Capital One ATMs

Are you sure Rick wasn't suggesting a Capital One credit card (as opposed to an ATM card)? Capital One credit cards do not add on foreign-transaction fees and thus are among the most desirable cards to use. They are very frequently recommended for travelers.

As it happens, I have a Capital One checking account. I ended up using the debit/ATM card quite a bit last fall. I chose ATMs randomly in Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Croatia. They can't all have been All Point ATMs; probably none of them were. I've reviewed my account statements, and there are no itemized ATM fees, just a single amount for each withdrawal.

Credit unions are another potential source of non-fee ATM/debit cards. Mine doesn't charge a foreign-ATM fee itself, and it refunds any fee charged by the ATM bank. I see the charge and the matching credit on my statement. I assume that Capital One is just not bothering to display the foreign bank's ATM fee since C.O. is not passing it along to me.

Thanks acraven. My Credit Union told me that a lot of ATMs in Europe don't charge out of network fees so maybe that is what is going on here. In any case, I feel better that you didn't see any fees on your statement.

We also use Capitol One CC and never have fees for conversion or withdrawals. We have used all over Europe for the past 5 years or so.

We've been using our CapOne ATM card for 7 years in : London-Bath-Amsterdam-Berlin-Hamburg-Copenhagen-Prague-Czesky Krumlov-Krakow-Budapest-Istanbul-Israel-Paris-Bayeux-Ghent-Leiden-St Petersburg.
Always at bank operated ATMs, and this did not matter who the bank was.
CapOne does not charge fees for ATM usage, and the European bank owned ATMs do not charge fees. The exchange rate is set by the interbank network that the transaction is going through, and has never been higher than about zero-point-six percent.
Just make sure you refuse "DCC" and have the transaction done in the local currency, else there will be a nasty increase. If you look at our list, you can see that we've done withdrawals in 9 different currencies, with no issues.

Now if you use your credit card to obtain cash, that is a whole other story, as interest at 18 or more % is imposed the moment of withdrawal.

Barbara, when you say you used Capital One CC all over Europe, did you also use a Capital One Debit Card for ATM withdrawals?

Larry, that is just the info that I needed. Thanks.

I used my Capital One debit card for bank ATM cash withdrawals all over the UK and France last fall and did not have any fees assessed. I specifically got the Cap One debit card because my "regular" bank at home was going to charge me out of network fees plus 3% foreign transaction fees. They are a good bank for at home, not for foreign travel. The Cap One debit cards are great. I will be using mine again for this year's travels.

In addition to Capital One I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred and there's also no international transaction fees incurred on that card.

No used credit card and paid it off asap, we have a visa and MasterCard with capital one. We use MasterCard for cash machines and the visa to charge things because we get points. Just checked with my husband who really does all the finance leg work. we only use the MasterCard when we travel for the cash and pay it off as soon as we return.

Never had any problems with my Capital One debit card. It works at any ATM that displays the Master Card symbol, which is a good percentage of them. Two trips to Europe, 8 countries, no issues.

Have used our Capital one Debit card (with Visa Logo) at ATMs without issues in Germany, Austria, all over Italy, Scotland, and England without an issue. No "extra" charges on our bank statement.

I have used my Capital One DEBIT card to get cash from ATMs in every European country I have been to (15 or so different ones) and have never been charged any fees by anyone and the exchange rate is spot on to what you get when you check the rate on Google. I was just in Rome and used various bank operated ATMs and still paid no fees even though none were AllPoint. This card was initially from ING Direct but Capital One bought them a while back.

I also have a Capital One credit card. It has worked everywhere I tried it in Europe so far and same no fees and rate matching Google's quote.

It is important to note that you might get charged a fee or an exchange rate that is not in your favor if you use an ATM is a shop or restaurant instead of using one at a bank. Also never accept the offer to charge you in your home currency "for your convenience" (known as Dynamic Currency Conversion or DCC) as this means you will be charged a bad exchange rate chosen by the merchant or ATM operator PLUS any fees your card issuer would tack on to an international transaction.

My general advice is not to worry about networks. They are generally over-promised and under-delivered. It sounds great when they say there are hundreds all over Europe but they aren't worth going out of your way for.

Instead make sure your bank charges you reasonable fees. Some banks, credit unions and brokerages charge nothing but those typically come with account requirements. If the requirements work for you great; if not, there are other options. A host of credit unions and smaller banks (I have USAA) charge a flat one percent fee for an ATM withdrawal in Europe. I consider that reasonable compared to what some banks charge. I used to have Wachovia, which became Wells Fargo, they charge three percent plus $5 (might be even higher now). So on a $100 withdrawal (note: always get your cash in local currency and don't, do not, have it charged as $ if they ask) USAA would charge me $1 and Wells Fargo would charge me $8. That can add up pretty fast on vacation.

If you love your bank but not it's foreign transaction fees, open a travel checking account.

We used the CapOne debit card exclusively on our trip last summer in France, Germany and Italy. It worked at any bank ATM that displayed the Maestro network icon and we didn't get charged any fees (if you don't see ATMs with the "Maestro" reference, just look for ATMs with a Mastercard logo).

The AllPoint Network seems to be a predominantly US/North America thing (although their find-an-ATM website did show a bunch of participating ATMs in a quick search of "London, UK"). Not sure why Capital One doesn't simply list AllPoint as ONE of the networks in which its card doesn't charge fees, as opposed to implying that it's the ONLY one, but rest assured, it's widely accepted in Europe with no fees.