Using an ATM without a chip card

The article is in-date. I had no problem withdrawing cash in London last fall. At least the ATMs attached to banks are hard-wired with the internet access needed for the "old-fashioned" card approval.

Exchanging physical cash will never get you a very good exchange rate, as it's mostly done at very tourist-oriented exchange bureaus. If you bring a couple of hundred dollars in cash, that can be a back-up, just in case it takes longer than expected to find a working ATM. However, you're likely to find one at the airport.

Mag strip worked fine six months ago in Scotland and later London. The bank ATM is a different set up from local card readers in merchant shops.

As long as your card has a four-digit PIN, you are good to go. Note that Bancomats dispense funds from checking accounts, not savings.

Thank you all for the replies!

The only potential problem you might come across is that since every ATM in the UK has had a chip reader for some years and few cards don't have them is that the mag stripe reader is not always working. Still there are plenty of other ATMs to go to.

No problem this spring in UK with our CapitalOne ATM cards, which are not yet chipped.

Nicole,

Although my situation is a bit different, based on numerous comments I've seen here on the forum, you shouldn't have any trouble with ATM transactions using an old fashioned magnetic stripe card. I was in the UK last September and had no trouble at all getting cash.

I'm not sure why your friend gave advice like that, but in my experience that's simply not accurate. Taking all your cash with you and exchanging there will not only be cumbersome, but also one of the most expensive methods of currency conversion.

It's important to....

• Notify all your financial institutions that you'll be travelling.
• Review your daily withdrawal limit.
• Determine which is your "primary account" as that's the one that will be used for ATM withdrawals (many ATM's don't provide a choice between chequing or savings).

My usual method is to pack along £50-100 on the trip, to pay for travel expenses (meals, etc.) until I get settled at my first hotel. I always have money left over from previous trips, so that's easy to do.

I traveled in England and Scotland May 2 to June 12. Neither of my two credit union debit/ATM cards had a chip at the time. They both worked fine. As is normal for me, I always used the interior cash machines inside banks.

Be sure to inform your debit card provider that you will be using cash machines in England and Scotland. Make sure you know what the $ withdrawal limit is for your card and how much that is in £. Do not agree to DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion). Stick to local currency which will be £ in both England and Scotland.

And have a great time!

I had no problem using a debit card with no chip for cash at ATMs in London last month (june). I also had no problems using the same card with no chip at ATMs in Portugal last month.

No chips in my debit cards, either, and both worked as normal. One is from a small local credit union, and the other from an online bank.