messages as if all the evils in the world would fall on you if you get charged in local currency. Adding to the injury of being charged 3%+ plus for nonexistent "comfort" being ripped off, they also get slapped with "foreign transaction fee" by their bank. They assume that because the charge is in dollars, they would escape this fee. But alas, the banks change the wordings from "foreign exchange" to "foreign transactions" more than a decades ago in their T&C fine prints so that they can slap "foreign transaction fee" regardless of the currency used as long as the transaction was done abroad including in dollars.

mjs

Thankfully this is one subject I do not worry about. I use the ATM and pay a small set fee. The cost is so small in comparison to the rest of the trip that it makes no sense to even think about it.

NewbE

I agree with you, mjs. TrophyWife's post was very useful:
<$14.50 vs. $2.50. Woo hoo!>
If I traveled to Europe multiple times a year (I wish!), that $12 might start to rankle and I would seek out a card/account/ATM with better terms. And I would never denigrate thrift--why pay fees when you don't have to is a solid argument in and of itself.

But I do think this subject gets too much play here and on other travel boards, such that novice travelers fret unnecessarily about being "ripped off". It's too small a percentage of the total cost of the trip to worry a lot about.

Christina

I agree also, especially since most of the people who ask this are not experienced travelers and don't hardly ever travel abroad. And people who tell someone to get a new bank becuase of a 3% foreign transcation fee on an ATM card -- surely people choose their banks for major reasons that affects them all year, not just based on one trip.

Trophywife's post was related to the ATM fee, anyway, NOT the foreign transaction fee. I do think it is very easy to find a bank without a high ATM fee at a foreign ATM, or to mitigate that easily because you shouldn't really need that many ATM withdrawals on a trip if you use a credit card for most purchases of any size (hotel, restaurants, etc). I never make more than one or two a week, anyway.

And I do agree that the only ATMs that show you the exchange rate are doing DCC, that's why they show you. Because otherwise, there is no conversion yet so nothing to show, they are just sending the charge out to your bank in the local currency.

Trophywife007

>>And people who tell someone to get a new bank becuase of a 3% foreign transcation fee on an ATM card -- surely people choose their banks for major reasons that affects them all year, not just based on one trip.<<

Sure, why open another bank account for one trip; that probably wouldn't be worth the trouble. However, I think many of the people here do travel frequently and when you do you starting noticing how much those 3% foreign transaction fees add up, not to mention the $5 fee for the privilege of using your atm card overseas. For me, opening an account I use only for overseas atms was pretty easy.

It didn't take long and the Cap One atm card works more consistently at more atms than my BoA card.

DebitNM

We first opened accounts with Andrews FCU and Cap One when we started traveling to Europe in 2011. We liked having accounts that were separate from our regular accounts to keep those safe in case our ATM or credit cards got compromised. We chose those banks because they are totally non fee; no minimum balance. We leave $100 or so in each account for next trip.

We have lost 2 ATM cards - eaten by the machine; once in Switzerland and once in France. We were glad to have a back up account in both cases.

It really isn't all that much effort and to us, is well worth it.

Sarastro

There are those who travel sufficiently often, and not just to France, who can save significant sums of money by avoiding banks with high fees and there are others who travel little and will not be significantly impacted by exorbitant foreign transactions costs.

However, everyone should be concerned by what they pay for financial services which can encompass loans, monthly service and account maintenance fees, withdrawal fees, check cashing fees, investment management fees and a host of other costs and charges.

Typically, credit unions and local banks will charge average users far less money for their aggregate services than what large, big advertising budget banks will charge. Smaller banks can also offer much more personalized service.

If I were using a bank that charged me 3% plus $5 for a foreign ATM withdrawal, knowing that the bank itself incurs minimal to no direct cost in transactions of this type, I would take a serious look around to see what other fees this bank might be charging me, fees that could be easily avoided by banking elsewhere.

Potential savings by shopping financial institutions is not limited to just foreign transaction fees.

pwerwath

Many commenters are saying things such as (1) the bank ATMs in Paris all change the same exchange rate, with the implication that it is the "normal" one. Or (2) there is no way to tell the exchange rate. In fact, at least one of them charges a very large markup on the exchange rate which cost me $10 extra to get 200 euros.. In Paris today, I went to a BNP Paribas ATM and the exchange rate was printed on my receipt: $1.23 dollars to the Euro, which cost me $246 dollars to get the 200 euros. I checked CNBC.com immediately for the then-current exchange rate, which was $1.18. The bank charged a 5% premium. No, they didn't charge a flat fee separately from that, like other commercial ATMs worldwide and many banks and non-bank machines in the USA. And no, the 5% haircut has nothing to do with my small-town bank in the USA which changes a small, additional percentage fee on Euro exchanges. In recent years, I have gotten Euros from many ATMs in Italy and Spain recently and they all gave me very close to the official exchange rate, i.e. little or no extra charge in dollars. BTW, if the ATM slip doesn't give their exchange rate, just divide the number of dollars you were charged by the euros that you received. When I'm overseas and use the ATM of a bank that's new to me, I always check the their exchange rate (stated or by my calculation) with the official rate that day. Everyone using ATMs overseas would be wise to do that.

kerouac

I have not, anywhere in the world, ever seen an ATM receipt that gave me the exchange rate used, just the amount requested and -- in certain countries -- the additional fee for use. So I am exceptionally impressed that BNP Paribas would do this, especially since there are so many countries in the world. If they print the dollar exchange on a receipt, I must assume that they also print the rates for people using cards in Indian rupees or Brazilian reals. That is outstanding. I am always amazed at the information that certain people can tell us when they have just registered and made their very first post on a thread that is more than a year and half old. Bravo and keep up the good work.

janisj

pwerwath: >>In Paris today, I went to a BNP Paribas ATM and the exchange rate was printed on my receipt: $1.23 dollars to the Euro, which cost me $246 dollars to get the 200 euros. I checked CNBC.com immediately for the then-current exchange rate, which was $1.18. The bank charged a 5% premium.<<

That could ONLY happen if you asked or agreed to let the machne calculate the transaction in US$. Always a bad thing. The local ATM cannot calculate the exchange rate unless you agree to let it do so. If you ask for €200 you will get €200 and there is NO EXCHANGE INVOLVED. When the transaction is processed by your local bank that is where they will apply the applicable rate and assess any fees. So sometime during the transaction you either clicked 'Calculate in $' or didn't notice it saying the calculation would be in $ unless you decline.

So this one is on you.

StCirq

Ditto to what kerouac said. We have a Parisbas in the town where I live, which we use from time to time, and we have used Parisbas ATMs all over France for years. Never once has our receipt indicated an exchange rate. I don't see how they could possibly do that. No bank we've ever used in Europe (and we live here and travel all over, using ATMs in multiple countries) has ever shown an exchange rate on a receipt.

I am guessing pwerwath inflicted the DCC on himself by choosing the wrong option at the ATM keyboard, in which case the receipt might have had to show the exchange rate. Otherwise, I call BS.

suze

This old thread was dug up just to give more misinformation. I have never seen the exchange rate printed on my ATM slip... anywhere.