How can I save money on fees when I use my Wells Fargo or Bank of America debit card in the UK?

...Barclay's charges foreign exchange fees...

I believe that it is BofA that charges the foreign transaction fee of 3%. While BofA waives the $5 non-BofA charge when using Barclay ATMs in the UK, they impose the 3% fee.

https://www.bankofamerica.com/deposits/manage/how-to-pay-when-traveling-abroad.go

Be prepared before using an International ATM.
Before you use your card to get cash from an international ATM it pays to do a little research. When you use a foreign ATM, you could be charged a variety of fees, including non-bank ATM usage fees, ATM operator access fees, and international transaction fees for conversion to U.S. dollars. One way to limit such fees is to use your Bank of America ATM or debit card at one of our international partner ATMs. This enables you to avoid the Non-Bank of America ATM $5 usage fee for each withdrawal, transfer or balance inquiryFootnote2 as well as the ATM operator access fee.

Keep in mind that when you use your debit card to withdraw money from an international ATM, Bank of America will assess an international transaction fee of 3% of the converted U.S. dollar amountFootnote3. Foreign ATM operators may offer to do your currency conversion for you, but they may charge a higher fee for conversion. You can refuse the foreign ATM conversion and be assessed the 3% Bank of America international transaction fee instead.

What Phil said.

Plus, half of your expenditures are probably going to be cash at a one percent cost, so you're down to two hundred bucks total and the best you could do (all cash) will cost a hundred dollars.

If you're so new to travel that you have to ask the question, rest assured that you'll blow much more than that in a million other ways.

Regretably, I have no tact.

shuttner,

this is a no win scenario.

just bend over and take it. You will not win. only the banks win. the only thing you can do is to try and minimize the damage.

Happy trails.

Stand up straight. And talk to your bank - the card issuer - about the fees they charge. All fees added to your debit or credit are determined by the card issuer. It is unusual for a bank ATM in Europe to add any fees to a debit card withdrawal. So call your bank and ask question or check the web site which will id the charges added. You cannot avoids fees charged by your banks so look around for a different bank with a more favorable fee structure.

Many credit unions will charge zero to 1%, as does Charles Swab, and other banks. If want to avoid paying currency conversion fees, then you have to do a little shopping around but it can be worth your time. Remember, there is no free money.

And you might want to review the answers to the same question earlier ---

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/budget-tips/banks-and-fees

I've always thought the same as Phil on this issue. For those that rarely take a foreign trip, and it's only a couple of weeks when they do, why go through all the hassle of opening and managing new accounts? There are good options for those that want to, and it makes sense for those that travel often. But a 3% +/- fee is pretty marginal.

We use Wells Fargo and I believe the only charge you incur using a foreign atm is 5.00 per withdrawal. I always have my withdrawal limit raised so that I can make fewer withdrawals.

Wells Fargo charges a flat $5 for each foreign withdrawal. The easiest thing to do is make sure that your daily limit is high enough (say $500) and take out the max each time you need to replenish your stock of cash.
You might have to try a couple of different ATMs in England to find one that will give you that amount (some have a lower limit) but I think that 1% ( $5 for $500) is not a bad amount as fees go. Your credit cards (unless you have Cap One) will likely charge more than that.
Have a wonderful time!

Accept the high costs of using certain debit/ATM cards or open an account with a budget friendly credit union or Schwab or equal. $300 is not simply a rounding error in budgeting for travel expenses.

I have a PMA account with Wells Fargo, which gives me 2 totally fee-free ATM withdrawals in a calendar month. Note, I said calendar month. My last trip, 3 weeks, spanned two months, which meant I got 4 withdrawals. Before I went, I increased my daily limit to $750, which gave me the potential for $3000 in withdrawals while I was there. Although I paid cash (which I got from the ATM) for all the travel related expenses while in Europe, it was enough to cover my share (most) of the $160/day that my partner and I spent.

We have our accounts with a credit union and are charged just pennies for withdrawing currency from foreign ATMs. My statement is full of amounts like $0.17, 0.32, etc. when I withdraw cash overseas. Hardly anything. See if you can open an account with a credit union and you can save big!

My Wells Fargo ATM is $5 plus 3% for an European withdrawal.

I got an ATM card from my credit union without any charges. And we had no problems. I also had left plenty of funds in my Wells Fargo if the credit union card didn't work.

Honestly, we don't spend any great amount of cash on international trips. We put hotels, rental cars, petrol and every meal possible on our Capital One Visa where we get paid full exchange rate for our transactions.

We went to Paris last month and tried an experiment. We used our Bank of America ATM card with BNP Paribus (part of the same network that Barclays is). €400 cost us $553.84. That night we went online and checked our account.

Then we used our credit union ATM card for another €400 on the same day. It cost us $542.72. We also checked our account online.

We always thought BofA was the best way to go because of the special deal with Barclays and BNP Paribus. In our experiment, we found that the credit union was $11+ better. These days, the internet lets you see immediately in dollars the result of using your cards overseas. If you have two cards, you could try our experiment on the first day you're there.

I just got back from Germany and was told by B of A that they have better rates at Deutsche Bank.

"My statement is full of amounts like $0.17, 0.32, etc."

I once had a 3¢ charge for using my debit card to buy a rail ticket.

Thank you, everyone. I'm off to the UK!

Wells Fargo and BofA are two of the top fees for foreign ATM transactions. BofA cleverly makes you believe you will find partner ATMs handy everywhere you go - then you get to Europe, give up and just pay the fees. I quit Wells Fargo (after they took over my bank) because their ATM fee was $5 PLUS 3% of every withdrawal. So ten $300 withdrawals adds up to $140. I went to USAA because they charge a flat one percent per withdrawal. Ten $300 withdrawals adds up to $30.

I guess I'm cheap but I think saving $110 per for ten ATM stops is significant savings. I think it's wise to save money where you can so you can spend it where you want. I'd rather spend the $110 on admissions, lodging, transportation, or food than give it to a megabank.

I guess some of it has something to do what is most comfortable for you. I might go to the ATM once in 3 days and pull out what I call pocket change. Maybe $200. So on a 9 day trip I might use the ATM three times. Yup, the fees are going to be pretty steep. Conceivably $50. The rest of the time I use a credit card that has on fees. So, figure a trip for two might be USD2500 in airfare, $1500 in hotel costs, $1000 in food and other credit card charges. Add to that USD 600 from the ATM and the fees make up less than 1% of the cost of the trip. For the convenience, i'm good with that.

I guess the question I ask myself is, "Where do I want my extra $200 to go? My favorite Paris bistro, or a bonus for some already overpaid NY (or SF or Charlotte) banker?" I choose the bistro, so I set up an account at a credit union and make sure I carry a couple of credit cards that do not charge more than 1 % foreign transaction fees.