Hello,
Does it matter on the Europe end what ATM network your card uses?? Or all charges the same per individual machine no matter what ATM network your card uses?? (aside from banks obviously who have their own). The card we are going to use is part of the Allpoint network, a smaller, less frequent one, they don't have machines in Europe. Just wondering if we would be susceptible to higher charges because of that in Europe.
Thanks for any help,
Pam Gosling,
California
Hm, good question. What I can tell you is that that besides the local ones the two international debit card systems VISA Electron and Maestro are widely accepted over here. If you use a Bank of America ATM card you can withdraw local currency free of any other fees at BNP banks in France, Barclay's in the UK, Deutsche Bank in Germany etc.
I would more than double this question. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING, that the ATM has to be tied into one or more of the networks. The most common are plus and cirrus. If the allpoint network isn;t available in Europe or some arrangement to use someones else network, you card will not work. For example - Discover cards do not work because they use the Novas network. Check this very carefully and don't rely on other peoples opinion, including mine.
Frank that's also my understanding. When I found out that my card only had the STAR logo (which is not prevalent in Europe) and wasn't clear on whether the "Mastercard" logo was good enough, I went and opened a Bank of America account online and had my card with the PLUS logo on the back in about a week. Pam, the best thing you can do is call your bank and ask them and double-check and triple-check with them about whether your card will work overseas.
Hi,
My Wamu card has the start logo on the back. I went to the star website and it says they don't really have atms in outside the us. So, I called wamu. They came up with the answer that it would work because it had the mastercard logo. This reasoning doesn't sound quite right. Has anybody used the wamu mastercard logo at atms in europe. IF not has anybody used a wachovia card.
thanks,
jen S
I don't think just being a Mastercard means it will work in European ATMs. Visa and Mastercard handle POS (point of sales) transactions in Europe, such as when you use the card at a merchant, but they do not deal directly with ATMs for cash withdrawals from your account. However, they own Plus and Cirrus who do.
If WaMu doesn't (can't) show the Cirrus or Plus symbol, perhaps they don't deal with them. It may be that if you use the Mastercard at an ATMs, it will be considered a cash advance, which has a high fee and charges credit card interest immediately.
Just checked my debit card. It is a Washington Mutual Master Card and it only has STAR on the back. I used it for 8 weeks in each of the following countries in 2005:
Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and Luxembroug and did not have any problems.
Notify your bank of your departure date - countries you are visiting and your return date. My bank told me had I not called them - they would have put a hold on my cards. This applies to ATM cards and Credit Cards. Also ask them to up your daily withdrawal limit if you think the current limit is not enough for your needs in Europe. We always withdrew the daily maximum.
Also ask them if your PIN numbers will work in Europe. My banks were very knowledgeable.
We have a regular washington mutual atm card.No
a bank card. It has a cirrus and star on the back.
We have never had a problem. We just look for one
the logos.
e have a citibank m/c atm/bank card with the logo
cirrus on the back and have never had a problem.
I am looking into switching our bank card to
Republic Bank because of the fees from Citibank.
I have never heard of the network you are using.
I mistyped and it should have been STAR not start. When I called to ask about this they did say if I was going to be there longer than a week and call them with the dates. Fotunately I was already planning on doing this. JB my wamu card just changed to the mastercard. It was a visa until the middle of last year. Do you recall if yours has changed...
jen
Yes Jen, come to think of it - it did. But I also have another with the VISA. Don't understand why.
Whether or not your card works in a given country or machine, it might be worth your while to have a backup from a different bank or credit union. My first trip to Europe my ATM card was not accepted at one machine in Italy, but was fine at the next. I opened an account with $2K at another bank just in case and have used it at least once each trip.
I checked with W/M this a.m. re atm fees. $2.00
per withdrawal up to $500 per day. Not bad.right?
Not after they tack on a 1% conversion fee, that
brings it to $7.00. Ouch!!!!
I'd open an account with more widely-available atm use, even it's just for use while travelling in Europe. I use Bank Of America for my debit card--in England and France (and some other countries) there is no atm charge by BA at certain banks. And I've never had a problem finding a bank atm which will take my card. The European banks build-in their fee, but it isn't much. The exchange rate I have gotten is very close to the rate published in the paper.
