I should have also said that like St Cirq..the only time I have ever paid a fee is if I use an ATM here at home that is not at a branch bank...but since we have a BofA on just about every corner I never have to use another site! Even if I do it is only $1.00

I think it is naive to expect your bank to know what another bank, domestic or foreign, will charge for use of an ATM.

Having said that, I have never been charged by a foreign bank for use of an ATM. That encompasses banks in 11 European countries. My bank, Bank One, does not charge me for foreign withdrawals. I think you will find most, if not all, ATMs in Europe inform you they do not charge for the withdrawal but your own bank may.

I may be charged for making a withdrawal from a domestic ATM but
most times I have been able to avoid the charge by going into a bank for a cash advance. Seems stupid that I can tie up a teller's time and not be charged.

I've never been charged a fee to use an ATM machine anywhere in the world using my debit card. And I've never had a "foreign currency exchange" fee on any purchases when using a credit card.

But for a bank not to be able to answer this question - I'd find another bank.

There are at least 3 different fees when using an ATM card internationally.

1. Fee that the ATM owners charge. While in US, I have seen up to $4 per transaction. I have not seen any ATM in Europe that does this. This is what it means when someone says "I've never been charged from the bank whose machine I'm using in Europe."

2. Currency conversion fee. Both ATM and credit card companies do this; about 1% of whatever they define as the time of the conversion. Just because they do not list SEPARATELY does not mean they are not charging it. Look at the conversion rate they CLAIM to be using, and compare against the historical rate. You will find that you are always short changed about 1%. This is un avoidable since the currency traders need to make money. But a fee nethertheless.

3. The network access fee YOUR bank charges for using an ATM not belonging to your bank. It is the same fee as in the US. This is $3, $3.50, $2, $1, etc being mentioned above.

Many credit card companies charge ADDITIONAL conversion fee of 2%, in their favor. Fortunately this is not a practice for ATM withdrawals, yet.

nickn, my bank charges me a small fee to use an ATM in the US that is not theirs. However, they have never charged me to use an ATM outside the US that is not theirs.

Nickn - USAA does not add a 1% exchange/hidden charge when using a European ATM. Since they are government, and thousands of military personal are stationed throughout the world, they use whatever the current currency exchange rate is at the time you make your withdrawal in the country you are in.

That said, you are correct about other banks charging a fee but not listing it seperately. They just kind of blend it in with the total amount you see on your statement.

I have a credit/debit card from a credit union. It has a VISA logo and I incur no charge from my bank when I use any ATM, anywhere in the world. I do sometimes get a charged a fee from the bank that owns the ATM, but that has only happened in the US, not in Europe. The exchange rate seems pretty good, I have done some spot checking, comparing the rate to Oanda.com. It is surprising that a bank cannot answer a question like this about their own card.

USAA is not government. It is a private company. They might not charge a conversion fee, but the exchange bank does--the fee is in the form of a slightly reduced exchange rate and is very low if you use an ATM.

But a few banks are now charging a separate 1% foreign exchange fee (just like Visa and Mastercard credit cards) on ATM transactions in addition to any per use fee they might charge. This fee is not usually itemized on your bill; it is just taken as part of the final exchange rate.

Some credit card issuers recently lost a big court case because they did not make it sufficiently clear to consumers that, in addition to the standard 1% Visa/MC fee, they were charging their own 1-3% on credit card purchases involving foreign exchange.

I have now read all replies to my original question. It seems that most claim they have never been charged a fee by foreign banks for using their ATM's nor a fee for currency exchange. Am I being naive to think that they must be wrong?
I have a hard time believing that German banks will let me use their ATM machines absolutely free of charge. Don't they have to pay people to service those machines and fill them with cash periodically?

You asked, we answered...

It's not just that "we claim" no fees have been charged, they haven't (by the European banks), why would we all misunderstand or lie about this?? I don't know if I'd call it "naive" but I'm not sure why you don't believe our collective experience.

At least for me, I'm talking about 20 trips total - both Europe (5 different countries) and Mexico.

But I will admit, I have no idea how the German's make a profit to pay the guys who fill the money machines ~LOL!

You can believe it because I have never been charged an ATM fee from a foreign bank's ATM either, but I don't think it's some charity. I believe there is some international banking regulation or agreement for those interbanking networks (PLUS, CIRRUS) that forbids them to charge it. I'd be interested in the reverse question out of curiosity, do Europeans get charged an ATM fee in the US from the US bank? I just note that the ATM for my US bank also has a notice on it that it only charges fees to ATM cards from other banks if they are in the US, that it does not charge foreigners, either.

I haven't analyzed all of the above posts, but I also don't think I have any currency exchange markup on my ATM card when used abroad. It's the credit card networks (VISA and MC) that have that mandatory one percent fee for that. If my bank does because of the CIRRUS/PLUS, I imagine it's about that one percent in the exchange rate and I wouldn't notice it much. If they do, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it anyway -- there is no possible way for you to get foreign money at interbank rate yourself.

