Foreign transaction fees

Please look at our host's (top left) travel guide finance hints. My NJ B of A ATM-card charges 3% for bank account withdrawals over there. Are you talking about revolving credit card Cash Advances, which are an entirely different matter? Or are you asking about costs to charge a meal and a retail purchase?

I use Capital One for credit card purchases. There are many cards with no foreign exchange fees. Look on www.bankrate.com to find one. Also, consider getting an ATM debit card that has low fees for cash withdrawals. Mine charges 1% of every transaction (I use a credit union).

My Delta American Express does not charge transaction fees. Neither does my credit union's debit card (Visa).

I use Cap One or Andrews FCU credit cards in Europe; both have zero foreign transaction fees.
For debit/ATM cards, it's harder to get a zero percent fee, although I do have one with TD Bank, and there are a few others. And, as has been mentioned, credit unions also usually have low ATM fees.

Credit cards are the worst way to get cash, from ATMs or otherwise. Not only do many cards charge foreign transaction fees on cash advances, even when they don't on point of sale transactions, they also usually charge a substantial cash advance fee (1% - 5%). Read the card member contract very closely.

If you need cash from an ATM, only use a debit card. If you don't want to use your primary debit card/checking account, open a second checking account to hold your trip money. Debit withdrawals normally (98% of the time) have no foreign transaction fee and use an exchange rate very close to the international spot exchange rate.

If you want a credit card with no foreign transaction fees and you travel quite a bit, consider an airline loyalty credit card. The annual fee can quickly be offset with the free luggage allowance and most of the cards now waive foreign transaction fees. My card's annual fee is offset by just two domestic trips if/when both the wife and I check bags...

I would look to Rick's money-matter section for all the ins and outs of money use overseas...

I agree with the poster who suggested checking Rick's travel guide on money matters. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information on these sites, but they might be decent places to begin searching: Nerdwallet and the Points Guy.

I have an airline loyalty card (American Airlines AAdvantage MasterCard through Barclays), which does not charge foreign transaction feeds.

It's easy to find a no foreign transaction fee credit card and a no foreign transaction fee (and no other fees) debit/ATM card. To use credit and debit/ATM cards that charge foreign transaction fees violate the laws of nature.

Capital One has historically been the foreign travel credit card because of the no foreign transaction fee. Capital One converts FX transactions at essentially Interbank rate. I recently upgraded to Capital One's Quicksilver Rewards Visa with no annual fee and 1.5% rebates.

My Capital One Quicksilver is a joint account but our cards have different card numbers connected to the one billing number. If one card is lost or stolen, Capital One can lock that card allowing the surviving card to remain active. Capital One no longer requires foreign travel notification for the chip card. The card is a chip and sign.

My local credit union charges a 1% FX transaction fee. A lot less than BofA.

For a bank account with lower foreign transaction fees, you can look at Charles Schwab (no personal experience) or TD Bank (which is what I use).

If you get a Convenience Checking account ($100 minimum balance) with TD, it's $3 for each foreign ATM withdrawal with no other fees (no percentage). If you get a Premier Checking account ($2500 minimum balance), there are no fees at all for foreign ATM withdrawals.

No connection with them except as a satisfied customer. Since it has a low minimum balance, you could open a Convenience Checking account just for travel if you like, then take out most of the money between trips. Another advantage of TD: when you open the account, you get a full active ATM card right away (they have a machine to make the cards in the branch). Some other banks give you a temporary, or no card at all (they mail it to you later). So, even if your trip is imminent, you could set this up.

TD branch locator: https://www.tdbank.com/net/absearch/

For credit cards, I use Capital One, with no foreign transaction fees.

Schwab debit card. No minimum balance, zero ATM fees. I have used the ATM card for many trips, including one in Italy where I kept finding banks that charged €3 per transaction -- completely reimbursed on my next statement.

But pay attention to the advice to NEVER use a credit card to get cash at an ATM (except in an extreme emergency)

OK, I'm not sure I'm getting this right.

I always assumed that if a card has a VISA or MC logo & silver hologram, that it's a credit card.
I intended to use my "atm" card from my local bank(no chip, just the black swipe on the back) in Ireland. It doesn't have any credit card logo on it; just 3 logos on the back (Star, NYCE, Plus).

My bank said they don't charge foreign transaction fees, but I need to ask about fees for using non-bank ATM's (I'm sure there aren't any outside the US), or currency conversion fees.

I had read about Cap One CC's having no fees, but then got caught up with 'only certain Cap One cards', and have up on that.

"I always assumed that if a card has a VISA or MC logo & silver hologram, that it's a credit card.
I intended to use my "atm" card from my local bank(no chip, just the black swipe on the back) in Ireland. It doesn't have any credit card logo on it; just 3 logos on the back (Star, NYCE, Plus)."

It sounds like you have one of the few remaining ATM cards that is not also a debit card. Don't worry, the Plus network is the international one, so your card will work in Europe. Star and NYCE are US ATM networks, not found in Europe.

Most ATM cards these days do have a Visa or Mastercard logo on them, meaning they can be used for purchases in the same fashion as credit cards (in the US you sign rather than using a PIN). So no, you cannot assume that a card with a Visa or Mastercard logo is a credit card.

