TopMan

If other banks don't have a similar policy but there isn't any outcry you can bet they soon will have if they think they can get away with it.

mikemo

Vote with your feet!
Many posts continue to state that USAA Federal Savings Bank has the lowest fees for ATMs and CCs. All their financial products are "open" to the public. Only USAA's property/casualty products are restricted to members.
M

skatterfly

Interesting post... we're just now talking about which cards to bring with us so I'll print this out and share with my DH.
~k

GSteed

My bank has added a $1.50 charge for foreign transactions. Draw maximum amounts permissible if practical. Retain card numbers and international phone numbers on 'data bank' watch. Find and add local AT&T long distance service number. Problem? dial AT&T operator, give her/him card international number, wait, settle problem, with card operator representative. I have had lost card delivered to me in less than 24 hours!

clevelandbrown

I wish, when people find a good bank, or when their bank adds unreasonable fees, that people would name the bank. It would make it a lot easier for us to avoid the bad banks and deal with the good. Perhaps if there is enough bad publicity, some of these unreasonable fees will be dropped.

Katharine22

Well, my bank is Old National. They have been WONDERFUL, up until recently. I actually left Union Planters for horrible customer service. I am so disappointed in all the fees recently put into effect by ONB. Their "feeless" transactions were the main reason for me choosing them.

These are both regional banks and I have been hesitant to go to a national bank for fear of losing customer service and the "hometown" feel. Unfortunately, that may be the trade off.

I know a lot of people here have banks that don't charge these fees, so I will have to start exploring them.

clevelandbrown

I use USAA Federal Savings Bank. They were established to cater to the military, and I'm not sure where their office is, if indeed they have one. Since military people move around a lot and can be anywhere, USAA has developed excellent personal service via the phone and internet. They have, as one would expect, been very familiar with customers going to other countries, and their fees are quite good.

I do keep an account in a local bank to deposit the occasional paper check, rather than mailing it to USAA, but almost all my deposits and expenditures now are electronic. I have USAA and my local bank hooked up so I can transfer funds between them using the internet.

Banking sure is a changing service, and many of the banks are being almost underhanded in order to maximize their profits. My local bank gave interest on checking accounts and no fees for checks is we kept at least $100 in our account, but that keeps creeping up and is now $1000; who knows what it will be tomorrow?

Barb

I just opened another checking account in my bank to use just for travel purposes. I will also be receiving another ATM card. This card, like my original checking account w/card, has a visa logo on it and I can use it as a cash card, or a debit/charge card. Funds come out of my checking account. With this new card I will be getting, I was told that if I wanted to use it just for obtaining cash from an ATM, that all I have to do is not call in and "activate" it as instructed. I will still be able to use it to obtain cash, but not to use for charging items. Thus, if it is lost or stolen, the person will have to know my pin number to use it. It will also be much easier to keep my travel funds separate from my regular checking account. And in the remote chance that someone will have access to my card and pin number, it will not empty out my regular checking account. The other plus is that if my card is eaten or lost, I can call my bank, have my travel funds transferred to my regular checking acct. and use my regular ATM card, thus a back up.