Question about ATM usage
 

This may be a stupid question but I really don't know. I just recently acquired my ATM/check card for the purpose of easy cash access on my upcoming trip to Italy. Can you also use it for purchases to come directly from your checking account or is it only for cash retrieval at the machines? <BR><BR>Also, I understand Visa and M.C. are widely used but is Discover Card ever accepted in Italy? <BR><BR>Thanks!<BR><BR>Sandi

As long as your ATM/check card has a visa or MC logo on it you can use it to charge purchases in Europe. The purchase will be directly deducted from your checking account. To my knowledge the Discover card is not used or accepted in Europe.

make sure your pin is 4 digits. Also card needs to go against a checking account not a savings account. I would suggest verifying this before you go otherwise get a another credit card asap.

Ron,<BR>2 years ago I went to Italy and used an atm card for my statement savings account which had a 4 digit pin and had no problem using it.

Forget about using the Discover card in Italy.

Sandi. Before you use your ATM card for cash withdrawals, check with your bank about the fee charged for this service. My bank charges a $1.50 service charge per cash withdrawal from a foreign ATM. My bank also gives a very good conversion rate with no added on fee for purchases using this ATM/check card. Some credit cards add up to 3% or more service charge for a purchase. You may not even realize this but when you receive your statement the rate of exchange would not be in your favor. Have a wonderful trip.

I somewhat disagree with the above poster. <BR><BR>I find that using the ATM card or credit card is the best way to make purchases or get cash in Europe even with any fees. No matter what you do they are going to get some fees out of you or the service would not exist. <BR><BR><BR>Year after year, trip after trip, I use my credit card and ATM and feel I got the best deal. Just don't take out a lot of small money amounts as the transaction fee hits each time you use the machine. Take out as much cash as you are comfortable carrying to avoid unnecessary trips to the ATM. <BR><BR>Best bet all around is still credit cards. No cash worry and good rates of exchange. My wife and I always carry different credit cards in case one of us gets picked. That way we can cancel the bad one and still have the other to use. We had friends that only took one card, got picked with a few days left in the trip and had to borrow money from friends to finish trip...ATM was taken also.

I use my ATM card for withdrawls from my checking account so I can have currency in my pocket. In addition, I carry two credit cards because on two occasions one worked and the other did not. I never really understood why either of them failed. It was a one time occurrence. But I was glad to have the backup in that case.<BR>I also carry a doomsday defense of a few traveler's checks denominated in US $$.<BR>Over the years, I have needed to cash just one of them. In 1998, the ATM in the Zurich airport near the train station was out of order, and the man on duty in the teller window said he could quickly convert a traveler's check for me so I would have a little Swiss money to buy a couple of items before boarding the train. <BR><BR>I know some people say that traveler's checks are a thing of the past, but I still like to have a little reserve, just in case. Interest rates are so low right now that keeping money tied up in checks is no big deal. I don't have that much floating as an interest free loan!!

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful advice. I appreciate it very much. I really didn't expect that Discover would be accepted but thought I'd ask anyway. <BR><BR>Sandi

Discover Card only valid in North America. I second the suggestion to take a FEW $ travelers checks. Not many - maybe $200 worth. This is jus an emergency stash - for when an ATM system is down, or you just need some cash in a small village without any ATMs - any bank or post office will cash travelers checks. Since they are $ checks, if you don't use them they are good when you get back home.

We use our ATM/check card (debit) for money withdrawals but our Dividend Miles Visa (credit) for all other transactions. The ATM card has lower fee charges than the credit card with same basic rate of exchange.<BR><BR>By the way, Sandi, depending on the country or bank, the rules of money limits per withdrawal or day apply. We were amazed that someone on this site under another post protested that they were only able to withdraw some miniscule amount in France. Our experience has been just the opposite--we were able to withdraw more than our US limit.

Don't forget that most foreign ATM's will charge an additional fee, coupled with whatever fee your home bank charges for using an ATM thats not in their system. Don't use ATM for small amounts or the fees can eat you up.

I don't know where Jim has been but I've used my ATM card in several European countries, Mexico and the Caribbean and have never once been charged an ATM fee by the foreign ATM owner. I don't think it's common at all, in fact, I've never heard of that happening to anyone, but perhaps in some countries I don't know. Although, I think it may be a matter of the Cirrus or Plus agreement not to do that. I have seen a few threads on here where I think someone's bank lied and claimed it was by the ATM but it wasn't, it was their own bank's fee. In any case, I can say from my experience that it's not the case that "most" foreign ATMs charge their own fee. Not sure what Jim is referring to.

Well Chritina, I'd saw you have been incredibly lucky. I have a Visa bank card and my bank charges me $1.00 USD for any ATM thats not within their bank systen, Cirrus or Plus has nothing to do with it. Last year in London every ATM machine we saw had a sticker on it that warned or an additional fee to withdraw. Like everything about travelling, beware of hidden charges.

Are ATMs in Italy usually both PLUS and CIRRUS? I am planning a trip soon and don't want to be stuck high and dry because my bank card is only a PLUS, not CIRRUS. Should I open an account at a bank that has ATM cards with options for both? Thanks for any input!

Several of you mentioned to make sure you have a 4-digit pin. My bank requires a 6-digit pin, will this cause problems?

I returned from a trip to London in March and used my Credit Union ATM card at 3 dirrerent Bank ATM's and was not charged a fee by any of them.The only charge was the $1.00 from my own Credit Union.The Uk banks were HSBC,and Barclays.I can't remember the third one.

