ATM cards

I am not sure that I can help you. We travel quite a lot and the only place I have had a problem with ATM card use was in Scandinavia. Sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn't. We were in Paris last March and had no problem with our US ATM cards. We never use our credit cards for cash. ATM machines in airports are the best, or at a bank. We have been using our ATM cards all over the World (Japan is a special case) and used them in South America, Australia, Singapore, Spain, France, Italy, UK, Greece, Turkey and many more. I always take about $300 in US cash just in case. When I had a problem with my ATM card in Copenhagen (after using it successfully at the airport), I had to use the cash and buy local currency at a bank.

Neither of my ATM cards have chips, and I have used them frequently in France - most recently last October in Paris and across the south. I have not had any problems.

Linda, we have that same CapOne package since 2010. The card you get is an ATM card and not a debit card. For the US, they have not reissued these as Chip cards (let alone PIN and Chip), although for Canadians, they do get that. We asked them that same question earlier this year.

In any event, starting in 2010 these cards have been used at ATMs in 13 countries, for 9 different currencies, with no issues whatsoever, including France last April. Hopefully you and your husband each have a different ATM card for the account, CapOne applies the daily limit for withdrawals per card, not per the account. And when you call them to set the travel alert, you will both have to speak with them, they will not let one spouse set the travel dates for the other spouse's card.

As an upgrade, I would suggest opening the Schwab account also, with that you get a PIN-and Chip card that can also be used for ticket booths and such. And then you will have 4 cards in case of emergencies.

I have used my First Command online bank ATM card in w/no chip in France, Germany, Austria and Czech Republic for cash withdrawals without any issues. If memory serves me right, they only withdrawal from the checking account and do not offer a savings account option to withdrawal from. Will be back in Paris next month and Germany in August. I also have a Capital One CC I used for large charges.

You will have no trouble with an ATM card without a chip; we use them all the time, most recently last October in Paris. Be sure your bank knows where you will be so their fraud department doesn't block your card. Capitol One is a bit of a pain in this regard. ON our last trip we had given very careful information and it was on record, but they still blocked our first use of the Capitol One card which meant we had to stand in line over an hour to charge our Navigos at CDG and then mess with calling the company. WE had done exactly what we should do here but it still was a hassle.

Linda,

You shouldn't have any trouble using ATM cards with the old fashioned magnetic stripe, and even if some of your cards have a chip the machine will probably still process using the stripe.

In some cases, merchants in Europe will ONLY accept true Chip & PIN cards. A good example is the ticket office at Amsterdam Central (but the same situation may exist elsewhere).

No problem. Just got back from 2 1/2 weeks in France, and used my non-chip Debit/ATM card to get money at banks everywhere.

FWIW, in 6 years now we have never had a problem with CapOne and our travel notifications, in fact we have found their customer service over the phone to be excellent.

ATMs will continue to accept cards without chips for several more years.

I used my non- chip Capital One Debit card in various places throughout Europe to get cash from bank operated ATMs without issues as recently as October.

Thank you to everyone that wrote back. I feel much better after reading what you all had to say. Also, thanks Larry for the heads up regarding the travel alert. I called already to inform them of our travel dates to France and have been purchasing train tickets and Eiffel Tower tickets with no trouble. But never thought of having my husband call also since he does have a set of his own ATM cards.

I have to say, have used Capital One quite a few times in our past travels to Euope, and have never had any problems with them. Yes, their customer service have always been very efficient. But with all the new changes in security demands, I didn't know if my old cards are still good anymore. Thanks all for confirming that they are 😊. Linda