ATMs in England

We are leaving for England on Sept. 1. In the past, I have used ATMs many times in Britain and across the continent to withdraw cash in local currency from my U.S. bank account. Worked just fine with the traditional mag strip debit cards. Will they still work in ATMs in Britain? Neither of my banks is providing debit cards with "chips" in them, although I have already received a couple of credit cards so equipped.

It's the same as everywhere: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money.

They will work fine. In April both our older mag-strip CapOne ATM cards and our new chipped Schwab ATM cards (obviously PIN'd as it's an ATM card) were fine in London ATMs. Just make sure to refuse DCC (transaction charged in local currency) and not to use the credit cards for cash withdrawal.

In England and Scotland in mid - May with no difficulty use a standard mag strip debit card with no problems. And did not received any request for conversion in dollars. Automatically kicked out pounds.

Stick to bank ATMs and you should have no issues.

My mag stripe debit cards, two from two different banks one Visa one MasterCard, worked fine in England and Scotland a few weeks ago. I used mainly Barclay Bank machines. Lots of the ATMs have signs on them around London saying "Free Cash" which just means there are no fees charged at the ATM or by the bank operating those machines.