James,from what I can gather in looking around the web for an answer to your question,it seems that a 6 digit pin could be a problem.I would check with a Bank in the countries I was traveling to for an answer.

I'm an American stationed overseas. Just wanted to make a couple of points:

If you're bringing an ATM card, make sure it's NOT a federal credit union card, but rather a bank card instead. I've been stationed overseas a total of 7 years, in the UK and in Belgium, and I have NEVER found an off-base ATM that will take a federal credit union ATM card. The systems are apparently different. The first couple of times this happened to me, I would have really been stuck without cash, if I hadn't also had an ATM debitcard from my regular bank that I could use instead. Now I don't even bother to use my credit union ATM card off-base.

Secondly, like Christina, I've never had the experience that Jim mentions, where he says the ATM itself charges an additional fee ON TOP OF the $1.50 foreign ATM fee my Stateside bank charges. The foreign ATM's that I have used in my years overseas do warn that YOUR OWN bank may charge a fee, and once the ATM flashes this warning on the screen, it always asks if you would like to continue with the transaction or not. I have never had the ATM itself charge a fee. And, funnily enough, my Bank of America account doesn't always charge a foreign ATM fee, which I find weirdly inconsistent.

BrimhamRocks,my Credit Union is called
&quot;Central Coast Federal Credit Union&quot; which primarily serves the Military in California,and I have had no problem using my ATM anywhere overseas.

Originally, it was conventional wisdom that only 4 digit PIN'sworked in Europea ATM's. As the years went by and international use of ATM's proliferated, that seems to have gone by the waysie and for the most part, today, European ATM's do take 6 digit PIN's. I have not read anybody in recent times claiming they could not access the ATM' because they had 6 digit PIN's. Therefore, it should not be a problem but to be on the safe side, if I could, I would try to get a 4 digit PIN.

On 2 othr erroneous pieces of information posted on this thread, Cirrus and Plus rules do not allow ATM's to impose the dreaded ATM surcharge on you if you have the audaicty to use an ATM of a bank not yours. Thus, if you have a Citibank account in the US and are using Barclay's Bank in Great Britain to make an ATM or debit card withdrawal, you pay whatever your bank wants to rip you off with (it should be free but that's another story)...

Secondly for a person to state that federal credit union as a class cannot be used at ATM's outside the US is absurd. If the Credit Union is a member of either Cirrus or Plus, then their cards should work unless the credit union itself chooses not to allow international transactions. Now some credit unions may only be members of regional network such as STAR or NYCE; networks not a part of the interational shared teller networks. In that case, the cards from those credit unions would not work.

The above information, unlike some of the information posted by know nothngs, is 100% correct

My credit union is Tower Federal Credit Union, which also serves primarily military. They also have some branches on bases overseas. Lovejoy, it's cool that your works at off-base ATM's (makes traveling that much easier!), but mine never has the whole time I've been overseas. Works fine on base, but not off, for me, anyway.

xyz123, I believe that it is possible, if you try hard enough, for you to get your point across without being so derogatory to other posters. For example, Lovejoy's posting corrects my information, but isn't negative or rude.

I think we're all just trying to post helpful info. If something is incorrect, as mine seems to be, then it's cool to post corrections, but it's NOT cool to put down other posters.

Sandi, I hope at least some of the info posted in this thread might be of use to you. Have a great trip to Italy.

You put wrong information on the board, information that could have been costly to somebody reading it. What do you expect anybody who knows the correct information to say. Anybody who says fcu' cannot be used in Europe to access their account, in this instance, simply does not know what they are talking about. If you had not told people not to use FCU cards but simply said your FCU card did not work then you would hve been giving valid information. Your information was wrong and posters must be very careful not to give information when they don't know what they are talking about; something I would never do. You can be most sure that any information I give on this board will always be guaranteed to be 100% correct.

The last couple of posts have me concerned now. My only bank is a credit union. The ATM card is a check card with a Visa logo - and a 4 # PIN.

I realize that BrimhamRocks has had problems but I could not tell from the posts of Xyz123 that they have had actual sucess using such a card.

I am going to Dublin, France, and London in 2 weeks and would appreciate any insights about use of credit union cards. Thanks!

If your card has a visa logo on the back,as it should, you shoud be okay. In addition your card probaly has a cirrus or a plus logo on the back which would mean you're doubly okay.

This information is 100% correct unlike the information that unknowns sometimes post. Any information posted by me is always correct.

&quot; Any information posted by me is always correct.&quot;
Said the &quot;fuhrer&quot; to his minions

coldwar 27, my checking account is at a credit union, also. I was in London and Amsterdam recently and used the credit union ATM card (with a 4-digit PIN)in both cities. Had no problems at all; just looked for ATMs that are part of the Cirrus or Star system. They are all over the place.
Please do yourself a huge favor and call your own credit union (or go to their Web site) and find out whether they allow you to withdraw money worldwide. If so, ask how much money per day you can withdraw (my limit is $600) and whether there is a transaction fee (luckily, my CU doesn't charge anything). You really need to know the facts NOW, before you leave home.

It is certainly not as serious as that...there is not the slightest analogy there. This is a bulletin board where people give other people advise, nothing more nothing less. People have the right to know and feel the people giving the advise know what they are talking about and when I see things that are wrong when I am sure I will let you know. And there is nothing the slightest bit wrong with that.

Information that I put on this message board is 100% correct.

Oops oops oops...the word is advice not advise. Sorry

Informatio given out by me (spelling o a word is not information) is only given out by me if it is 100% correct.

Thank you. I will double check with my credit union.