USD versus EURO at ATM in Spain

The current interbank exchange rate is about 1.10 US dollars for every euro. So for 100 euro withdrawl, your bank will show a bank debit of about $110. Keep in mind the interbank rate fluctuates throughout the day and the rate may fall within about 1% of what you see online. That rate is constant though no matter how much you withdraw. There has been some volatility lately with the euro given the Greek crisis, so it is possible that the rate may change by a few percentage points by 20 July.

On top of that will be whatever fees and charges your bank has. There are almost never any fees charged by the local bank.

In Spain it is very common to encounter what is known as Dynamic Currency Conversion or DCC. An ATM might ask if you want to see your transaction converted into US dollars. Or a merchant may ask the same thing. Sounds nice and convenient but it is a profit rich transaction for them. THEY set the exchange rate when you agree to it and they don't give you the interbank rate; you get their rate and they get your money. With no benefit to you. Always decline it and if a merchant tries to sneak it past you without asking (you'll see the cost in $ not euro), decline the transaction and insist they rerun it in euro (until you sign the credit card receipt, the transaction is not valid).

Steve, I will let someone else answer this who wants to take the time to, but it Depends on what the exchange rate is at that time, plus bank fees which you stated you are not interested in. So, Google the euro to dollar exchange rate. Google works quite well in situations like this.

You need to understand exchange rates. Roughly today 1 E = $1.11 or $1 = .90. Like buying a candy bar. If you want to have one euro in your pocket you have pay one dollar and eleven cents. An hour from now, tomorrow, next week that exchange will be different. It could $1.1143 or it might be $1.1097. If the Greek situation gets really messy the Euro could go down substantially - maybe 1.05. Who knows. You cannot control so don't worry about. You debit at a bank owned ATM will give the best exchange regardless of what happens with the Euro.

For most ATMs the cost of using an ATM is determined by your bank rather than the ATM itself. ATM fees are rarer in Europe than in the US, and are disclosed before you get your money. For most ATMs, when you withdraw (say) 100 Euros your bank is notified that you have withdrawn that amount in Euros and your bank does the conversion to dollars. There typically could be a markup (on the order of 1%) from the Visa/MC network and your bank might charge a higher than normal fee because you used a non-US ATM (one of our banks wants $5 every time we withdraw cash outside the US - we just use a different account).

Some ATMs (notably Travelex ATMs, as opposed to any bank ATMs) offer to convert your withdrawal amount to dollars and transmit that information in dollars rather than Euros to your bank. This is known as Dynamic Currency Conversion and is almost always a less advantageous method for the traveler since the conversion rate used in the calculation favors the ATM owner to the tune of 5 to 10% of the amount withdrawn (and it still doesn't avoid the non-US withdrawal fees that your banks has decided to charge).

As others have mentioned,at a bank-owned ATM typically you can expect to get close to the "official" interbank rate for withdrawals (right now 100 Euros converts to about US$111) plus one to 5 dollars or so in fees from your bank.

My advice is, be aware of the rates but don't sweat the rates. You can't control them, you can shop around a bit for the best at the time you need it but you still need to pay somebody.

Thanks all this is very helpful in budgeting my trip!!

Your bank does NOT do the conversion from EUR to USD. This is done by the card network (Visa, Master Card, American Express) before your bank ever sees the transaction. That is what the 1% currency conversion fee is for that you may see reflected on your bank statement. It is true your bank gets the information of what the local currency for the transaction is but they don't care because they have already been provided the USD amount to charge you. This is fairer to the person getting the funds out of the foreign ATM because it doesn't matter what bank your card belongs to, everyone gets charged the same rate at that point in time.

Any ATM might use DCC, so don't drop your guard using one that happens to be operated by a bank and always refuse conversion. DCC is rife in Spain both at ATM and merchants.

I didn't notice you say what your bank charges you? There is a range.

The worst are generally the big banks (Wells Fargo, BofA, Citibank, etc.). They'll charge you both a fee and a percentage of the transaction, I believe a $5 fee and 3 percent is the absolute worst anyone charges right now (but there may be worse).

There are other financial institutions that charge you nothing, as an example Charles Schwab had an account that charged nothing for ATM withdrawals (not sure they still have it). Typically, the no-charge accounts require compensating balances or some other restrictions to take advantage of. If those work for you, it's a good deal.

USAA and a lot of smaller banks and credit unions charge a flat one percent, which is fair and saves quite a bit from what the big banks charge.

There is no charge for using an ATM in Europe. Use a little caution here, however, there are now automatic exchange booths that look like ATM's but will charge quite a bit for the transaction. Avoid any machine with "ex" in the name (e.g. Travelex), look for machines with some form of Bank in the name.

If you are ever given the opportunity (at a machine, restaurant or retailer) to have the transaction charged in dollars or euros, always choose the local currency (not dollars). If you choose dollars, you will be charged an exchange fee with your transaction plus whatever foreign transaction fees your financial institution charges.

Travelex machines are perfectly OK, if you are drawing the local currency of the country where it is located and you decline DCC.