ATM/Travelers checks

That is a very unusual limits for a bank. Have you asked your bank for a higher limit? Take a look at a local credit union. I know the university has one. There are also on line banks -- Capital One, Ally, etc. that have very good terms for debit cards. And it is a good idea to have two different accounts so if something goes wrong with one account you are not stuck.

Sharon, In my experience with financial institutions, they often set a lower daily withdrawal limit for "normal" circumstances (~$300). However, I've never had any problem getting this increased for the duration of trips abroad. One other thing to keep in mind is that foreign Banks may have a limit that's different from your home Bank. If you plan on ordering currency from your Bank so that you'll have some cash on-hand, note that you'll need Euros for France and Austria, and Swiss Francs for Switzerland. Your Bank seems to have somewhat "restrictive" withdrawal limits - 10 transactions per month seems a bit unreasonable. As the others have suggested, maybe it's time to consider another Bank or Credit Union. Good luck and happy travels!

Switch banks.

Buy Euros through your bank. You should be able to get your money in less than a week. You will pay a fee and the Euros will cost more than they would at an ATM in Europe, but you will have what you need. Travelers' checks are hard to cash and the exchange rate for them is poor.

Sharon, 10 transactions per month??? First thought...switch banks. Second would be to have a conversation with the VP over ATM operations. With those kinds of restrictions, it must be a small bank, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding her/him. Those limits can be overridden. I've done it many times with my bank when I go overseas. If that doesn't work, go back to the first thought.

If you think you will be paying high fees to use your credit card for cash, wait until you try and cash a travelers check. Not sure about the countries you are visiting, but I know in Germany, not even banks will cash travelers checks. So, 1st, you will have a hard time finding anyplace that will take them, probably only the money exchanges at the airport or large train stations, 2nd, they will give you a really bad exchange rate, and 3rd, they charge you a fee for this too.

If they won't increase the limit, get a second bank account. Capital One has online accounts that pay interest and charge no fees, you should be able to find a credit union charging 1% foreign conversion fee and lower transaction costs.

Keep your responses coming, and thanks for the help. To clarify, we have 2 different ATM cards, but our primary account is the $200 one, they will allow more than 10 transactions, but with a fee. I talked to the bank today and they suggested a preloaded travel card as a back up, any opinions on these? Again, thanks. Sharon

By law all fees on debit and credit cards must be fully disclosed. However, preloaded debit/credit cards are treated as gift cards and fall outside of banking regulations. Therefore, these cards tend to have more fees and often the fees are not fully disclosed. There is no advantaged to a preload card with some potential disadvantages along with potentially higher fees. Most of us on this site are going to say we have never heard of a limit that low. Is it a new account? Or do they think you are poor students? Have to be a reason for that limit.

'they suggested a preloaded travel card' 'switch banks'

Ed said it best. Switch banks. Particularly since your bank was proposing prepaid cards. In my experience they are about the most expensive way to get cash. A lot of the cards are by Travelex. Travelex used to charge an exorbitant exchange rate 7-10%. I think people got wise to the exchange rate, so they know get the same amount by burying it in hidden charges - fees to load the card, fees to use the ATM. Whatever you do, read the fine print and make sure you know all of the charges. It looks like you have a Wells Fargo in town. They charge an awful lot (5% + $5 fee on a $500 withdrawal = 6%) but they allow $500/day, every day. If you have a small bank in Ames, one that doesn't have a foreign exchange op, they will probably charge you 1% plus a few dollars for not using their machine. You can buy Euro at about 5% over the interbank price at any Wells Fargo main branch and just take it with you, at least to supplement the $2000 you can get from your primary account.

I have a feeling this bank might offer "free" ATM withdrawals (that is they absorb the costs) and this (daily limits and number of withdrawls) is their way to minimize their loses.

Try Ally bank online for your secondary account. They only charge 1% on foreign withdrawals, no ATM fees (if one is charged it is refunded at the end of the month), withdrawal limit of $500/day.

My credit union charges 1% for foreign transactions, I can get up to $500 per day. Also I have heard that in Ireland banks and businesses are not accepting traveller's checks due to high instances of fraudulent checks.

When will travelers cheques finally kick the bucket? I used travelers cheques on my very first European venture...23 years ago. I've been back 8 or 9 times and have always used ATM cards to withdraw money and credit cards for other purchases. If you want the simplest form of getting cash and paying with credit cards then forget the tc and the preloaded travel cards and get an ATM card from your credit union and a Capital One Credit Card with 0% Foreign Transaction Fee.

Ed says it simply and it may seem flippant but the best answer is find a bank that offers rates, fees and rules that work best for you. $200 per day and ten withdrawels per month is far below average. If nothing else, set up a travel account at another bank and only use your bank as a backup. The 2009 federal banking bill is finding it's way into your banks rules and fee structure now. This is a really good time to pay attention to those change notices in your mail and shop for a better bank.

We gave up on travelers checks when AAA stopped issueing them, and that was for free to members. We now use the AAA Travel Money account, a debit card we load up before we leave. There is a transaction fee so we take quite a bit of money out of the ATM when we use it. There is no limit on how much can be withdrawn each day. In the Philippines we needed nine hundred dollars to pay for a auto trip. The ATM was located in a bank and we had to do six transactions to get the money. There was no problem althugh we had a big stack of pesos. In Europe we take out considerabley more than just a few hundred dollars worth of local currency with no problem. Instead of piddling around trying to find the best, cheapest, most desirable card we use the AAA debit card with absolutely no porblems. I don't think the transaction charge was over six or so dollars. We are loading it up now for a long trip in Sept.

'We are loading it up now for a long trip in Sept' So they get the interest on your money instead of you? Makes sense to me.

I do hope the fees have improved for the AAA card. Two years ago when I looked at the card, the fees were nearly 10% which made it very expensive when compared to a standard debit card. Have to take another look.

Asking if travel checks are better than ATM is like asking if one should bring a typewriter or if a laptop would be better for recording a journal or if it is possible to send a telegraph from Europe or if one ought use the phone instead.

For prepaid ATM cards you need to search for what you think is best for your needs.Sometimes there is a trade off between penny pinching and convenience.We've found some ATMs that are not Visa compatible,so that's an issue for us. We load our AAA travel card(Visa debit card) in minimal amounts to keep the account active and use it domestically.We load the account substantially prior to big trips. If the company makes some money it so be it.Looking at the fine print there is a $9999.00 load limit on and a $1000.00 per day withdrawal limit.We've found ATM fees vary in different places so we've learned not to be running to the machine for small amounts of cash.10% transaction fee? That's something we've never run into.We've seen the currency difference,but that's another issue. Convenience comes at a price and we're willing to pay it,but we're not foolish about it either.
Sharon Steiger