heather

My daughter is going to Greece and Italy in March on a school trip. Is it easy to use your bank card to withdraw cash and pay for things in either of these countries?

PamSF

I had no problem using ATM in Italy although for the most part we were in either large cities or well travelled hilltowns in Tuscany. We had one glitch in Montepulciano where the atm took the card and processed the transaction however did not come through with the cash. It meant we could not withdraw from another bank that particular day. On return to the states the mistake was remedied easily.
Otherwise, we used VISA.

Lesli

It is very easy to use ATMs everywhere; I use a credit card rather than a debit card for purchases, but if your daughter has a Visa or MC logo on hers, she should be fine.

Double-check to make sure her PIN is 4 digits (or that she knows the numeric conversion for the letters.) European ATMs do not have letters on the keypads, and do not accept more than four digit PIN numbers. If she needs to change her PIN, her bank can easily do this before she leaves home.

Cricket

I have lived in Italy for a year and a half. We still use Bank of America and their debit card for almost everything and we have never had any problems. ATM's are everywhere, and I've never run into one that didn't have an English option, or wasn't easy to understand. Vendors are more than willing to take your money no matter if it's a check card or credit card (most of the time. We have run into cash only establishments). Having a credit card also as a back-up would be a good idea. American Express is a good one for travellers. They have offices in almost every major city and can be very helpful.

heather

Thanks for your quick response - one thing I forgot to mention and I dont know if it makes any difference - we live in Canada - are our cards as easily recognizable?

Cricket

As long as it's got Visa, MC, whatever internationally recognizable symbol, it doesn't matter. They all work the same. Just curious... does she have a back up, just in case something happens?

Jane1

Heather, It doesn't matter what bank issues the Visa or Mastercard, the vendor will still accept it (if they accept cards at their establishment).

As for debit cards, check which system your bank belongs to (ie the Royal is on the PLUS system), you then have to look at the machine in Italy and make sure there is a "PLUS' sticker as the machine won't be able to connect with your bank if it's not on the same system.

Patti

Hi Heather,

A straight ATM card works as well, it doesn't need to be a credit or debit card. As long as you bank is a member of the Cirrus or Nyce ATM network (and I think nearly all of them are), your daughter should be fine. I had no trouble at all in Italy, don't know about Greece.

Patti

clevelandbrown

My bank in the US told me that cards associated with a savings account will not work, so they had me open a checking accound and get an ATM card for it.

ickyboo

I had mixed results when I used my ATM card in Greece. For some reason it worked sporadically, even when I used different branches of the same bank. Another couple I met had an ATM eat their credit card in Mykonos. My recommendation would be to take an ATM card, but have a backup such as a credit card or debit card. After all, you are dealing with machines and they break down, run out of money, or won't let you withdraw if you exceed your daily limit.

Regarding withdrawing from a checking account--I had no trouble withdrawing money when i had a "straight" savings account, but now that I have a money market savings account, I can only withdraw funds from my own bank's ATM (even at home in the US). However, other than the problems stated above, I have used my ATM card to withdraw money in several different countries from my checking account without problem.