Do ATM's in Paris charge fees other than ATM fees?

I've never been charged a fee at an ATM in Paris or anywhere else in Europe. I understand that some Spanish ATMs charge fees now, but I've never used an ATM in Spain. I last used one in France last year.

One potential source of extra fees is Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). This is where the ATM (or credit card vendor) offers to "helpfully" charge you in your home currency (USD?) instead of Euros. Don't do it! Always get your funds and do your charges in the local currency. Avoid the extra conversion fee of DCC!

Some people have claimed that Travelex charges higher rates (currency version rate) than regular bank ATMs, but others have disputed this by posting example withdrawal amounts and exchange rates. I personally wouldn't worry about it. Maybe if I didn't have an urgent need for cash I might pass on a Travelex ATM and wait for another one, but I've used them a few times before.

Thanks for the answer! So it sounds like the only way that I might get charged a potential "fee" is through bad exchange rates (which I know doesn't qualify as a fee, just expressing it in that way)? How do I know what the reasonable exchange rate is at that point in time when I'm withdrawing.

....on top of the fees the foreign bank charges for using a card from a different bank. "..... That is a generic, CYA statement. In some countries, the bank ATM MAY charge a fee of one or two euro for using their ATM. That is very common in the US but very uncommon in most of Europe. Just watch what the ATM screen says as it will warn you if additional fees are being charged. For the vast majority of US based debit cards, the card issuer will determine the fees charged after the withdrawal is made. Obtaining euro with a debit card from a bank owned ATM will be cheaper than obtaining euro from your bank prior to travel. This is not very complicated. As long as you are using a Visa or Mastercard branded debit card you will get nearlty the interbank exchange rate. You cannot get a bad exchange using your debit card because the exchange rate is solely determined by the network --- Plus or Cirrus -- and not by the bank or the bank's ATMs. All bets are off if you use a private ATM like Travelex.

PS -- .....How do I know what the reasonable exchange rate is at that point in time when I'm withdrawing....... You don't and you will not know the exchange rate until see your statement when you get home. The exchange rate is not given at the ATM simply because you are asking for euro from the ATM. The exchange rate kicks in when it hits your account later.

So. How much do you think this all might amount to? $10? $13,75? $22.OO? Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Or will it literally be the same as going to my bank in the US and buying Euros there before the trip

It will be very different from buying cash Euros at your local bank branch.

ATM exchange rates are set by the card networks each day. This rate is closest to the interbank rate you will ever get. In other words, there is no better rate. Your Capital One 360 card charges no fees at all for ATM transactions. So, that leaves the possibility of fees at the ATM. Most bank owned and operated ATMs (the only ones you should use) don't charge any fees in Europe to get cash out of them, unlike those in the US which almost all charge a fee for use. What you have to look out for is the Dynamic Currency Conversion where the ATM offers to bill you in your home currency. This would not be good as this allows the ATM owner to choose what exchange rate they want to use, and it will not be in your favor. Decline that offer. Finally, an ATM might actually charge a fee. While still uncommon, a few in Europe are starting. You can simply cancel the transaction if the ATM says it is going to charge a fee and move to the next one. Or since the most common fee is around 5 Euro, pay it if you want.

As far as buying cash at your bank before leaving, this will result in the absolute worst exchange rate among your options meaning the most expensive option. Many of the larger US banks charge up to a 10% markup of the exchange rate (in their favor of course) and some also charge delivery fees to get the cash to the branch where you pick it up. They may claim it is a good rate, but check what 1000 Euro will cost at that point in time on Google and then check what your bank will charge you.

What Norma said!

I used my Capitol 1 360 debit card to get euros in Paris- its easy, no fees, and the ATMs explain everything in English.

Happy Travels✨💫

Hi: We used the Societe Generale bank atm and BNP Parisbas in Paris. We paid no fees. The banks did not charge a special fee for using their atms. We tried to use ones during banking hours so if your card gets stuck, they can help. Of course the card did not get stuck but some people may feel paranoid.

The conversion fee shows up on your bank statement. Just remember if your limit is $400 per day, don’t try to take out 400 euro. That day’s conversion rate, with no extra charges/fees, shows up on your bank statement. Ours was around 1.16 in late June. It doesn’t tell you ahead of time what their conv rate is, but it seemed consistent with that days rate. Same in AMS.

I hear that buying euro at home, you get fewer euro to the dollar. Don’t do that. My mom bought about 100 euro at home bc she wanted cash at the airport for bathrooms, snacks etc. The bathrooms didn’t charge and i used credit on the snacks. So, i hope this helps!

In my experience, in the last few years I have not found French banks to add fees. Some Italian banks, yes. Not a big expense in any case (about €3 per withdrawal) -- and Schwab reimbursed on the next statement.

EU banks do not charge ATM fees. Non bank ATMs might.

DCC affects credit card purchases. I have never see an ATM offering DCC, at least not in France. DCC should always be refused for two important reasons: (1) the exchange rate used will unlikely be favorable to you and (2) most credit card terms allow fees to be charged on all foreign transactions, even if those transactions are in dollars. Accepting DCC means you'll probably pay foreign transaction fees twice.

