Debit Card with NO foreign exchange fee?

Sure, just check around. Most credit unions do not or maybe a 1% at the most. Same for internet banks. All fee structures can be a little different and vary a lot. My credit union charges 0% for currency, allows 6 free withdraws within 30 days and then charges a $1/withdraw after that. Just check your local financial institutions and ask questions.

Try Schwab Brokerage. Their Visa debit card has no fees - no ATM fees, 0% currency conversion fees, at any ATM in the world. Schwab.com

I recently opened a Capital One bank account because they are advertising no foreign currency fees on their debit card. I have not tested it out overseas yet, but I assume it's true. From the website, "$0 foreign currency exchange fees by Capital One Bank for purchases and withdrawals made overseas."

Try a local credit union. Mine charged nothing extra when I have made withdrawals everywhere from China to Costa Rica to Spain.

We also have a Schwab account that is tied to a money market or brokerage account. Can't remember which one. It works great as an ATM card; however, I did have a few problems trying to use it as a credit card. I still highly recommend it.

keri,
See http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

We use Capital One for credit transactions, and Schwab for all debt (ATM to get cash). Schwab is great, never a problem and no fees! And we use Wells Fargo Visa for our car rental so we get good insurance for free. These work the best for us. It is easy to set up the Schwab account, but I have to make deposits through the mail since there is not a branch near me that has a checking account service, but it is never a problem and you can call for help anytime.

Capital One has an online banking account that has no fee for the account and no international transaction fee. I used it in Europe with no problems. Just notify banks and credit card companies that you will be traveling.

Keri - We have a Capital One ATM card on an online Money Market account and have never been charged Foreign Currency transaction fees. A friend of mine mentioned that they have an online checking account now, but I haven't researched if there is a card for that. Once nice thing about the card is that it is not a debit card - it can only be used at ATMs and has no Visa or MC logo. When I look up the conversion rates after the fact, they seem to be right in line with the posted daily interbank rates. I've used it in Italy, Greece, Turkey, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, France, and Spain at almost any bank. The only problem I had was in Istanbul, but I just went to the next bank's ATM and was able to use it. I've also never had a bank in Europe charge me a fee to use the card. The first trip they did not allow for use overseas even though I had contact them in advance. I had to contact them once I got there to 'remind' them of my trip. Now, I do an online request as well as call to verify that my account has been noted and haven't had any problems since. The only drawback to their account is that it takes up to 3 business days to transfer money in or out electronically... My credit union and local bank have overnight transfers between institutions, but Capital One does not.

Susan and Monte, With my Schwab debit card, I set it up so I could transfer funds from my "regular" account at a credit union to my Schwab account by computer. It is just an electronic transaction. Schwab requires a few days for the transfer to clear, but it beats writing a check and mailing it off.

I opened an Ally Money Market account for savings as well as traveling. the debit card has NO added fees. Recommend it highly as the interest rate is not bad either (considering today's rates)

Another vote for the Schwab debit card. I have used it for years and it's been flawless.

Another vote for the Schwab Visa Debit Card. It can be used every day for small amounts of local cash from bancomats/ATMs. No need to make fewer big cash withdrawals. Do carry a back up debit card from another bank or at least some alternate way to get cash.

I opened a Capital One money market account about 3-4 years ago just for travel and am quite satisfied. They pay a pretty good interest rate, so I am happy to leave more in the account than I need for travel.

I think though it is important to understand, or at least delineate what fees are charged. Virtually any card that has a Mastercard or Visa logo on it will have fees for an international transaction PLUS your bank may choose to add on additional fees or even choose to either disclose or bury the fees charged by the networks. The fees charged by the network (Visa/Mastercard that run Cirrus and Plus) are broken into two charges, an International Transaction Fee for doing an overseas transaction, and a Currency Conversion Fee for handling the monetary conversion from euros to Dollars for instance. As mentioned, your bank may disclose these fees (pass them on as line items on your statement) or may just lump them into the transaction amount, but in all cases, I bet we all pay for them. The good news is though that these fees total to around 1% of the transaction, the best you will find, and I bet if you were to calculate the cost of your transaction (Pull out 100 euro from an ATM, go on line, look at the Interbank Rate, see what the difference is between Interbank and what you paid) you will find that there will be usually a little less than 1% or you may have come out ahead. I suspect that this may be due to Banks getting the Daily Minimum rate (Best rate of the day) or the spot rate happened to be better than the end of day reported rate. Basically, the cost of the transaction is offset by the market fluctuation. As for your bank charging additional fees, that is what you want to avoid and what most of the responses are referring to. My lengthy point is: Don't be dismayed or freaked out if you see the fees included in the "1%" fees of the network, be worried about the big fees a bank will tack on, whether they call them a Foriegn Exchange fee or not.