Debit Card ATM Question

That must be a restriction of that one bank for it's cards. This is not unheard of, different banks will restrict use in different countries, all banks restrict use in some countries (like Iran and North Korea, among others).

If the other banks did not mention it, use those cards as you normally would.

As for contactless ATMs, you still need to input your PIN, the contactless feature just allows you to not insert a card into a reader.

I do question the description of "former Yugoslavia" countries, not all of them are equal, Croatia and Slovenia are EU members and adhere to different banking regulations than the others.

I've been to the Balkan countries a couple of times and haven't run into this issue when getting money from an ATM. Enjoy your travels - they are all beautiful countries with a very interesting history and there's so much to see, experience and learn there.

Sheila, I had a credit union account with a debit card, and it just would't work because they had not made the connections to make it work. My other debit cards, from big bank systems, worked fine. Both cards did have a pin number. I don't think it matters if it is a "tap" terminal or inserting your card. Might be worth considering a big name card like Citibank or Barclay or something (but nothing on the Discover network). Lot of advice here on this forum about what cards have the lowest exchange rate fees.

I should add, that you probably will be able to use your credit union debit cards for buying meals and such.

I would look at another card for travel if the credit unions are going to do that. Its the credit union not the Balkans. I go pretty often to Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro (returning in 2 weeks for my third trip in 12 months) and with my Bank of America CC Card and ATM and with my Merrill Lynch card, have had no issues at all. Heck I used them without problem in Ukraine a few weeks ago. In serbia I have heard that there have been some banking investigations because of their close ties with russia.

For big stuff like hotels if there is a problem bank transfers can always be used. Bring cash just to be sure. In BiH the Convertable Mark is tied to the Euro so Euros are somewhat easy to spend. Slovenia and Croatia are in the Eurozone and Montenegro ... well they are funny. Not in the Eurozone but against the wishes of the Eurozone, the operate on the Euro anyway. In all of them ATM fees are not what you would want, but its a holiday so ... That leaves serbia. Very difficult for me to get a warm fuzzy feeling about serbia.

Make sure all your ducks are in a row: https://www.buch-dein-visum.de/en/news/allgemein/serbien-reise-aktuelle-sicherheitshinweise-zu-kriminalitaet-grenzkontrollen-und-naturgefahren-3c0880

I will second (or third) that this is an issue with your particular bank. (And it’s good to know ahead of time!) I have used my Capitol One debit card in all of those countries with no problem. I have recently switched to a “no international fee” Schwab checking account and I would expect it to work there but haven’t yet used it in those countries.

Thank you everyone for this information. This bank’s debit cards are usually our back up card anyway. It was also the very first time I had to tell this bank the exact dates I will be in each country. As we will be in and out of Croatia on a Road Scholar tour, this took a bit of time.
We generally use a Citibank credit card for all purchases. (Agree, never pay for anything with a debit card. I get credit card purchase texts on my phone- easier to monitor.) We just like to have a bit of cash from the country we are in. Happy travels all.

Agree, never pay for anything with a debit card. I get credit card
purchase texts on my phone- easier to monitor.

I get nearly instant notifications on my ATM and Credit Cards.

I don't use the ATM often often for shopping because my ATM card charges a foreign transaction fee, but sometimes its useful.

Why dont I worry? Cause there is never more than $150 in the account. I transfer money in when I need it and I can do that from my phone in 30 seconds.

But im not the average here. I am a US citizen living in Europe off a managed US investment account and a heard of goats. So I literally live off my cards and cabrtio market prices.

I have a Schwab debit card. I had no trouble using it in Slovenia, Croatia, or BiH. I always fill out a travel notice on the Schwab website, which asks for dates of travel and countries of travel.