One percent Visa Card fee

If it says Visa, you will get hit with the 1% fee. However, this is probably well worth it rather than trying to convert money on the street or through a bank where you have to pay commission.

Shagger - Hopefully you're a fellow Gamecock, living in Columbia.

I'd investigate opening an account thoroughly before you do so. The bank charges here in Italy are terrible. We have one Italian account and use it just to pay rent, write local checks, etc and it is very expensive (by US standards) to maintain (service charges!).

Italy might be different than France... but we had to have proof of residency, an equivalent Italian SS #, a copy of our lease, a letter from our employer, and other stuff! It was incredible - especially for the level of service (or lack of) that we get in return!

I have Bank of America in the States we pull from through PayPal to our Italian account and vice versa. For most non-cash purchases we got a Capital One card because they have no conversion fees. I have never had ANY additional currency or % fees added when I’ve used that card!

Hope that helps – Go Gamecocks!!

Ciao from Roma,
Ron (class of 1980)

Are you useing your CC to get money? I wouldn't use a CC to withdraw money. Use the CC to buy stuff as a CC, but use your ATM card to pull cash.

My Credit Union doesn't charge to pull from a non CU ATM, but some banks will charge a flat fee to withdraw from an ATM that doesn't belong to them.

Unless you plan on visiting Europe a lot, you don't have to go thru the trouble of opening a Euro bank account.

Here's Rick's advice on that: Money 101

Some countries don't let nonresidents open bank accounts, anyway. And I agree with the above poster, never use a CC to obtain cash. My credit union doesn't charge fees for ATM transactions abroad. Also Capital One doesn't charge any additional fees for purchases abroad, like some credit cards do.

OK, thanks everybody, for the comments. I thought that since my ATM card says "Visa" on it, I'd still get hit with the 1% fee.
From talking to other travelers who have recently returned from France, apparently it is permitted for me to open an acct there. I'm going to be there for 6 months, so it should come in handy.

I just opened an account with BANK OF AMERICA.
The customer service rep said you can avoid the access fee by using an ATM at the following banks in these locations:

• Barclays (United Kingdom)

BNP Paribas (France)

China Construction Bank (China)

Deutsche Bank (Germany)

Satander Serfin (Mexico)

Scotiabank (Canada)

Westpac (Australia and New Zealand)

Otherwise, its a flat $5 fee to use a non BofA ATM

I have accounts with a Bank and Credit Union. Although some do not charge the ATM fee, they do seem to make some money on the exchange rate as they don't give the lowest rate. I found that with my Credit Union ATM card, I seem to get the interbank exchange rate and then they add a 1/2% or 1% fee (I can't remember which). When comparing that to other bank ATM cards I have used on the same day at the same ATM, it still turns out cheaper on my Credit Union card including the fee... Anyone else have the same type of experience on the actual exchange rate?

As a benchmark, the interbank million dollar transaction rate on May 16 was $1.55 = €1.00.