My BA ATM card has no transaction/user fee when using a Barclays ATM, but it does have a 3% FT fee. Most CapitalOne credit cards have no foreign transaction fee so that's what I use overseas.

Addition: ensure you set a travel notification with BoA for your ATM, CC, or ATM/debit card or it/they will not work. The CC may work once, but will then be locked.

Well Fargo charges $5 per withdrawal, which adds up to around $15-20 per trip for me. It's a negligible portion of total trip cost and 2% or less of the cash I withdraw with a fair exchange rate (I mean they don't try to get extra money out of you with the exchange rate). 5% does sound a little high. I had a hard time finding a working ATM in Rome last fall that did not want to process an ATM withdrawal as a credit card cash advance, so I ended up using my United Explorer Visa everywhere for the first four days--no foreign transaction fees and also a fair exchange rate.

If you want to stick with BofA, they have several credit cards that charge no foreign conversion fees and give decent rates. Their Travel Visa card is one. It also has no annual fee.

Every Capital One CREDIT card has no foreign fees (at least as recent as last week when I looked). Some of their DEBIT cards do. If you get the Capital One 360 checking account, the included MasterCard DEBIT card has zero fees. It is what I use and have used for over 10 years and have been extremely happy with it.

A Visa or MasterCard Debit card has the word "Debit" written across the front of it near where you find the Visa or MC logo (not necessarily the 3D foil emblem). Only without that word is it a credit card.

While your old style ATM only card may still work in Europe, there are several complaints that they don't anymore, especially cards without a chip. While chip-less Debit and Credit cards are guaranteed to work in all ATMs until 2020, the ATM only cards do not have that guarantee. It might make good sense to have a true Debit card with you on this trip.

Some banks in Europe charge non-account holders a fee for getting cash out of their ATMs. Most still don't. ATM like machines you find in bars, restaurants, stores, etc. will charge you fees and also offer to bill you in your home currency as a "convenience" to you. The only person it is a convenience for is the person who owns the ATM because they use an inflated exchange rate and pocket the difference as profit. So jut say no when offered to be charged in your home currency anywhere that might happen.

Marauder, I suggest that you go to the bank, wait for a Platform Officer, and show them your card. I made my first reply because I thought there were errors with some of the numbers in your OP. But you also have some issues mushed up together that are confusing you. Just as one example, because Debit Cards can be used very much as if they were credit cards, many people don't make sufficient distinction between the two; both are likely to have Visa or MC logos on them. The question of whether your ATM Card has a chip on it isn't currently important - except as it MAY help to identify a legacy, or older product of Bank of America ...

Others here have disagreed with me, but I was told (ten ?? years ago) by the staff of my Bank of America branch that plain vanilla ATM cards (with no Visa or MC logo) would no longer work outside the United States. They were inducing me to accept the Debit card that had been automatically sent to me. I didn't want a debit card, but accepted it because I needed the international access.

Every issuer (... I'm referring to you AAA-branded card) make their own deal with the bank. So I can't say for sure, but I believe that both the 5% number and the 2% number in your OP are wrong. Most importantly, you use both the term ATM and the term credit card in the same sentence, about the same card. That is a strong indication that you don't understand exactly what product you have. Your later post suggests that you didn't think you had a credit card. But if it's AAA-branded, it probably is a credit card. Which is it?

Because any credit card, B of A or not, can get "cash advances" (at outrageous cost) from a B of A ATM, we still can't tell which product you are asking about.

Have you read about "Global Alliance" at Bank of America? Unfortunately, a page like this one https://www.bankofamerica.com/deposits/manage/faq-atm-fees.go will only be confusing if you don't know what your card actually is. And it's risky to assume that a card that merely says Bank of America in tiny print on the back (????) is, in ANY way, an "ATM" card.

Wow, thanks, everyone!

Yeah, I decided to post my questions here, as I found the info on Rick Steve's money page less than helpful and somewhat misleading.

You have all helped in bringing this issue into focus, and clarified the confusing info out there.

When I get back (leaving for Ireland next week) I will surely get a Cap One 360 card; it's too late now.

I'm also going to check with my local banks (not B of A) as to whether the ATM card I have is a debit, and if they can issue me one with chip & pin before Monday (probably not).

But thanks, really, everyone, for the info and guidance. You're great!

Well, I thought I was doing the right thing by going down to TD bank and getting a debit VISA connected to my checking acct.
The platform guy, who used to work for United Airlines, and traveled a lot, assured me the chip & pin debit with TD bank had no charges for use at a foreign ATM, no transaction fees, and no conversion fees.

I was there the better part of the afternoon!

When I got home, I called TD bank (couldn't access their website- a problem down the road?) and after a 20 min. hold, was told that there was, indeed, a $3. per transaction charge for ATM use!

I hate being lied to!

This post confused me somewhat. I have a standard Bank of America ATM card that is not a debit card, the ATM has a chip in it, am I going to have issues trying to get cash in Ireland?

Luigi_p - as long as you informed BA you were traveling and might use the ATM card, there shouldn’t be an issue.