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cost of withdrawing money from ATM machines

Posted by (Seattle, Wa, USA) on

I am hoping that community members will be willing to share their experience regarding the withdrawal of money from an ATM machine. I will be heading off to the UK in three weeks for a month long stay and would like to develop a strategy for withdrawing money at the least cost to me.

In my case I have two debit cards that can be used. Bank of America has a corresponding bank, Barclay's, so that when I withdraw money there is no BofA charge but Barclay's will charge 3% of the withdrawn money.

My other debit card is from Wells Fargo. When I withdraw money Wells Fargo will charge $5 for the transaction. However, when I spoke with a representative of that bank they could give me any information about what the UK bank will charge. Wells Fargo does not have a corresponding bank so any one of them is a possibility - Barclay's, HSBC..... Which one will charge me the least amount of service and transaction fees. The person at Wells Fargo said that the only way of knowing is to go through the motions of a withdrawal and see that fees are shown before completing (or cancelling) the transaction.

On a separate matter I will be taking a newly issued Capital One Visa card because there are no transaction fees, typically 3%. I get 20,000 mileage points if I spend $1000 in the next three months (this won't be hard to do) and there is no on-going annual fee.

Posted by
5326 posts

ATMs owned by banks rarely charge a user fee in England. In general the only ones that do are those found inside convenience stores, pubs etc. Even some of these don't charge. If they do charge this has to be displayed on the ATM before you insert your card, by a screen message or other notice.

Just take care to always be charged in pounds and decline to be charged in dollars. See other threads here on the perils of DCC. Currency loading is a feature then of your bank.

Posted by
3391 posts

When we use the debit/MasterCard from our credit union they charge pennies on the dollar. I've never had a charge more that about 80 cents for any given withdrawal. Big banks, like the ones you are talking about, are rarely a good deal for international transactions of any kind. As long as we stay within one of the network systems printed on the back of our card, it is very cheap to take out cash. The network system that any ATM uses will be clearly marked when you walk up to it, unless it's just for the patrons of the bank it is physically attached to which, in that case, may not let you use your card. There aren't many of these, though, relative to the number of ATMs that are part of the bigger, worldwide systems.

Posted by
44 posts

I have used my BofA ATM card in England many times, including last weekend. There are no fees charged by Barclays for using their ATMs and BofA won't charge you a foreign ATM fee for using Barclays' ATMs, but as of several months ago BofA charges a 3% foreign exchange fee.

I saw many ATMs in London stating no fee for withdrawals, but using a BofA ATM card on non-Barclays ATMs will result in a foreign ATM fee charged by BofA in addition to the 3% foreign exchange fee.

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