getting cash to my American daughter in France

Tell your daughter to open a bank account in the US. Obtain an ATM card linked to that account.
Tell your daughter to use the ATM card in France the way she would in the US.
All you have to do is replenish her account by depositing cash in it on a regular basis or you can transfer funds to it with your computer, if you bank online.
Tell your daughter to notify the bank she will be using the ATM card in France, so that they don't block it on suspicion of fraud.
Most ATM cards can also be debit cards nowadays.
No need to open a bank account in France. It's not that simple anyway to open accounts for foreigners in Europe (lots of paperwork)

What Roberto said.
I'm curious, though, why you waited until 3 days before her trip to ask such an important question.

Do you two currently have a joint account? You're a little late to open a new one. She won't get a debit card back in time. If she has her own account, she can add your name to it, or at least arrange for you to deposit money into it.

How do you usually get money to her?

You can open a Hi-Yield Money market account with CapitalOne, online or by phone. They charge no fees for ATM use. You can authorize deposits to it online from any other account of your choosing. But, it will take a couple weeks for that first deposit to be made available; after that only a few days for deposits to hit. And the card can be in your own name. A bank ATM there will not care whose name is on the card being used.
And it will take several day for the ATM card to come to you, and longer for you to then mail it to your daughter.
But at least if you can discipline yourself to use this account solely for travel abroad you will have it already usable the next time you travel to Europe or one of your children does another study abroad.

As for the Debit card, a Debit card without a PIN should not be used for purchases, as if compromised the associated account can be drained before corrective action can be taken.

My son spent semester abroad last year, and we can not conceive of how a most important detail like this could be left to the last minute.

Alivoh - When our daughter studied abroad she already had a credit union and bank account. We had her put us on her accounts. We then would put money directly into the account. Also let your bank or credit union know that your daughter will be studying abroad.

This may all depend on where you bank. It might be faster to add her to your account if she isn't on it already. Ask your bank about that.

It might be possible to get the ATM/Debit card right away. When I opened my local credit union account, they had blank ones that they assigned right then and there and handed to me at the same time. She will need a 4-digit number pin for the ATMs in Europe.

Finally, I would never use a Debit card to pay for anything in Europe. She should get cash to do that or have a Visa or MasterCard credit card to use for it.

So go to your bank right away, like this morning as soon as they open, to see what can be done on such short notice. I say go in person because the urgency and unique nature of your situation and problem will likely need someone higher in the bank food chain to solve than anyone who answers the phone or a regular teller.

Like the others have said, make sure the bank knows where she will be. Also, make sure you and she know what their daily limit on cash withdrawals is. The bank might increase that for the time she is there, so be sure to ask about that.

If the bank knows where she is, the card shouldn't be blocked from being used. If she knows the daily withdrawal limit, her card shouldn't be denied because she asks for too much money. She will need to figure out how much she can take out in Euros to be under that limit.

I'm not on my daughter's Bank of America account, but I don't have any trouble depositing money into it. All I need is her account number.

Alivoh,

Get some Euros NOW while you can and shes here that way she will have some cash to use, but SPARINGLY!

If you cant get EUROs in time, then get her some greenbacks and let her exchange them overthere or at the airport here. Its too late to not get shafted by the exchange, so just suck it up and make do.

also, get her a credit card or debit card going NOW. Then send it to her once you get it or have it sent there from the bank/credit union.

happy trails.

Debit cards have basically the same protection as credit cards in regard to fraudulent use. My daughter had a card compromised and the bank replaced the money within two days. The problem with it is not that the money is gone permanently, but that losing it temporarily might cause a hardship. Even if the account is emptied, it will be put back, it just might take a day or two. With a prepaid debit card, if it is lost the money is gone. Every one I have seen has specifically stated that it is treated like cash.

I was going to be using my Wells Fargo ATM card overseas in March. The below are their terms:

Wells Fargo will assess a $5 fee for ATM cash withdrawals made outside the United States and an International Purchase Transaction fee which is 3% of the transaction amount for each purchase made with your debit card in a foreign currency that has been converted into a U.S. dollar amount by a network.

Their cost of using ATM's outside the U.S. is somewhat excessive. If you're going to be using a U.S. bank ATM card in another country, you might want to check the terms. I'll be opening an account at my credit union where no charges are assessed.

@George,

It may not be misleading information. The policies of CIBC may differ from the Banks in the U.S., and the Bank used by the OP. I deal primarily with Credit Unions here, and their policies seem to differ slightly from the usual big banks.

Cheers!

Ken, it is the same with both my bank and credit union here in the States. You are not liable for any charges if your debit card is compromised as long as you notify your institution promptly.

Andrea writes, "I'm not on my daughter's Bank of America account, but I don't have any trouble depositing money into it. All I need is her account number."

Do you need my account number? ;)

We haven't heard back from the OP, perhaps because she's in a frenzy of banking. I wouldn't worry too much, since college students are very creative in finding ways to transfer money from parents. I'm guessing there had been plenty of conversations about shoes, clothes, packing, luggage, hair care products, chargers, cell phones and lots more. But money? Oh, yeah, that.