Money in Spain and Greece
 

Hello all once again...I was just at my bank here in the US (Bank of America) and they said that if I use the ATM's over in Europe I will be charged by the European banks a percentage of the amount I withdraw.

Does anyone have any ideas on the service fees charged by the European banks??

I'm thinking of taking some money in Euros with me but for obvious reasons I don't want to take a lot. Travellers checks are also kind of a pain in the butt.

Any suggestions/advice/info you can provide would be really appreciated!!


Thanks so much!

Marcy

There are many, many threads discussing this issue on the Europe forum.

Banks in Europe do not charge for ATM withdrawals using American ATM cards. Your U.S. bank may have a charge for such withdrawals though.

The consensus is that ATM withdrawals are the most cost efficient and practical means of obtaining cash abroad. Travelers' checks might be useful only as a backup in case of emergency, and most people report bringing them back home unused.

I just bring my ATM card and credit card.

Bank of America is my bank too, and trust me whoever told you that is WRONG. No bank ATM in Spain or Greece will charge you anything at all for your withdrawal. And you will get the best rate of exhange that way. BofA will probably charge you up to $5 for each foreign withdrawal, so it usually makes sense to take out 200 or 300 euro at a time so that fee is insignificant. If you can find a DeutscheBank, or a Barclay's, or a BNP Paribus ATM then you won't be charged anything by BofA either as those are partner banks.

ATM is definitely the way to go, along with using a credit card.

European BANK ATMs do not have service charges. Non-bank ones do. Check carefully to see which kind you have before using.

I think what your bank was talking about was the 1% conversion fee which is charged by the network (VISA/MC - Plus/Cirrus). Otherwise you get the interbank conversion rate of the day.

Don't need to take TCs unless you want to have to have a just-in-case back-up (use US$ TC). Atms are everywhere.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Patrick - I'll look specifically for those banks. Leave it up to BofA to NOT tell me that helpful piece of info!!

thanks again
marcy