Wells Fargo Debit Card & ATMs

You should shop around for a bank that doesn't charge $5 per transaction, for a start. European ATMs don't add fees, but I'd be highly surprised if Wells Fargo DIDN'T charge you 3% on top of the $5. They are reputed to have some of the highest ATM charges around for foreign transactions. The rate you should get will be closer to the market rate, but not exactly. Still, there's not a huge difference. The difference is in your fees. You can probably find a much better deal. My small local credit union charges nothing extra for foreign ATM use -- not $5, not 3%, nothing.

Well, $5 is about 1% of most withdrawals, far less than the 3% charged by other banks, such as Chase, which I am firing tomorrow. BTW, Nancy, I have a high balance account with Wells Fargo, and they waive the $5 charge. Last year I paid the interbank rate for ATM withdrawals, nothing more.

The bottom line is that the Network charges about 1% to handle ATM withdrawals in Europe. Small banks pass that on to you. Large banks, with foreign exchange operations (nice guys), pay the ½% network fee in Euro so they can charge you 3% in exchange fees. Find a small bank or credit union.

BTW, consider banks to be dishonest organizations, plotting constantly to take you money. Watch them constantly. Tomorrow Wells might be a bad deal. It might soon be that taking cash to Europe will be the best deal.

You will get the market rate or often called the interbank rate -- same as for credit cards -- and rate will be marked up 1% for the network fee (Plus, Cirrus) and buried in the exchange rate. The are no fees for using an European bank ATM -- think there is an EU law that prohibits that -- but some card issuers will charge you for using an "foreign" ATM -- not a part of that bank's networks of friends. As Nancy suggested double check on the currency conversion fee. WF has charged that in the past. Look for it in writing somewhere.

Check out the info posted on 8/7/09 by Angela, subject "A Guide on Getting Money in Europe". It is a really complete list of what the banks are charging for ATM withdrawals.

Brad,
To answer your question:
The exchange rate is set by the network (masterCard, Visa) it will be very close to the interbank (market) rate, just like your credit card.

Thanks everyone. It looks like my best option is to take out large amounts from an ATM when I'm there. I increased my withdrawal limit to $500. The ~6% Wells Fargo markup on the exchange rate is really what was scaring me.

That is typical of WF and most other money changes on this side of the ocean. Henry, technically Plus and Cirrus do not set the exchange rate. It is done by the market and changes minute by minute. Plus and Cirrus take that rate and add 1% as their fee for handling the transaction. That fee is always buried in the exchange rate.

Frank, That is not correct. See http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/visa-usa-operating-regulations.pdf

For overseas transactions, my bank (BB&T) charges $5 plus 3% on ATM transfers and purchases using their ATM/debit card. I thought that this was way too high, so I checked with my credit union. They charge a flat 1% on ATM transfers. They also have a $1000 per day limit on debit card purchases and $500/day limit on ATM transactions, and like their ATM fees, purchases using the debit card are a flat 1%.

Henry, what is not correct? You nuts if you think I am going to read 468 pages of USA based Visa regulations to find my supposed error.

Frank,
The networks set the rate at which they will perform the transaction. They do not bury 1% in this rate.

Brad,

My Washington Mutual ATM card (now Chase) only charges 1% transaction fee. I never ran across an ATM fee from either bank. Currency conversion rates seemed pretty accurate. Plus I have free overdraft protection which I ended up needing...oops.

My folks have Wells Fargo and live overseas. They've somehow managed to get WF to drop charges. You might want to ask about varying accounts or special deals.

If you are traveling to countries with different currencies than Euros (England, Scandinavia, Switzerland etc) you may not want to have to pull out large amounts of money. You tend to have left over and will lose money when converting it back.

Frank,
I am not going to argue with you in PMs when your only arguement is because you say so.

See http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/exchange_rates_faq.html

Which says:

Every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa calculates the rate for the next day's transactions. The Visa rate is selected from a range of rates available in wholesale currency markets or the government-mandated rate in effect one day prior to the applicable central processing date

See http://www.ccfsettlement.com/documents/mdl_1409_settlement_agreement_1384141.pdf
Page 28 and 29 which says that Visa and MasterCard will not embed fees in the exchange rate. This is a result of a class action suit.