Not trusting Travelex in general, I have always been suspicious of hidden fees using their CDG ATMs. However, the few reports I've read indicate that their CDG ATMs have no fees. For the skeptical needing cash at CDG, there remain two HSBC ATMs at CDG in terminal 2 and La Poste's ATMs in both terminal 1 and terminal 2.

It is absolutely not accurate to say that EU bank ATMs do not charge fees. Some most certainly do. Not necessarily in every country, but the practice seems to be spreading.

DCC at ATMs is cropping up in many, many places. At this point offers of dynamic currency conversion seem a lot more frequent than fees.

It is absolutely not accurate to say that EU bank ATMs do not charge fees. Some most certainly do.

Interesting comment, please clarify. What EU bank charges you a fee for ATM withdrawals and specifically how much is the fee?

In 2016 I was quite frustrated when I got to Barcelona and kept hitting (bank-owned) ATMs that charged fees. I just walked away, and at this point I don't remember which were the problem banks. I posted about it at the time but it would take forever to find that post with the Search function here. I know Santander Bank was fine at that time.

This year I was in Ukraine (not in the EU yet), and the problem was pervasive, but again you could just keep trying ATMs and eventually find one that was fee-free.

I think I encountered some fee-charging machines in Poland, too. Certainly there are a lot whose screens show a line for local fees on the summary screen where they try to get you to opt for DCC. I used the ATMs where the fee amount was 0 zlotys.

You'll note that Laura mentions seeing fees at Italian ATMs. I think I observed that, too, but I was in Italy 3 years ago and can't provide any specifics. Most of the Italian bank ATMs were fine at that point.

My trips are very long and I make a lot of small ATM withdrawals using machines scattered all over whichever city I'm staying in at the time. That gives me many opportunities to bump into fee-charging machines. Believe me, it is is happening, and it seems to be happening more frequently each year. Once the genie is out of the bottle... You really do have to look at every screen as the transaction progresses, to be sure you are not going to be charged an excessive amount. The fees I've observed have mostly not been trivial. I've seen proposed fees up to at least €5 on the small withdrawals I favor. Fees might be higher on the more typical amounts of €100 to €200.

There are exchange machines that pose as ATM's in airports now. They charge a fee. Other than that you wouldn't know they aren't really an ATM until you see the receipt. Downtown, ATM's are ATM's and they don't charge a fee. The only fee is what your financial institution charges you for foreign transactions.

For details -- My records show ATM charges of €3 per transaction in May 2017 from Unicredit in four Italian locations: Venice, Florence, Bologna and Sorrento. Schwab reimbursed $13.23 on the next statement.

Unicredit does not sound to me like a bank. In France there is never a bank ATM charge at BNP, HSBC, LCL, or la Poste. Other institutions may limit your withdrawal (more than what your hometown back does) and/or may charge a fee.

The situation appears to vary from country to country. It may be the case that no French bank-owned ATM currently charges a fee, but that ois not true in all countries. Even for the same bank, the policy can vary; Raiffeisen Bank charges fees in Ukraine but not in Czechia--or more precisely, the two Raiffeisen ATMs I used in Czechia did not charge me a fee.

Google tells me that Unicredit is an Italian bank.

In the absence of legal or regulatory prohibitions, I figure any bank can decide to charge ATM fees at any time. That's why I urge all travelers to read the ATM screen carefully all the way to the end of the transaction.

Agree with acraven about reading all the stuff on the ATM screen -- the banks DID disclose their fees clearly prior to my continuing with the withdrawals. It's not that hard to cancel and walk down the street to another bank's machine. Like some Swiss ticket machines that put the DCC option first, but all you need to do is read the screen and select the "charge in local currency" option.

The worst machines I've seen were in Ukraine, where an early screen sometimes displays something like "Local fee: 0.00", but that seems to be only because you haven't yet been asked how much money you want to withdraw from your account. Once that information is available, the machine licks its chops and calculates the fee, which is displayed on a subsequent screen that also includes DCC information. It would be really easy to overlook the ATM fee.

Also, should I use a travelex ATM at all at CDG airport? What fees/bad exchange rates should i expect?

It is simple. If you will be charged a fee for using an ATM (whether at a bank ATM, non-bank ATM, or one owned by a currency exchange company), that will be disclosed. Non-fee ATM's are plenty, so unless you are desperate or get fee's reimbursed, wander down to the next ATM.

The other concern, as mentioned, is DCC. That will show either as an option to do the transaction in your home currency,(or "Dollars") or to do it in local currency. Always choose local currency. They may also just make you an "offer", indicating that XX euros will cost you XX in Dollars; if they do that, then you are encountering DCC, the typical ATM is not concerned what the exchange rate is and will not be able to disclose it, unless they are setting it. A typical ATM will only turn it over to the network and then you get the Interbank rate (basically), they are just dishing out local currency at no exchange rate, again, if you do encounter DCC or an "offer" unless desperate, move on.

@ norma
i'm with you, it's too little to worry about for a vacation. you'll spend more than that on a fabulous lunch or dinner. thanks
aloha