Will your ATM card get eaten?

Brand,

Thanks for the good information.
I don't really see myself forgetting my credit card in the ATM.
I usually carry 2 credit cards, but when I am aboard I prefer not to get money from the ATM. Most of the time I pay by credit card, if not I get cash here in the US and exchage it at the destination.

Brad raised some excellent points. It is good that he reminds us that debit cards work very well 99.9994 % of the time. Our experience with debit card over the past 15 years has been very position. Never a problem or hint of a problem. From time to time a ATM might not accept our card but the next one would.

An inherent problem with all travel sites, is that we tend to focus on the negative -- the things than can and do go wrong. And some posters like to take one bad experience and blow it into a huge experience that they believe should effect everyone as if their bad experience should be normal. Sometimes you just have bad luck. We needed to be reminded from to time to time that the vast majority of travelers have no problems, always get their money, don't use a money belt, never see a pickpocket even if they are wearing shorts and white tennis shoes.

There are a few topics on this board that seems to get lots of negative responses because the subject matter gives people a choice...and some here don't like it if the choice is not similar to theirs':

Wheels or no wheels

Moneybelt or no Moneybelt

Get Foreign Currency before leaving or after arriving

Carry-on or checked

Whatever someone decides to do is right for them. I still believe if asked we can share our experiences or give our opinions. But if someone says, for example, "they like wheels," and you feel wheels are the work of the devil, an afront to your family, and the end of the world...keep quiet. It's not your decision to make.

I've had friends, not on this board, who travel with full size suitcases. They think the idea of traveling with just a small carry-on, and washing clothes in the sink, is ridiculous. And when I mention I sometimes carry my bag on my back, the response I get is..."What, like a homeless person?"

So, you see, we all travel differently. I agree that the chances of our ATM cards being eaten is minute. However, I carry a back-up just in case.

I wear a moneybelt not so because I'm on the lookout for pickpockets but so that I don't have to be on the lookout for pickpockets. I can enjoy my trip.

Dwelling on the negative will ruin a trip. Taking a few precautions will increase the chances of your trip being great.

And it's each of our personal choices what to do. Let's respect that.

I have used ATMs on 7 trips with no problem, but always use them during business hours so at least if my card gets eaten, I can deal with a live person right then and try to rectify the problem. (I have only 1 ATM card). But I also have a credit card backup, and I always bring my checkbook with me -- haven't had to try this, but think I could cash a check someplace also.

I had my card eaten by a machine when I was trying to purchase tickets for the tube in London. We also had some issues with getting money due to some problem with transaction times not posting correctly. (We were suppose to be able to get $300 every 24 hours, but kept being refused. When we called home to talk to our credit union, they were showing that the transactions were being posted as much as 12 hours later than when they took place- no one to this day understands it-It was a real fluke) Anyway, after that we always carry multiple cards from different banks or Credit Unions. I leave plenty of money in each account so that we will never be left without access to funds. I think this might also be a good idea because of the poor exchange rate. As of today, $300 only gets you $191.00 If you operate on a "all cash" basis as we do having access to separate accounts could come in handy.

Connie,

I haven't relied on a CU debit card to date (I'm a great believer in CU's especially the small ones that stay true to their mission, but I don't use them for international service). Normally the daily limit on your card is refreshed at 12:00 local wherever your bank's home office (federal reserve branch) is located.

Could it have been time differences or just a delay getting the transaction processed?

Credit Unions, especially the small ones, often contract with a vendor to do their processing for them. Your CU's contract might have called for transactions to be processed within a certain number of hours, allowing for some delay in the posting.

When we travel, my wife and I carry one debit card each. They are from different accounts at the same bank. We are both signers on both accounts. If one card is lost or stolen (hasn't happened yet, fortunately), we can call the bank to report the loss, transfer money to the other account and work with our backup debit card. We also carry two credit cards from different accounts so we have a backup card if one is lost or stolen.

When I said I left my card in an ATM once. It wasn't on vacation, it was at my own branch. I was able to get the card back right away but I felt like a numbskull for being so careless.

Connie - It's not unusual for international ATM transactions to take several hours to even a day to be processed. I know when I use my CU ATM card in Europe, my available balance is reduced but the actual withdrawal might not happen for 2-3 business days and the date of the transaction can be 12-24 hours different. When I use my big bank ATM card, it seems to hit my account a little sooner but there still is a delay. I can't count on using one ATM card every 24 hours.

Each international ATM transaction is not typically settled individually between the ATM you use and your institution. The transactions can go through several banks and network clearing houses. Most transactions are also bundled with thousands of others before they are actually settled. It makes it cheaper for the financial institutions as well as for you because the large dollar amount of the bundled transactions ususally results in a much better exchange rate. My CU ATM transactions have been posting for the couple of years at the actual interbank exchange rate.