It isn't really the individual foreign bank letting you use their ATM on their own, it's the interbanking network they belong to that allows this (CIRRUS, PLUS). I'm sure the fee for maintaining and belonging to that network is considered in their business costs for marketing and other reasons already. For example, I would not have an account at a bank that did not give me an ATM card that could access my account from those networks, so they belong to those networks to attract customers -- they are making money from me on my regular accounts. I imagine it doesn't cost them any more to allow foreigners to access their ATM machines than to allow their own customers to access them (well, maybe a little more maintenance in central areas).

FYI Suze -

You indicated that you use a Bank of America ATM and get hit with a $2 international transaction fee.

I use ScotiaBank here in Canada & its part of a 'global alliance' with Bank of America, Barclay's, Deutche Bank and a few others. While I have not seen a reference to it on any of the web sites except ScotiaBank's (http://www.scotiabank.com/cda/conten..._LIDen,00.html), & I only found the ScotiaBank reference 'accedently' when trying to find out how much they charged for international transactions with my local branch not knowing anything about it when I asked for more detail. But since I found it, when I travel internationally I search out 'global alliance' partner ABM. So far I've used Bank of America throughout the US, Barclay's in the UK & Kenya and plan to use Westpac in New Zealand in the fall. When I use their ATM's I get charged the same rate ScotiaBank charges me in Canada (in my case nothing) and when I use an ATM that isn't one of the partners I get charged $2.50 per transaction (same rate I get charged for using another bank's ATM here in Canada).

So when you travel, you may want to seatch out a partner ATM, the way I view it is that its a 'free drink' everytime I use a partner ATM and I managed to accumulate quite a few 'free drinks' over the past couple of years.

Hope this helps.

Z

Christina,

you wondered if Europeans get charged a fee for using an ATM in the USA.
I used at least a dozen different ATMs in the USA and Canada, and never got charged a fee.
That included all kinds of ATMs: in banks , stores, at airports...

There might have been a fee "hidden" in the USD/EUR conversion rate.

If there is no currency conversion, it is clear that there are no charges at all. A withdrawal of 300 euros anywhere in Europe, from any bank, will cost me 300 euros exactly.
Banks in Europe do not get rich from the use of their ATMs...

I called BofA and was told that there was a $3.00 fee on all Foreign (e.g. non BofA) charges.

When I got my bank statement after being in Paris there were $3.00 charges. I called the bank and the charges were removed.
I was told to call after returning from our planned Italy and all charges would be removed.:"> :-B

Ed, et al,

Regardless of the type of ATM transaction (even when using an ATM at your local branch) there is an 'charge' for using the ATM service/network. However, many banks 'bundle' this ATM service/network charge in with their 'loyalty' programs. They generally don't charge for using their ATMs (otherwise they wouldn't have any customers). Depending on the bank & how their 'loyalty' programs are structured (& how much you have with them) is how much you 'pay' out of your account for these services.

Since bank X 'hates' to give money to bank 'Y', as it costs them money to do so, they structure their 'loyalty' programs accordingly. So in my case, when I'm in Germany, if I search a Deutche Bank ATM and if someone from Germany who has a Deutche Bank is in Canada & searches out a ScotiaBank ATM (because of the 'alliance' I referenced above) that can limit the number of bank's that need to swap money. So the bank's overhead is reduced & if they tie that to their 'loyalty' programs then it keeps their customers happy.

Because I travel so much, ScotiaBank's 'global alliance' program is a definate benefit for me & locks me into them (I just wish they had the program a few years ago when I worked in the US but still lived in Canada, since my pay went to a bank in the US but my expenses were all in Canada).

Z

Had no problems but be aware that you may not be given the option to withdraw from checking vs savings - that can lead to an overdraft possibility.

roterbaron--we used ATMs throughout Bavaria and on the Mosel last summer and were not charged by the banks that owned the ATMs. Our bank charged $1 per withdrawal after the first three--their standard policy for using ATMs other than their own.

To Christina:
I think you hit on something. Perhaps there is some reciprocal agreement between U.S. and European banks to not charge each other's cardholders for using their respective ATM machines.

I believe that any fee charged by the bank that owns the ATM would have to be charged up front--i.e., added onto the amount that you withdraw. Banks in Canada now charge a "convenience" fee (don't you love the creative use of language) to anyone using their ATM with a card from another bank. You're told the amount of the extra charge ($1.50, for now), and you have the opportunity to cancel the transaction if you don't want to pay it. If you take out $100, the slip shows a withdrawal of $101.50.

Check if your bank has a reciprocal agreement with a bank in Germany. BofA charges me $3 per transaction at all banks except the Banque National de Paris. But I did not check to see if they have a reciprocal agreement with banks outside France.